AMONG THE MOUNTAINS OF WAKATIPU. (By an Alpine Clubbist.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1994, 12 May 1892, Page 16

AMONG THE MOUNTAINS OF WAKATIPU. (By an Alpine Clubbist.)

NO. IV. The Summit and the Cairn— Return to CampBack at Glenorchy.

We watched the two mountaineers for a few minutes reluctantly retreating, and then, at> twenty-five minutes past 2, we turned our faces towards the peak, and struck up' over the half-; covered rocks. As we climbed the mists grewi thicker ; then snow began to fall, ,ahd then rain. We halted and held another council of< war. Harry said the summit of the peak was a' long way off yet ; and Kenneth, perhaps a, little upset because of the incident at the ledgei and the consequent breaking up of the party,, was inclined to give, it up. I was for going on,: for, even if it took us till 5 o'clock to| gain the peak, I reckoned we couldget back to the ice-plateau before 8: o'clock, and then once having got into oun morning's footsteps we could, with ordinary, care, make the rest of the descent safely in thei dark. The others said if I gave the word they, were ready to go on ; so, without further, de-i liberation, I said "Forward," and once more' we resumed our journey up through the surg-j ing mists. I now relieved Harry of the arduous , work of breaking the steps, and then Kenneth > took a turn at it, so that we made good progress. The slopes were fairly easy now, and, there was no hand-and-knee work— projecting j rocks, which assisted us greatly in climbing,! holding the soft snow securely. All went well, till Harry, who was again leading, was sild-| denly seized with a fainting fit, and would have i fallen agaiust the rock had I not caught and \ steadied him. We propped him up as well as i we could on the snowy ledge and gave, him a double dose of some medicine which he carried with him in a small, phial in case of emergency. This brought him ; to in a few minutes, but he was too weak to ; proceed. Here was a fresh difficulty staring: us in the face. The Fates, unrelenting still, , pursued us with their ill luck, and it was evident that they did not wish us to set foot on the top of Earnslaw. I was for returning at i once, but Harry would not hear of it. He said we would top the peak if wo went on, and he himself was quite content to remain where he , was and rest till our return. Seeing he was so much better we decided to take his advice, and leaving him in a safe place, with a warning not to stray from the spot, I led off at a good pace, and Kenneth followed in my tracks. For a few yards the snow was harder, and we chipped a step occasionally with our axes. We were soon on an easy slope which led us on to the main arete, but we could not tell how far the peak was ahead. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of the ice cornice looming up through the foy. and at twenty minutes past 3, with a loud "Hurrah!' 1 we stepped on to the topmost pinnacle of the peak. Our first glance was ahead for some sign of Harry Birlcy's cairn, and there, pure enough, it was, with the black rocks showing through a covering of snow and icicles. The flagpole, too, was standing, worn quite smooth and white by the pelting hail and rain of the winter storms, and covered with beautiful frost and snow work, but of the flag there was not a vestige left— it had long since been blown to tatters, and had no doubt found a resting place on the upper slopes of the Birley glacier. There was no time to lose now, so, screwing my camera to the top of my iceaxe, I quickly took a couple of photographs. We theri proceeded to demolish the cairn to get the coveted shilling which was to vindicate Harry Birley's honour. Carefully we removed the stones one by one, and at last, near the bottom, snugly ensconced in a small Irish moss bottle, just as Harry had said it would be found, laythe bent and .battered shilling. We had no coin with us which we could leave, so I scribbled a record of the ascent on a leaf of my note-book, putting it into the bottle, and again building the cairn over it. Then we devoted a few minutes to the view. It was sublimely grand. To the eastward we peered over the cornice on to the steep upper slopes of the Birley Glacier. Towards Wakatipu all view was shut out by the dense mist. The peak sloped steeply down to the great Earnslaw Glacier which we could just see looming dimly out of cloudland. The wonderful view of mountain and lake as far as the West Coast Sounds which Harry had beheld on the occasion of his ascent was denied to us. To the westward and north, however, it was clearer, and a glorious panorama of alpine scenery lay before us. We looked across the valley of the Dart river, out over the Cosmos Range, 8000 ft high, to the western sea, glaciers and peaks innumerable rising above the scattered banks of cloud. Nearer at hand and more to the uorthward the ice land, out of which rose Mount Anstead, Mount Tyndal, and Mount Edward— all over

