Time: 3.5 hours total. Car park to summit 1:45. Summit to car park 1:20.
Distance: 5.3 km total.
Start: Porters Pass
Finish: Same place. It's there and back.
Date: Friday 9th February 2024
Foot flat to the floor, we drove up the steep hill to Porters Pass, parked in the layby, donned boots and set off up the gravelly path for a spot of peak bagging. Foggy Peak to be exact - which today, very aptly, was shrouded in low cloud. I had started the day at 6am, reading a few blogs over coffee and toast - so I knew what to expect: a mish-mash of tracks at the start - eventually converging into a well trodden path to the top. A fairly relentless slog rewarded by spectacular views if you are lucky. Follow the ridge and you can't go wrong.
The track starts just beyond the telegraph pole with about fifteen evenly spaced black and orange track marker poles, guiding you nicely through the tussock and the myriad of tracks. Inevitably we branched off too early and missed most of that. Obliviously we were on one of the many trails - that eventually petered out - but it didn't really matter. We carried on in an off-piste fashion for about 5 minutes before hitting the main track again.
Slowly, slowly we ascended into the cloud. Very foggy indeed. The condensation gathered in my hair until it resembed a shower cap. Rivulets of dew gathered on my forehead and dripped off my nose. The tussock ended and we slogged on up through the scree. A young couple with their border collie came leaping energetically down the hill towards us and we all stopped and chatted. They told us that it was sunny at the summit. This wonderful news gladdened our hearts and our pace subsequently quickened.
One hour and ten minutes from the carpark and still in the fog, the trail levelled out at a cairn - the false summit I had read about in one of the blogs. Someone had arranged the stones nicely along either side of the path. After that things got steep again. Nicole, who was in front, suddenly shouted out that she could see blue sky overhead. A couple of minutes later the fog cleared to reveal the most intense blue skies. Ataahua.
An hour and 45 minutes from the carpark the ridge flattened out to a local maximum (a mathematical term) and a large cairn. But was this Foggy Peak or what? There were more peaks ahead. The phone connection was patchy and the topo had not downloaded so we couldn't be sure. Eventually it came on tile by tile and, yes, we were on Foggy Peak Summit (1741 m).
The blue skies came and went as the fog drifted past in waves, revealing layers of peaks. Magical. We caught glimpses of Castle Hill Peak and Mt. Torlesse in the distance. In between them is The Gap which we couldn't see but I would like to go there one day. We set up the timer and took silly summit selfie snaps and donned puffers because the wind was icy. Nicole shared squares of Doris Plum chocolate which hit the spot.
For a moment the cloud cleared completely to the north and below we got a tantalizing snippet of the fabulous landscape. Lake Lyndon, the road up towards Castle Hill. Even a few patches of snow in the distance. Te Wai Pounamu - South Island spectacular. But not for long. The cloud swirled back in again.
We started our descent. The scree was just the right size and we got good purchase even on the gravelly bits. The cloud was still around and we were soon in the soup. But the going was good. We stayed on-piste for the lower section of the mountain this time and could soon hear the cars hurtling along State Highway 73 and the Jacob's brakes of the trucks. The cloud cleared and the road came into view.
We headed to Dalethorpe House Cafe in Darfield - close on closing time but we squeezed in a bowl of beetroot and quinoa salad and a lemon tart. And coffees too of course.
