Has anyone done this? Seeking the benefit of your experience...
Yup, the first time I chickened out on one section along with a mate after Frank began doing civil engineering manouevres on the ridge to stabilise it. The sight of boulders bouncing down into the abyss unnerved us so we bailed with a reluctant Frank following, down into the head of the E. Hawdon via a scree and a stream.
The next time I was determined not to let my nervousness get the better of me so I managed to travel along all the ridge. There was that one place where things were a bit exposed and the rock none too stable that I didn't hang around in too long...I suspect it's a lot easier doing it north to south than the other way around.
Checked with Frank where this unpleasant section was. It was at Point 1657. There was only this one unpleasant spot on the ridge, I recall.
Between 1445 and 1520 there is the head of a wee stream and here there was a bit of water to drink. It looked like a nice wee spot to visit. When Frank and I did the traverse we exited via the ridge 1.5km downstream of the confluence of the East with the main Hawdon. At this time of year hopefully with the recent cold snap it's put paid to the wasps.
This post has been edited by the author on 15 April 2015 at 20:22.
Thanks, Honora. Just the sort of insight I was seeking.
Was the scree and stream on the east flank of Mt Valiant? Descending from the saddle past point 1732? It's hard to tell from the map but it looks like it could be a bit hairy at the top of the descent.
It also looks like a descent from the ridge between points 1708 and 1735 could be a goer.
descending from the low point, se of valiant and nth of 1732 is fine. Steep scree eases off after a couple hundred meters. The creek down to east hawdon biv, near the end is easiest on the TR.
This post has been edited by the author on 15 April 2015 at 18:50.
Yes, that's straightforward alright. The bit I didn't like was 4km south of there...We dropped into the scree just south of Pt 1657 and sidled via it in a NNW direction into the stream which is the most downstream of the 3 streams draining close together into the Hawdon.
Sorry, I'm running on the old NZGD 49 system so the grid ref for where we hit the stream is: 241 580. Hopefully you will have more nerve than I did and stay on the ridge though.
This post has been edited by the author on 15 April 2015 at 20:30.
