Our Mountain Trip.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12452, 5 January 1904, Page 3

Our Mountain Trip.

« On December 29th (Tuo4Jay) we left New Plymouth, at 7 a..m. with three horses anfd at D.l's a. in. arrive® at the gate 'of tne Forest .Resem c, winch, forms a belt six miles deep all around Mount JDgmont. We were then four miles away from the Mountain House, and the horses had elevated his .£5O feet, for the aneroid we carried marked 30. Ooini, leaving, and now; read 29.25 in. The third mile {jost (fr.om House) was passed at 10 a.m., 250 feel above gate, and , o/ua.; hearts fainjed within \us for sojine wag i.adi cihanged the 3 into an 8. At 10.35 the ! second post .was pas,sed, 600 feet abpve the gate. At 11.30 we were still /one miJe from tjhe House, having aspeniled 1000 feet above t<he gate. At 12.15 the Mountain House was reached 1890 feet above the gate, 3140 feet above the sea. The aneroid hftd fallen to 27.25 in. TILE ACCOMMODATION HOUSES. i There are two separate buildings, viz. : tjie cottage, renting for 40s a week, worth fay 3s a week in town ; aax& a big bam made from the odd b&rracjks on Marsland Hill, 20 yarfcis long by 8 yards wide, jdividejjl inside into a centre room, 30 feet long, and by 24 feet wide, and having on the west side two rooms with. 8 bunks each, for women and the same on opposite side for men. The roof iron ia full of nail holes, eacjh of whi|ch leaves "its mark/ on the floor when it rains, lor (wonderful to relate) the floor and the iron roof can gaze at each pth.er and are not asframed. This of oojurse is a serious matter, . for after subset mountain air chills very quickly, anH travellers have limited rugs and blankets. The water tfupply cqmes entirely from the roof, and water is limited, consequently no baths, no wells, no babbling mountain torrents. We walked from 5.30 a-tfn. to 1 p.m. carrying our lunch anjd carried it badk "uneaten, having met no water. The tank water I found haid a temfjerature pi 52 degrees, an excellent way of getting at the mean temperature of the place. I expect it would be 60 degrees in New Plymouth. The mountain looks very imposing at the buck ; occupying an angle of 25 degrees out of the possible 90 degrees from horizon to (zenith. iWater boils at 207 Ueg. at the mountain house. Some people made coffee at the top and coimpilaiincd' it seemeil so cold ; 200 dcg. w,ould be the boiling poijit at the top, anjcl an egg would take five minutes ito boil instead of 3£. The banoaneter being 30.00 in New riyanouth would be 21.47 at the top. The bush is very fine for the first mile, less so during tho next, while at the mountain hofuso it is only sicxme 20 to 30 feet high, anjd at an altitude of 4000 feet the trees cease. Moss flourishes in great perfection frtotm 2000 feet to 4000 ; at 5300 feet all vegitation ceases and snow begins. l\he flowers are chiefly wnito immortelles anil a white Alpine polyanthus, olnly a gigantic yellow buttercup. Hares exist u,p to the snow: Birds after 3000 feet, very rare. FlicH— tho bluebottle very nlumcrous tiy to 500Q feet ; liousellica absent, fc^pifdors on ground (no webs). HuUuiMics. Tho' sanilfly is a -.nuisance 'u|p l<> 4000 foot., i Tho trulex irritana (coinni'on ll(ia) 1 have not noted a singlo instance, and the same i may say of mpsqiuitos. Fii-st snow met S'J OH fept tibwe t,t-a. itfow as to Now l^Miuoiitih's a-sset (Moiint Egniont). It jh quite ovUlejit if Nctv Plyimouth Uues not awaken t4w will have to cry "the glory has departed." AlrnrtUy thoro am four mountain nouses at Knuol/u W., Knponga IS., fcJlratfior-d N.E., anfl this

