This is a re-visit to a very nice summit in the North Canterbury foothills, located between Mt Oxford and Mt Richardson. At 1041m it's a bit more than a "hill"! The views are expansive, back to the alps, across into Lees Valley and across the plains.
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| Across into Lees Valley |
I had planned to do this in the last weekend of the winter bonus period and had carefully planned a route that was on Conservation land from the Lees Valley Road and would avoid having to seek permission to cross farmland. I headed up off the road and straight into thick bush - genuine bush-bashing and, after 1/2 hour of climbing, i stopped to check the GPS and wondered why it was blurry. Went to adjust my glasses which were gone.... Lost somewhere in the bush. With risk factors mounting, i abandoned the attempt and followed the breadcrumb GPS trail back down. No sign of my glasses but I did find a nice Silva compass! Home early, chased everyone else and went to Specsavers!
A week later, I decided to have another crack - this time via the farmers land and nice track!! I rang him on Friday and permission was readily granted. David ZL3DRN decided I couldn't be trusted on my own so came along to keep an eye on me ;-)
Gale force Nor Westers were forecast for the afternoon so we headed up fairly early and found the start of the track. You need to scramble up a bank about 10m around Ladbrooks Corner where your car (preferably SUV, the road is pretty rough) is parked (don't block the gate!) See the GPX track on the SOTA Maps site. The start of the track has several warning signs about being private land - do not ignore these, make sure you have rung and asked for permission to cross (he is very sensitive about trespassers but very accommodating if you ask). The track heads up the ridge through gorse initially but soon opens out into a nice track, sporadically marked. It's a straight-forward climb to the first summit at point 1030, marked Ladbrooks Hill on the topomap. This is not the SOTA summit, you need to continue South East to the next summit at 1041m.
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| East with the Port Hills on the horizon |
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| West to the Southern Alps |
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| Panorama showing a nice flat summit and spectacular views |
The summit is a large flat area, marked with a rock cairn. Plenty of room for big antennas if you are so inclined. The weather was great, a light NW breeze and warm. We found a spot that would be sheltered if wind came up and set up the HF antenna before working the locals on 2m FM. Mark ZL3AB called in to let us know he was about 30 min away from the summit of Mt Alford.
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| Looking South towards Mark ZL3AB on Mt Alford (on horizon). Mt Oxford on right |
HF was tough with the A index at 13. I worked the ZL HF chasers on CW including Jacky ZL1WA, John ZL1BYZ and Wynne ZL2ATH and a couple of VKs. Mark called on 2m for an S2S and then David took over on HF SSB, working a string of ZL and VK stations and really enjoying himself.
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| David hard at work |
The Nor Wester was starting to build so we decided to pack up and adjourn back to the first summit for lunch in the sun (and shelter) and then headed back down the track with an uneventful descent.
Permission required: The first 300m is across private land. Ring Tim 029 2359909 the day before and request access. He'll ask you to txt your car registration number and your approx entry and exit times.
Directions: Drive to Lees Valley Road (just North of Oxford) and head towards Lees Valley. It's about a 1/2 hour drive along a rough road. Over the Middle Bridge, past a set of yards and you come to Ladbrooks Corner where two power lines meet at the road. Park on the corner (away from the gate!) and walk about 10m further along the road and you'll find the access point.
Spark and Vodafone 4G coverage at the summit (but not along the valley road)
All Canterbury repeaters accessible.
Walking Time: 1 hour 20 to the summit, about the same on descent. 540m elevation gain.
