LURE OF THE WILD

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 81, 5 April 1930, Page 9

LURE OF THE WILD

DAWN ON THE DIVIDE FRANZ-FOX TRAVERSE STRANGE* PHENOMENA (By S. E. Mttir.) The heavens declaro the Rlory of Rod; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork. —Psalm 19:1. To ono who had never undergone such an experience before how strange it all seemed, how eerie, and yet how magnificent, how sublime! And tho hour —it was certainly early. The alarm clock. for the fifth morning in succession, three days after the termination of .the fatal blizzard, had gone off again at 1.30 a.m., and tho writer aud his guide, Tom Shcoran, of Waiho Gorge, were standing outside the new Aimer hut erected on tho Aimer Ridgo, about ,6000 ft above sea level and overlooking the Great Ice-Fall of the Franz Josef Glaciea-; we were deciding whether we would or would not attempt tho traverso that day from Aimer to Well eka, a distance of some 25 miles across the greatest snowficlds of the Southern Alps and requiring under good going conditions some 15 hours to do. The half-moon was shedding a pale light, and the stars were shining out of a fairly clear sky; all around us was a world of snow arid ice; we wore in the shadow of the rocks, and the soaring peaks of the Divide stood out as ghostly phantoms in tho distance. WIND ROARS AMONG THE PEAKS. "Listen to the wind roaring in the peaks," said Sheeran. Yes, the "roaring" could, bo heard distinctly, high .up and faint, so faint that one had to listen for it, but still most certainly a "roar." Yet all was silent and still whero we stood,, and likewise—so it seemed—all around. How queer . . . ? . . .We could not tell. . . .We decided that we could not miss this which was, perhaps, a chance; -we would go on towards The Tusk (6468 ft) in the centre of'the neve, or ice-factory of "The Franz," and if tho weather turned out unfavourably we would turn back; otherwise we would go as far as Tho Tusk and make our -decision there. Having breakfast, cutting lunches, getting ready, and tidying up the hut took time. We were ready at 3.15 a.m. Thin fleecy clouds were now racing across the sky, tho moonlight^ was fainter still, the wind was "roaring" louder among tho peaks. Sheeran lit hjs lantern —one caudle shining dimly through its four sides of mica. This seemed like the real thing—very ordinary, of course, to experienced alpinists, but who would rob a mere beginner of his thrill at this touch of romance? With Sheeran leading and the writer following close in his footsteps, sinking two feet deep into the fresh snow all the way, we climbed the steep snowfields and patches of rock leading up on to the lengthy snow-slope towards Tcichelmann Rock with its "chimney" and schrund of such, now, interesting experiences of a year ago. Those seracs of "The Franz," down below to the right there, though thoy appeared to be closed up fairly tightly now, again looked embarrassingly inviting, but fortunately as one had to follow in the guide's footsteps one was able to keep his eyes off them. It was inter-* estiag, too, to come, across fresh aval- ; anche snow spread across our routeevidence again of "those mountains that on their restless fronts," of which , Wordsworth speaks; also to hear the , occasional boom of ieo avalanches as tho ; frozen flood, with its tributaries, moved on its, never-ceasing jourmy down towards the sea. A POCKET OF HOT AIE. We were now nearing Teiehelmann Rock.. It was satisfactory to learn from Sheeran that there would be no necessity to climb "tho chimney" on' this occasion, but what of the schrund below it? . .. It had not yet opened np, although we were four days later in reaching the spot this year than last year —an. eloquent illustration of the lateness of the season and of the constant changes that are always taking place in the snow and ice-fields. Thus, there was a straight walk across to the steep ice- slope that leads up on to the neve of the Franz Josef Glacier above. But what was that weird-look-ing object towering up, close by, against Tcichelmann Rock on the left? While Sheeran roped us together the writer gazed at it; it was a formidable icecliff, about -150ffc high, resembling in the faint light an old ruined castle and leaning forward appeared as if it, were just about to topple over. On the way up the ice-slope Sheeran cut a few steps, and after quickly negotiating a schrund or two on top we stepped out on to the great Geikie snowfield and were making our way towards the Mackay Rocks. But here we experienced a wholly unexpected phenomenon in tho form of a pocket of really hot air, which extended for 200 or 300 yards or more across! How strange! —right up thero in the open, in the centre of tho second greatest ice-factory of the Southern Alps, three days after the blizzard, and all hour before dawn! How account for it? The writer frankly gives it up, and leaves it to his readers to solve the riddle. . . . Getting closer to the Mackay Rocks an enormous yawning crevasse appeared at the head of "The Franz," hundreds of yards long and from 200 to 300 yards across, and goodness knows how deep—though Sheeran was quite interested in this latter problem tho writer was not yet sufficiently blase to go nearer the edge to investi- ' gate. . . . Passing in between the crevasse and the outer one of the Mackay Rocks we turned to the right towards The Tusk, and, still sinking 2ft deep in the fresh snow all tho way, traversed tho big Chambcrlin snowlield, and commenced tho long climb up the fairly steep snow ridge to the. top. LINES OF DEAD MOTHS ON THE SNOWFIELDS. Now dawn was breaking, and with it we noticed another strange phenomenon—lines of big grey moths lying strewn all along, tho route, ono or two of them, still alive, all the rest dead. . .' . How did they get there? Had they been crossing the Divide, or had they-been blown up during the blizzard from the West Coast plain below? Probably the latter was the explanation, though the writer, not being acquainted with the ways of moths other than in • their habit of courting certain death by fluttering round a naked lamp or lighted candle, prefers, perhaps wisely, not to express a definite opinion. THE GLORY OF THE DAWN. We reached the back of The Tusk at 6.15 a.m., three hours after setting out, and took our first spell of a few minutes to get a proper appreciation of tho glory of the dawn, take a few photographs, and make our decision as to whether we v\ould go on to Weheka or turn !>ack. . . . Dawn on the Divide and \ jewed from such a point of vantage as behind The Tusk 6408 feet up, and so close to the majesty of the Divide itself —what a thrill'the memory of that brief spell brings! . . . It was one vast ethereal pageant, in which the colours, delicate and brilliant, aud always blending, were constantly i changing, creating a wonderful series of the most perfect pictures which only the Master Artist can paint. To tho cast the sun had arisen well over the Minarets-Dc la Bcche section