one N. Stratford is the danger anti this railway lino, ostensibly for lime stone and road metal, is in reality ■ for tourists. What is neeclecl is a telephone to New Plyrno'utih, a road 111 for carriages tbrrtuph the reserve, aJX a road for paok horses ancl sacljtl'lc horses to jEPumpHrics' castle, 2990 feel from the iop.< There s|ho|uld' be somt sort of a shelter at tihe top wit]: emergency pro-visions to establish confidence, an.fl all visittors sjiould be taxeji to keep it up. Fog, rain anil wind arc the dangers, ai\d no Calytain Eldwin can i^retdict the moment one of these »\ay arrive. Should a dislocation or fracture ocdur up the motuntain what vroiuld resiult with no means of getting the sufferer dow>n ? l^he present building is quite unsuitable for its work. The roof oi ancient iron, full of nail iholes ; with no lining of wood chving coH mJust condense the inswle vapour ancl keep up a shower bath. During rain this ffliower would come from inside and outside. Another problem is to keen <fhe noisy ones from Histurbing- the sleepers. The noise is at present in tihe centre, the sleepers at each encl, so that the noise mlay pro'diuce its baneful effects to greatest aHvantage. Each nigiht I sldpt there parties got tip at from 2 a.m. 4 a.^n., anH the everlasting- cards and piano weait on to nearly 11 p.m. It seems this mountain Ji6u.se is intenHefl io sniit people living aro'ujivd in ihiolding a picnic lasting- frtojn t^Vo to seven. Says., Tnideeid I r d.o n.ot'know if sheets aa?jd blankets coulrl be g-ot by travellers looming in the oixlinaiy iwiay of tou-rists from a Kotel. I belietve meals at ]s 6<3 can be haH. 'At all events to promote perfect icomfort tihe following changes shotoUll at ofnee be tnaHe s— (A. number of detached loan-to huts, say Bxßxß feet shlouH be bluilt in lots of four, 50 yaii'ds a^parfc, eaol\ providocl with one 'or two buinks atnd heated by steam pi,T)cs, an atteaiidant remaining up all night to stoke-tilp; wells sunJk to provide an "unfailing water aun/ply for hot anS cold batihs. Taking a btitoiket of water frotn tihe tanik into the bush (as at present) is not good enough while tihe army of pandflies is so nifmeroute ; a gfoofl j drive, made through Forest ReserK'e (fo"ur miles) ; a telephone to INew Plyim'ototh : a track for pack horses and a shelter made at base of Hjuiinpihries' Castle, three h'«urs ifotitmey ahove, mountain house, a Histalnce of 2990 feet lrom the top ; all ambtulanfce appliances kept an 3an emergency stock of proivisions also : a tew bags of lime and somd wiouW be needed arid mlagnificent building stone exists at l Hiumnh.Ties' Castle. AacetnHimg above this is a cliff of 80 or 100 ft. It should be ramombeirefd thai ihe top 19 what people want tlo see, anfl the over threatening dangers of fog, rain, and storm niay come on at any moment, and all people wishing to see the crater weigh tihes© pros and cons beforehand ; there should be a shelter ahefl on the top to establish comfiflence, an;d ascending will never beebme general without it. Some of the fnuit tins we brought u!p aihowed picimres of the Lick Observatory, the boast of A(m.erica, with the largest telescope in the world. Alas for New Plymouth's obsen^atory, not even an opera glass, a baa'ouheter. a rain gaiuge, an anemometer, and there aihox>o be an expert meteorologist to tell when the mountain top will become dangerous, or to watch for signals of distress. The ustual plan- adopted by intending visitors is to com,nTujnicate with tiue caretaker (Mr Diuncaoi) by letter or by pigeon, post frqm tihe White Bart stables. The pigeons take about 10 minutes to cross tihe distance. A pigeon arriving rings an electric bell w(hen it stands on the Spor of its box. The paqk horses .will meet visitors by appointment at the outer edge of iho Forest Reserve to tajce xtjp baggage ; charge 5s each way for each, horse. I cannot dismiss this subject without paying a tribute to Mr Duncan afcd his asistant; their urbanity and anxiety "to make everyone at Home" could not bo exceeded. [EMttNT.