Kenton Track - Britten and Cattlestop Crags

Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Distance: 4.62 km
Start: Rockview Place, Mt Pleasant.
Finish: Same place, it's a loop
Date: Friday 22nd November 2024
Warning: The track below the crags goes through rockfall zones

Kenton Track - from Rockview Place up to Summit Road - is a pretty tame Port Hills meander, but about 15 minutes in, there is a nifty unmarked side track that runs down under the bluffs between Britten Crag and Cattlestop Crag.  A rockclimber's access track, and (I reckon) probably one of the more adventurous tracks in the Port Hills. With boulders perched precariously in high places, you probably wouldn't want to linger here in an earthquake. There is in fact a "Track Closed" sign at the Cattlestop Crag end. Not much good if you are accessing the track from the Britten Crag end. Which we did today.

We parked the cars at the layby on Rockview Place. Just a few meters further on at the turning bay, a small alleyway with wooden stairs at the end leads on to Kenton Track. We headed direction Summit Road, amongst the sheep, and eventually (not far from the pylon) took the unmarked turn-off, down the hill, towards the bluffs. 

This is definitely rock climbing territory. But the path is good and works its way haphazardly under the bluffs all the way past Britten Crag to Cattlestop Crag.  The crux (for us) was a scramble down some rock with strategically placed metal hand- and foot-holds. I shimmied forward on my butt and the others more or less followed suit.

Every now and then the track would branch and we mostly chose whichever option kept us as close as possible to the bluffs. On the vertical rock faces, the bolts and chalk marks from climbers could be seen. There were a few impressive caves to check out and we also hopped our way across a couple of rock falls. 

We stopped for paramanawa. A couple of paragliders were swooping down the Heathcote valley. At a certain point, each in turn hit a turbulent updraft which tipped the shute and its occupant almost upside down. Their descent suddenly looked alarming fast. The landing was smooth though and, with relief, we continued on our way. We came to the Cattlestop Crag sign.  On the reverse, the warning: "Danger Area Closed".  Oh well, too late now.

We popped out from Cattlestop Crag at the stone memorial seat of former landowner John Somerville Scott (and - subplaque - his wife Millicent Jean Scott).  A spider was crossing Summit Road as we passed by. We decided to follow the parallel (to Summit Road) mountain bike track to the spur, at which point we intersected with Kenton Track again. We descended the spur on Kenton Track through the John Britten Reserve to the corner of Longridge Drive and Clearview Lane. Apt street names. From here we worked our way back, through the flash subsivision, to the car.

It was now high time to make our way to Linda's to celebrate a rather auspicious occasion. I won't mention any numbers on this platform. We sat in the sun drinking bubbly and eating strawberries, followed by a delectible lunch and a tour of a (Friday Walkies inspired) native garden. Wonderful!  Thank you Linda!! It was so pleasant that we have decided to make this an annual event.