A MORNING ON MT. EGMONT.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 February 1916, Page 3

A MORNING ON MT. EGMONT.

A PICTURESQUE DESCRIPTION. (By "Tourist.") Some event? in one's life stand out in the memory never, to be forgotten, such an event, for instance, as the ascent of Mount Egmoht, the great cloud piercer. The writer realised a longfelt ambition when he made the excursion on Friday, ,the 11th inst. The part}consisted of Messrs.W. H. Luscombe and T. Sutton, of New Plymouth, and J. C, ( Redmond, of Wellington, and Miss I. P, I Newell, of Hawera. It was an unusual experience to be roused from sleep at 3 a.m., but this was necessary in order | that the heat of the day might be avoided when making tlie ascent, and also | that, if possible, the summit should be reached before the familiar morning mist covering had had time to form. With Guide H. Williams in' charge we left Tahurangi hostelry (North Egmont) in good spirits at 4 a-tn., after breakfast. The walk through the beautiful bush, illuminated in .weird fashion by the light of the guide's hurricane lamp, was impressive. Not a sound disturbed the grim silence save the movements and voices of the climbers.- In due course we emerged from the bush and reached Humphries' Castle)" about 4,000 feet above sea level. There we paused a while to watch the sun rise above a great plain of snowy white clouds, which stretched far beyond our vision, a striking sight. Mt. Ruapehu could be seen in its solitary grandeur, towering above the sea of clouds,'a castle in an Arctic waste. Over Ngaurulioe's crater hung a column of smoke. . Turning seawards, the s.s. Rarawa, from Onelmnga, was plainly discerned stea'ming as if through close-bound icebergs., As we continued our journey, the humble source of the large Stony River, came in sight; its resemblance, as it wound its way through the gorges, to a great snake was very marked. So buoy.ojn.t<vv°as the air that it seemed a very short time indeed when, after our worthy guide had prepared us for an agreeable , surprise. we reached the big rock'which marks the 0000 ft, limit. On top of the rod; was a delicious little .pool, of water, which we sampled and pronounced good. Here the first photographic group was taken by Mr. Williams. Keeping steadily on, we ploughed our way through the scoria, which, fortunately, was not so loose as it might have been, as the previous night's rain had bound it; somewhat. Finally, after scrambling over a rocky face, we reached the lip of the icecovered crater, and, following in the wake of our guide, as he cut steps with his pick, gained the opposite side and mounted the highest pinnacle. A glorious panorama lay before us of sea, plain and mountain scenery. The clouds, thousands of feet below, prevented a clear view all round, but the sun gained in strength sufficiently-to enable us to pick out many objects of interest. The beautiful Dawson Falls lay at our feet, the coast line to. Wangaiiui showed up plainly, and the South Island could be dimly seen. Looking down the western slopes of the mountain one is forcibly reminded of scenes from .'Dante's Inferno, so awesome is the;appearance of the deeply cut gorges. After a further inspection of Nature** ' wonderful handiwork we rested, had. a' welcome meal, and were photographed in various positions on the ice, 'with our alpenstocks and the guide's ice-pick conspicuously displayed. We* then smarted on the downward journey, taking a new route which saved rough' walking. We arrived in amplUj. tim«»for lunch.

As conclusive'evidence of the invigorating effect of the mountain air it should be mentioned that none of the ]>arty were fatigued after the climb, although two of them arrived a few days before much rundown in health. Guide Williams, whn -had a strenuous week, having climbed the mountain four times during that rjjsjsct." , was Very careful to regulate the pace throughout. We took 4 hours for the ascent, were 1 hour '2O minutes in the crater, and occupied 2 hours in the descent. The afternoon was pleasantly spent in playing some keenly-contested games of croquet on the lawn in front of the hostelry.