Time: 5 hours (car park to summit 2:40; summit to car park 1:30)
Distance: 4.4 km car park to summit
Start: Small easy-to-miss car park on Ashburton Gorge Road, about 18 km (13 minutes drive) on from Mt. Somers township.
Finish: Same place (return via the same path from the summit)
Warnings: This is a poled route. If the tops are in cloud, take care to find the correct ridge down.
Date: Friday 25 November 2022
Mt. Barossa. Not exactly for the faint-hearted. But, all things considered (especially fitness and state of mind), it is a fairly straightforward albeit relentless climb on to the tops - where your hard slog is rewarded with the most fabulous of views and an interactive geological experience.
In fact - take your hammer and safety goggles (I had unfortunately forgotten mine today) because the whole area is volcanic and "here be geodes". Geodes (a.k.a agates, nodules, thunder eggs or potato stones) are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks which have mineral deposits (often crystals) inside.
According to the Phd Thesis of Vanessa E. Tappenden from the University of Canterbury, Mt. Barossa, the 1364 m summit of the Clent Hills, is part of the Mt. Somers Volcanic Group (MSVG) which last erupted about 89 million years ago and is "...principally composed of andesite lava flows...". Andesite is a gray black rock comprising about 60% silica (SiO2) and on Mt. Barossa, these ancient lava flows, give rise to quartz, agate and purple amethyst geodes. Cool.
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| Photo from the Otago Rock and Mineral Club's website |
We drove in convoy from Christchurch, nearly missed the car-park on Ashburton Gorge Road, spilled out of the car and then began our dilly dallying: donning socks, shoes, puffer jackets, poles, having a wee. And a photo. Good god, someone even had to go bush (mostly matagouri) and do a thunder egg of their own (the last loo was 13 km back at Mt. Somers) until finally - yes finally - we were ready go.
We set off up across the grass -swampy in places, crossed the stream and headed up the hill -all without getting our feet wet. This time we did not miss the easy-not-to-miss large orange marker and took the correct and obvious (if you are not nattering) track up the ridge. The first hour is steep and feels forbidding. Rocky, impassable looking crags loom up ahead. Lungs bursting, we stopped and started, working our way slowly through the crags. Once in amongst them, the path was straightforward and easier than expected.
As we ascended, the views just got better and better. The Southern Alps/ Kā Tiritiri o te Moana stretching out along the horizon. Kā Tiritiri o te Moana refers to the foam on the crest of the breaking wave - and today, with a blanket of recent snow, it looked just like that. Mīharo!
Internet connections were patchy but at one point a flurry of messages came through and a few minutes later we got the photo. Sharyn and Chris had announced their engagement. We all let out squawks of delight! With this lovely news, our weariness magically disappeared and we strode on up the hill with renewed energy and a spring in our step.
Just above the next lot of rocky outcrops Nicole found her first quartz crystal. A fine specimen - we gathered around and oo'ed and aaa'ed. From that point on we were all on the lookout. But as we got to the fence line and the summit ridge there were crystal shards everywhere. Budding geologists had been there before us with hammers and goggles and what they had left behind was super exciting. Zhanna soon had a heavy bag of interesting nodule shards. According to some, quartz crystals can restore and amplify energy. A bit like nattering about a wedding.
We followed the fence line to the non-obvious summit. I had to check on the topo map to make sure this was really it. We ate lunch and admired the stunning views. We could see the south branch of the Ashburton River and the Ashburton Lakes (Emily and Clearwater) in the distance.
After lunch we earnestly tried to break open rocks by throwing them against other rocks. This wasn't very successful because we all threw like girls for obvious reasons. In the process I managed to damage an alpine daisy which I felt terrible about - they have such a hard time as it is. In the end we stopped this violence and were content just to sift through the shards. We found no purple amethysts but we saved some daisies.
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| Alpine grasshopper (Sigaus australis). They can freeze solid at any time of the year. |
The descent was quick but the knees and legs could feel it by the time we were back at the car. Jellyish. We were running a bit late for coffee and so, with no dilly dallying, we sped back to Crikers, just in time for Wananga Reo.
