Christmas Canyoning, Wilsons Ck

Alain and Annette kindly invited Ira and I on a Christmas Canyoning trip to Wilsons Ck. Alain wanted to ensure all the anchors were sufficiently equiped with double bolt stations rather than the single bolts he used during the first descent.

It was a little cloudy as we drove out to Haast Pass, but the cooler temps were welcomed during the hike in. In 1 hr of walking through relatively open beech forest up a maze of steep and convoluted gullies and ridges, we arrived at the suit up spot.

Descending the steep entrance spur

About to commit to the narrows

Ira and Annette

Next, we descended steeply down a knife edged bush spur and doged little bluffs to make it into the head of Wilsons Ck without using the rope. Wandering downstream, we took turns cooling off in the stream with varying results.

Chucky

When Wilson started, the encasement was immeadiate and the beauty incredible. Steep, uninterupted walls continuously bounded us for the whole trip. At times, slightly less vertical vegitated walls offered a hint of a possible escape point. However these would only be viable for those with excellent vertical gardening skills.


There wasn't too much water in Wilsons, but a couple of spots still required care to avoid hydraulics. Annette and Alain showed us several spots that become dangerous in higher flows.


Annette made the most of the trip, making several very large jumps into absolutely pristine emerald pools. The canyon was continuous and simply breathtaking.

Keeping notes for the Canyon Topo

Near the end, it began to rain a little, making the wait for drilled anchors just that bit colder. At one drop we had difficulty finding solid enough Schist for the bolts, which took a while to solve.

Into the 6m deep emerald cauldron

Despite getting a bit cold, I was dissapointed to reach the end of this incredible canyon. What a way to spend christmas day!