The weather forecast for the weekend was for strong Westerlies however I identified that Mt Alford ZL3/CB-568 would be somewhat sheltered and worth climbing. I did my usual planning and checked that the easement would be open by using my photographs from last year - 20 Sep to 20 Oct the sign said...
Saturday saw an early start, leaving home at 6:45am to get there for an 8:30am start and QRV by 11:30am. Upon arrival I was greeted with a new sign on the gate proclaiming the easement closed, despite the permanent signage still showing the later dates
This day is not going well! I reasoned there must be another road so backtracked and found it, Homestead Road then Algidus Road. Soon I was at the base of Peak Hill and ready to start the hike at 9:45am. Quite windy but warm enough and only a light dusting of snow visible.
The climb was uneventful until I stopped at about 60 vertical meters from the summit to update the locals on my progress. Geoff ZL3QR passed on a message that I was to ring home ASAP... Ominous. Hmm, no cell coverage until I get to the top of this one so off I set, hustling to the summit. Mark ZL3AB called in from his Banks Peninsula summit with more information that my daughter had had a blowout in Otago but was OK. I pushed on to the summit and sure enough - cell coverage! Caught up with the full info - the car was badly damaged and being towed to Dunedin but they'd need a lift home due to have a dog with them, they couldn't fly! I made 4 quick 2m simplex contacts and hustled down the slippery (from snow melt) hill. Only fell over once (and took it a little slower after that). The wind was gusting 40 kmh which made the ridge traverse interesting but not dangerous.
 |
| Looking West to the Alps - note Nor West Arch above |
Once I reached the car, a quick snack and then I set off South via SH72, the Inland Scenic Route (beautiful road, lots of SOTA summits!) and made it to Dunedin about 5pm. Packed up their gear and we were off back to Christchurch! I arrived home at 10:25pm. Google tells me it was a 15 hour/860 km day!
Lessons learnt/reinforced:
1. Don't rely on last year's notes - check the DOC website for current closures etc...
2. Make sure your partners, kids etc have contact details for your SOTA buddies, in this case my daughter contacted David ZL3DRN who alerted the rest of the troops and the message was passed as soon as I was reachable. Fantastic work, thanks guys.
What a day! Very thankful it all worked out as well as it did. For interest, the rear tyre of their Landcruiser Prado blew out at 100 kmh causing them to clip a power pole and come to rest in a ditch. Passenger side window broken, wing mirror destroyed and multiple front suspension components bent/broken. Skillful driving by my daughter's partner as there was oncoming traffic - it could have been so much worse...
Here's how Google saw my day:
