Qwikly Bagging the Summit of Mt Robert
To finish off our four days of adventure we made the decision to head up to Lake Rotoiti, although we did consider Lake Chalice over near Mt Fishtail and Wakamarina, but decided against it as it is a longer driving time than our previous trips over to Marlborough already this weekend. The relatively short jaunt of ninety minutes to St. Arnaud was a lot more attractive.
After discussing our desire to see a wild deer during the roar as we climbed Mt Fishtail on Friday, our drive up to the lake gave us the opportunity to do so as we rounded a corner and there is was, nice and majestic on the road in front of us, before it turned and bolted into the forest.
We got to the road end and headed up the aptly named Pinch Gut Track which is just short of 5km up and over to Bushline Hut. As we ascended we got some great views of the lake and the rain that was making it’s way towards us. We’ll have to hurry up if we are to beat it.
Once at the summit it is a short wee hop and skip to Relax Shelter (a bunk-less hut positioned to relax and shelter before descending or heading further into the back country). After a brief pause, we pushed on and broke into a jog as we descended past the privately owned Kea Hut and got to Bushline Hut and the crowds of people there.
The return journey is also just short of 5km of undulations and at times steep descent back to the car park that also gave us great views of the lake. After the weekend of adventure my legs felt like someone had been hitting them with a tenderising hammer, so jogging was minimised to the gentlest of grades. Too steep up or down caused a reasonable level of discomfort if we were to run.
The four and a half hour walk was covered in two and a quarter hours. Jogging when we could helped speed things up.
All up we had a great weekend pushing our body with both running/hiking and mountain biking.
Previous day’s adventures can be found:
- Prelude
- Day One (Mt Fishtail)
- Day Two (Hot Lap of Silvan Forest)
- Day Three (Push Bike Adventures in the Wakamarina)
Click here to view the adventure on Strava.
Summary of today’s hike.
Max altitude: 1421 m
Starting altitude: 912 m
Distance: 9.03 km
Altitude gained: 633 m
Duration of hike: 2 hr 15 min