Time: 5 hours and 50 minutes. Car park to summit via South Ridge Route 3.5 hours.
Distance: 10 km
Start: Lookout Road car park, Mt. Peel
Finish: Same place - it's a loop
Date: 23rd February 2024
A last minute change in the weather forecast saw us swapping our planned excursion to (cloudy) Banks Peninsular for the more gung-ho option of summitting (sunny) Little Mount Peel - Huatekerekere. Nicole, who is in training for the Inca Trail next month, was up for the challenge.
We drove State Highway 1 to Ashburton, turned off direction Mayfield and crossed the mighty braided Rangitata River. Shortly past the small settlement of (blink-and-you-will-miss it) Peel Forest (a cafe and hall and a few houses), we took a sharp left turn onto Blandswood Road and drove to the car park and signage at the end of Lookout Road. Bellbirds/korimako were tintinnabulating about the long drop (definitely worth a visit). We set off on the summit circuit in a clockwise fashion.
The first 45 minutes on the Emily Falls Track is through enchanted fuschia forest - very beautiful with the salmon trunks popping out of a carpet of crown ferns. We dropped down to cross the Rata Stream and then climbed back up to the Emily Falls turn-off - a 2 minute detour off the main track. We descended into a damp grotto where the falls tumbled down and the water of Emily Stream was crystal clear.
Back on the South Ridge Route, we continued on through the forest to the bush line where we emerged, squinting, into bright sunlight. Ferns and foliage dangled over the trail making it hard to see, but actually there is nothing more pleasing than travelling along an undulating sub-alpine ridge. Butterflies flitted about us as we made our way through alpine daises, heavily seeded tussocks and the woody shrub inaka - Dracophyllum longifolium. The latter is long-lived - approximately up to 220 years according to Wikipedia. The views across the vast expanse of the plains, framed by the hazy foothills, were fabulous. In the distance, three massive plumes of smoke were rising. Fire.
The track began to steepen. Nicole was going like the clappers and I dropped back and slogged on up, huffing and puffing and sweating profusely in the mid-day sun. Up, up, up through the rocky scrambly bit (no problem), then eventually the shelter, the port-a-loo and finally onto the summit Mount Peel - Huatekerekere (1311 m). The trig had blown off and was dangling to the side.
It had taken us 3.5 hours to get from the car park to the summit. The official track time - but still, longer than expected. It was already 2 pm and so we munched on Nicole's nut mix and then started our descent down the Deer Spur Track. A multitude of alpine grasshoppers danced about our feet as we went. They were kermit green with red under bellies. The colours of the kea. We met a group of English tourists who were close to summiting but not quite expecting such an epic day hike. At least one of them had run out of water. There was some banter about gin and tonic - they were obvious fans.
We came to the bush line and soon after, a murky tarn. Probably not potable. Further down, track maintenance was in full swing with a couple of contractors constructing some sturdy new steps. One of them was the spitting image of Richard Branson. Virgin Galactic. The stairs were unfinished and a bit tricky to negotiate with such jellied legs after five hours of walking.
Tired but happy, we got back to the car at 4:30 pm and drove back across the mighty braided Rangitata River and the smokey plains, home to Ōtautahi and our Hoa Rangatira's. An epic day hike it was.
