Mt Sommers Summit Circuit, Canterbury

After a day off following our great day at Woolshed Creek , we rose early to begin another two days enjoying the Mt Sommers area. Today’s adventure was a tramp to the Summit of Mt Sommers itself and if time allowed, an alternative return via Pinnacles Hut for a neat round trip.

It was quite a warm morning and we sweated profusely up the spur toward the south face route. Climbing initially through delightful beech forest, we emerged into the subalpine scrub to enjoy clear views all over the Canterbury plains. There was barely a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind; it was great to be alive.

As the day began to heat up a little, a thin layer of cloud formed at about the level where the track turned abruptly north and drove straight up the south face of Mt Sommers. Geoff and Steph again wanted to rush off ahead, but Sarah and I managed to keep them at bay till the summit was in sight. The track moved east to pick up a faint spur that overlooked a deep gully..

From our position on the We pondered potential canyons and investigated the ubiquitous fractured Ryholite boulders. Now following well behind the two racing snakes, I puffed my way onto the summit ridge and took in the ever widening panorama.

Us two slow pokes made it to the summit after 2:40h, (not bad for a 3-4hr track time) As we sat down to enjoy our lunch we noticed Aoraki dominating the southern skyline with its considerable bulk. Though there was little wind and full sunshine, there was a significant chill to the air that reminded us that winter was not far away.

On the Summit was a trig and a stonehenge like apparatus that helped us to identify surrounding features. As we enjoyed lunch, an elderly gentleman and his wife arrived from the north western ridge. Looking old enough to be Yoda’s mentor, I could only hope to be as fit as him at his age.

Starting off to the north west, the ground sloped away gently towards the Arrowsmiths and Mt Cook Ranges. Our route handrailed the steep north face until we found a suitably gentle slope to descend.

Here we stopped for an impromtu map and compass lesson. Both the girls had a crack at orienting the map by in spection, with a compass and had a crack at resection. Once we were all correctly geo-located, our band of 4 descended a steep and loose gully till we intercepted the Mt Sommers sub alpine walkway.

Any type of track feels like a highway after off track travel and our pace quickened as a result. Desceding towards pinnacles hut, my canyon senses tingled and had us scrambling around the incredible Ryholite formations to find a mini canyon. I climbed up above a couple of falls, but was stymied by a steeper section. It did look fun, but it also would have been nightmarish to access.

Now descending close to the rock climbing areas, we enjoyed watching a pair of climbers make their second pitch on one of the major pinnacles. A loud whoop signalled the success of the pair a short while later. Pausing briefly at Pinnacles hut, to re-fil water bottles and scarf down a muesli bar or two, I could feel the fatigue of a long day start to manifest. Only 2-3 hours to go…

The track continued its descent to Bowyers stream where it leveled to follow the watercourse. Our final obstacle was the longer-than-hoped-for up and over of the final hill between us and the carpark. After a little over 8 hours on the go, it felt good to be back.

In the carpark we had a car boot gear explosion that took up half the available space. Spreading our stuff all over, we managed to conjure a delicious meal of nachos to end our long, successful day.