 |
| Mt Lyndon seen from Trig M (June 2019) |
We agreed to meet early (7am at Sheffield) to beat the forecast North Wester. We arrived at Lyndon Lodge soon after and were walking by 7:40am in calm conditions. Ascent was uneventful and we made good time to the summit, arriving about 9:15am - much earlier than anticipated. We had stopped just below the summit to put on jackets and beanies as there was quite a cold breeze...
We took the mandatory summit photos and admired the spectacular views before setting up.
 |
| Me on the summit with Lake Coleridge in the background. Peak Hill CB-542 behind the lake on the left of shot. |
 |
| Panorama - amazing vistas right around |
 |
| Looking across to Porter Heights ski-field - Mt Enys CB-152 on the right (with snow) |
 |
| David is already planning my next big challenge - Castle Hill Peak CB-241 |
Let's qualify it on VHF first, it'll be easy... Patchy 4G coverage meant spotting was difficult and we were much earlier than alerted. Fortunately Geoff ZL3QR heard us and we were away, thanks to Geoff, Jim ZL3ND, Gavin ZL3GAV and Rick ZL3RIK. It was nice to hear Oliver ZL3OOC call us too.
By this time, we were feeling very cold despite all our gear - looks like I left it a bit late to put the extra layers on during our ascent and should have carried all my extra merino layers - lesson learned.
As we had the HF antenna set up and knowing John ZL1BYZ would be waiting, David called CQ on 40m SSB. Sure enough, there he was! David saw me struggling to write the contact in his logbook, my hands were shaking uncontrollably and he made the (correct) call to pack up and get moving. David measured the windchill at 3 degrees C from a 20kmh Nor Wester (they certainly aren't warm in the high country!)
We packed down, had a quick snack and set off - "feel like taking the valley route back?" he asks innocently. "There are scree slopes, they are great fun". Feeling better once moving, I agreed. It wasn't until we were committed that he casually mentioned there might be swamps and oh, a waterfall to negotiate too! David was determined to get my shiny new boots dirty!
 |
| Nearing the bottom of my very first scree descent - what a rush!! |
 |
| This sure beats plodding down a track! |
 |
| Waterfall- spectacular but required a bit of turpentine bush-bashing to skirt it |
The scree "surfing" was amazing fun and of course as we got down further, the sun came out! Negotiating the waterfall was tricky and was soon followed by chest-high matagouri, swampy ground and even a bit of beech forest thrown in. A really good way to come down but definitely not for the solo activator - you need someone with you if coming down this way.
A great summit and definitely on my "annual list".
Where: Mt Lyndon via Lyndon Lodge end track
Permission: None needed, Korowai Torlesse Tussocklands Park
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes ascent with stops (1 hour 16 moving time)
Mobile: 4G at summit (Spark) but patchy
Repeaters: all Christchurch repeaters