8000 ft high-4tretched away before us, to where Aspiring reared his rocky pinnacle above the great glacier basin. To the eastward again A multitude of dense, white fleecy clouds, Were wandering In thick flocks among the mountains, , Shepherded by the slow, unwilling wind. There were wonderful effects— ever changing, and most fascinatingly strange— of form, and light and shade. The great authority on cloudland has said that "there is no effect of sky possible in the lowlands which may not in equal perfection be seen among the hills ; but there are effects by tens of thousands, for- ever invisible and inconceivable to the inhabitant of the plains, manifested among the hills in the courso of one day, .... and for the beauty of it, there is more in a single wreath of early cloud, - pacing its way up an avenue of pines, or pausing among the points of their fringes, than in all the white! heaps that fill the arched sky of the plains from one horizon to the other. And of the nobler manifestations, — the breaking of their troublous seas ngaiust the crags, their black spray sparkling with lightning; or the going forth of the morning along their pavements of moving marble, level laid between dome and dome of snow ;— of these things there can be as little imagination or understanding in an inhabitant of the plains as of the scenejy of another planet than his own." All this we had seen with our own eyes among the mountains, and even an "Alpine Clubbist" could forgive the man who said that we regard the Alps as soaped poles in a bear garden, which we set ourselves to climb and tlide down again with shrieks of delight, because of his having written • such a delightful panegyric on the ' mystery of the sky. • But wo must come down from our airy pinnacle, and, after gazing our fill at the' alpine glory, the question was could we get down. The snow was getting softer and softer in the,, warm, humid atmosphere, and there was danger of our going down in a small avalanche on the steepest slopes. We struck into our. tracks, and followed them quickly downwards till we came upon Harry, who had just woke up from a sound sleep induced by the morphia which his medicine contained. He had a, soft enough bed, though a cold one, and he felt much better for the enforced rest which ho had taken. As we rejoined him at a quarter to four we had a bright glimpse of sunshine, and stopped for a while to further enjoy the view toward the western sea. Then we put .on the rope and began the descent in real earnest. The lndge which had given us, so much trouble on the upward journey now gave me some concern, and in order to avoid ifc ( we made a slight detour to the left, making for what looked through the mists an easier route' to the lower snow slopes. We soon found,' however, that we should have made-, quicker progress had we kept to our original route, for our new route terminated in a steep " chimney "j or culoir in which the snow was veryi treacherous. There was, however, no time to bo lost as- the thaw that had set in was; making the snow more dangerous every minute, and there was some likelihood of a warm rain coming on and making matters still worse. Besides we were anxious to get' .back to the plateau where we knew the other i members of the party would be waiting] anxiously for us. • While we halted for a' minute to choose- the best route a small stream > of melting snow trickled down the back of my j neck from, an overhanging, rock, so without 5 moreadowe went straight at the "chimney."] We proceeded very cautiously. I led, Harry' was in the middle, and Kenneth last.! Only one moved at a time. Harry \ lowered me <Jown with the rope for about, 15ft, then I buried myself to the waist and also secured a good anchorage by driving the , .handle of- my ice-axe deep into the snow. Birley followed, Kenneth gradually paying out the rope from above. - I then moved down another stage tj>,some rocks that overhung on the left, and after I had secured a good hold, "Kenneth got down over the worst bit by stepping on fcr Harry's shoulders. This got us past the worst rocks, and swinging round to the right we w6re quickly in our upward footsteps and on good holding ground, so that we were able to, .dispense with the rope. The other rock \ydrk was easy. Moving along at a good swinging pace we soon reached the last snow slope, and then, making a fine glissade down the last 200 ft. we rejoined our companions, who for the last hour had been patrolling the plateau to' keep themselves warm. The bent shilling was duly presented to my wife, we made a hasty meal of the remainder of our provisions, and once more roped in line we proceeded to cross the lower snow slopes. After we had passed the crevasses we had some splendid glissading ; this novel experience being 60 delightful to Kenneth and Davie that they felt inclined to climb the slope again, for the purpose of repeating it. At 6.35 we were at the foot of the glacier, and camp was reached at' 7, the whole expedition occupying exactly 12 hours. Next morning was spent in photographing some of the lovely views which were, to bo had in every direction to which we could point the camera ; in exploring the source of the Lennox Falls and in striking camp. The lower camp was reached without adventure, and after the horses had been caught we talked over the events of the past three days as we sat round the camp fire enjoyiug our well-earned tea. There was not ono of us but would gladly have gone over the whole journey again. True we had bad luck and bad weather, but though the view from the peak was limited, owing to the mists, the grandeur of the scenery was, if anything, increased by the wonderful cloud effects. The- only dangerous portions of the ascent were at the ice-ledge, where Harry Birley slipped, and in descending the steep " chimney." But for Harry's eagerness to dispense with the rope, tibwever, the danger in the former case would have been obviated ; while, in the latter case, by skill and knowledge, we reduced it to a minimum. In good weather, aud under favourable circumstances as regards the condition of the snow, the ascent during February and March would not be a difficult one, and I make no doubt that had we been more fortunate in these respects my wife would have trodden the summit of the peak. The long ride down the" Rees Valley in the evening was still interesting, and as we looked back through the forest at the snowy amphitheatre at the head of the Rees Valley, the scene forcibly recalled Bret Harte's lines from " Dickens in Camp " : — Above the clouds the moon was slowly drifting, The river sang below. The dim Sierras far beyond uplifting Their minarets of snow. Our horses, with one exception, were all lame i

with the rough work over the mountain track and the boulders of the Recs river, so' that ife was midnight when we reached Glenorchy. After all our trials and difficulties wo had, however, succeeded in our undertaking, and we felt more than satisfied with having vindicated Harry Birley's honour. Both my brother and myself recognised, however, that not wo but rather those who had failed ,in, tho ascent were the heroes of the hour — Harry, because of tho proof of his ascent alone and unaided ; ray wife for doing what no woman had hitherto attempted ; and Davie, for so generously foregoing his share of the honour. There would be with us, however, as long as wo lived, the remembrance of the wonderful scenes through which we had passed, and the satisfaction of having overcome all obstacles and succeeded in the difficult task which we had set ourselves, for as Harry in his jocular moments would say—* •Us got up, didn't us ? " 1