tristan riley

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It didn’t take long to realize that 1 kilogram of food per day was too much. So much for lightweight tramping! Matt and I staggered up Gardner Burn, after turning off the Dusky track a couple of hours up from Lake Hauroko. We had 22 days of food and planned to walk to West Cape. We didn’t get far. An El Niño summer meant our first night was spent shivering under the fly as thunderous rain then 10cm of snow fell overnight.

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Next day the rain stopped and mist lifted, revealing snow below the bushline. We spent the day imagining what tramping without plastic would be like. Of all our gear little would remain. Food piled in a heap. Lying naked, exposed to the sky. The stove would be intact, but gas lost through missing gaskets. A biro spring. Shoe eyelets. A knife blade. Odd scraps of metal. With snow on steep snowgrass slopes a lethal combination, we had no option but to wait in the lush moss forest.

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Next day we advanced to the bushline. Strong breeze, sleet and freezing conditions turned us back to a high camp. That night heavy warm Norwest rain fell, pouring in torrents, and thankfully washed the snow away. At last the tops! We traverse the ridge from Lake Roe to Roa Saddle in mist and rain, camping on a ledge high above Long Burn. Matt takes a 10m slide down the hill after slipping on wet snowgrass. Scary. With this weather West Cape will have to wait for another time.

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The weather improves as we continue past Lake Hay and climb into the head of Princess Burn. At last we make some progress with an 11 hour day downstream on deer trails high above the gorge. The Princess Burn is easy travel, and fun, with heaps of deer. Deep ruts lead through tangles of bush lawyer and horopito in the swamp clearings. The rain had flooded the lake shore, and we wandered among enormous ancient kahikatea before the 4 hour, 1100m climb from Lake Poteriteri onto the Princess mountains.

Dropping into Caroline Burn we walk all the way back down to Lake Hauroko. Damn snow in January!

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Split in two by the main divide, and spread apart over 70 million years, lie our two Red Hills. In 2008 I tramped up the Cascade River to Red Hill in Fiordland.

Behind Nelson sits the twin Red Hill, made from the same ultramific rock, rich in Manganese and Chromium, glowing red under the sun.

To reach rock I walked up the lovely Wairoa River, with pools bright blue and cosy huts.

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The DOC signposts in Richmond Range hugely overestimate the walking times required, and I easily halved them.

Suddenly the bushline appeared, red rock towering above. I shivered under my aluminium survival blanket, taking lightweight tramping to an uncomfortable level.

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It was a five hour circuit to climb the 1000 metres from hut to the 1790 m summit of Red Hill, then traverse and drop a steep gut to return for lunch. Behind the peak a desolate moonscape valley stretches south toward St Arnaud. 360 views encompass the entire top of the south, including Kahurangi, Nelson Lakes, Waimea, Wairau, Abel Tasman and the ocean. Fantastic!

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A long walk took me back down the valley and along ridge tops to Mount Rintoul. This distinctive slab-sided peak is a steep climb. I made it out to Staveall as a nor-west front rolled in, the next day bringing pouring rain. Lucky, as I forgot to bring my coat!

The Richmond Ranges are so close to Nelson, with superb views and covered in cosy huts. It is amazing that so few people visit - the hut books date back to 1995, with plenty of pages to go. Go visit!