Craigieburn Range
Hi,
within a few months I will start my walk of the length of the South Island. One part of the route will be from Cass via Cass Valley and Harper River to Lake Coleridge. I thought it may be more interesting to get to Lake Coleridge via the Craigieburn Range. On thhe map this looks like it's quite a nice ridge walk. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people walking this ridge though, as there's not much information to find on the internet.
Is is possible to walk the whole length of the Craigieburn Range? Or is this an alpine undertaking?
Harold
Hi Harold,
I'm assuming that you plan to access the ridge from Cass Saddle and descend south of Porters Skifield?
Its certainly not alpine/technical in high summer but depending on the weather it can be extremely exposed to norwesterly or southerly winds.
The ridge meanders a bit and there are no water sources, especially if you end up spending a night out.Depending on where you drop off the ridge its between 20 to 30kms. On a still, hot day up there you will cook. But by the time you get to do it you will no doubt be very fit:)
what people dont realise, when its hot and windy you dehydrate faster, sweat evaporates faster and the body sweats more to replace the evaporated sweat. plus the wind dries the skin out. where the air is dry it can pull moisture from the skin...
En route, you can always descend to the ski fields to get water but as 1stridor says, there's no standing water along this route. The terrain is straightforward but a bit of a scree (talus) bash. A Craigieburn traverse was immortalised in the Press newspaper by John Henzell recounting the transformation of "Max the Meek".
http://www.ctc.org.nz/index.php?option=com_tripreport&task=view&id=155
Thanks for these comments. Very useful. Dropping down to a ski field is an opportunity of course, but apparently I'd better take plenty of water anyway. This opens up new possibilities.
Harold
CTC link has changed, it is now: http://www.ctc.org.nz/index.php/trip-reports?goto=tripreports%2F155
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| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | HaroldZ |
| On | 3 November 2012 |
| Replies | 5 |
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