of the Divide, and was just emerging behind a long, windy cloud, which, dark grey in the centre and saffron, rosepink and purplo along its edges, had east the whole of the icy monarchs, the enormous snowfields of "Tho Franz," and the Baird and Kaiser Fritu Ranges in shadow; lower down,- below the cloud, towards the north-east rau brilliant streaks of crimson, silver, and gold, above it was a patch of blue sky tinged with green. Out towards the sea the sky was adorned with beautiful violet hues, while, far down below, j tho plain and coast were obliterated by a dense billowy fog, which lay asleep; overhead, high up, and extending back over the groat Davis snowh'eld a dense j grey pall vas being driven slowly from over tho Pivide, while beyond, over the basin of the Fox Glacier, was a dark mystery—the writer could not guess what; it might have been anything. T,he wind could bo heard now more loudly, roaring among the peaks, and occasionally we got a whiff, which stirred tho snow, and though warmly clad and with Balaclavas on, we felt tho chill. BEWILDERING AND GORGEOUS EFFECTS. Now the sun, in all its effulgent glory, rose into tho blue, and as it didso tho wholo colour scheme changed with the most bewildering and gorgeous effects on peaks, snowfields, and glaciers, beyond the hope of any human ever to paint in any way adequately or to describe accurately. So rapid were the changes that one can only remember those that were most vivid. Down on , the sea coast, as if by successive waves of the Great Magician's hand, the billowy fog was first transformed into the most delicate shades of mother-of-pearl, and then into more brilliant colours still, into one huge pawa shell containing, vividly and in the most intermingled blending imaginable, all tho colours of the rainbow! This gorgeous painting lasted for fully half an hour or more, when it gradually died away. . . . Peaks and snowfields, now partly in shadow, now in brilliant sunlight, were splashed in pink, dazzling white and saffron, each colour being delicately merged into the others; towards tho Fox Glacier golden shafts of sunlight shot between the peaks of tho Divide, and, spreading fanwise over the Davis snowfield, caught tho rock and snow-peaks of the Kaiser Fritz Range, burnishing them with dazzling eifeets. . . . Now, too, the mystery of what was hanging over the basin of the Fox Glacier was revealed; instead of the possible formidable dark cloud, which it had seemed before, it was a sky of the most intense blue! Now. was our chance. It was turning out to be a brilliantly fine day after all, and so wo decided to complete the traverse with Weheka still 12 hours distant. . . . Tho Minarets glittered finely in tho sunlight. How well they were named! • TRAMP ACROSS TO NEWTON PASS. While we were repacking our cameras preparatory to resuming our packs, there came several strong gusts of wind which blew first Sheeran's map and] then the writer 's hat far down tho snow-ridge and ultimately into tho bosom of "The Franz." There being insufficient time in which to recover them, we set off over the glorious Davis snowfield, three miles across, as level as a cricket pitch the whole way. Jervois (8675 ft), Meteor (8701), Aurora (8733), Spencer (9167), and Conway (9519), tho peaks of the Divide In that order and less than a mile away, rose abruptly on the left from the level snowfield.- Straight in front of us lay the upper portion Of the Kaiser Fritz Range, running off at right angles to tho Divide and separating the neve of "The Franz" and "The Fox." This sector comprised the Triad Peaks (0183, 9177, 9032), Westoe Peak (8(543), Newton Pass (7500), Mt. Halcombe (874U), Mt. Yon Bulow, the Bismarck Peaks (7587, 8324), and the Penck Ridge. What an exhilarating tramp that was across that great snowfield in* the early morning light and invigorating air, plunging two feet deep all the way into fresh, powdery snow direct from heaven! . . . By a gradual ascent up the snow slope wo reached the top of the ice-bound Newton Pass by 8 a.m., and "before crossing it to tho upper reaches of tho Fox Glacier paused to f tukc iihotographs and admire the enormous basin of the ever-wonderful Franz Josef Glacier and its magnificent array of encircling mountains, with the extremely beautiful Elie do Beaumont, clad in its everlasting "alabaster robes," standing out prominently at the far end.