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Looking to chase some snow Liz and I decided to head inland to a site we visited at Easter, Lake Tennyson which is located at 1100m elevation inland from the resort town of Hanmer Springs.
After a quick journey through to Hanmer for some lunch we headed up towards the lake. The temperature hit 11 degrees (C) as we climbed and there was no sign of snow at road level and no sign of bad weather. There had obviously been snow recently as a lot of the native grasses were flattened , just a week too early!
Because of the dry road and despite some interesting small but severe pot holes in the road we were at the lake turnoff by about 1.30 so we decided to head up to Island Saddle to see if we could find some snow there, being the highest road point. There was some snow in patches across the road and the top of the saddle provided a little stretch leading to a pylon where I could finally try out the new front locker. Not really testing conditions for it but it did demonstrate the effect on steering having the front locker engaged which pretty much resulted in removing the ability to steer very effectively at all
After a few photos we headed back down but in a fit of bravery decided to tackle the steep track up to the pylon that sits on a hill just before Island Saddle. A bit doubtful and hoping that there was not going to be any hidden ice or snow we engaged low range and crawled up. The effort was worth it with great 360 views and more photo opportunities. The view heading down with the track disappearing down a drop off was pretty exciting.
Taking the turnoff into Lake Tennyson and heading to the lake shore we were the only people there. A quick survey of the possible campsites yielded some decidedly soggy looking areas. We then checked out the stream crossing that leads to the track around the southern edge of the lake. It didn’t look any deeper that when we last crossed it so with a few stone chucked in to check the depth we picked a spot close to the bend and shot through without any issue. The rutted tracks along the lake were just as rutted and pretty wet but with no gradient to cope with they were easy going. At the far campsite we found lots of frost in the shadows and the same great views as last time. After a bit of discussion we decided to camp here due to the sheltered nature and great view and despite the lack of a proper loo.
Camp was quickly set up and we took a bit of a wander to a nearby stream where Liz spotted some icicles’ on twigs, a sign that it was not going to get any warmer. There were several stone fire rings and despite earlier no fire signs we decided to light a fire with the compressed sawdust “logs” I’d bought along. These things are not easy to light without good tinder and kindling, we had newspaper but it was struggling then Liz suggested using the electric air mattress inflator to force air into the struggling fire. This worked a treat with forge like flames streaming straight out of the gaps around the logs and soon we had a self sustaining fire- note to bring different fule and fire starters next time (as well as marshmallows to toast).
We retired to bed fairly early and awoke to a -1 frost with ice over the tent and just about everything else left outside. However as soon as the sun rose it soon melted off and we packed down to start the journey back.
We decided to head up to the Amuri Ski field and passed a few cars coming down. The top portion of the access road has sharp switchback corners that the long wheelbase Jeep struggled with and a hot oil warning forced it to become a low range climb. I don’t know how some of the 2wd vehicles make it up the top part of the track! The field was open but very few skiers probably due to the thin nature of the remaining snow. We took a look around and a few pics hen it was back off home to Chch after a brief stop in Hanmer for the obligatory wander around the shops.
All in all a great weekend but a pity that there was no snow on the ground- I guess we’ll just have to head back there when there is
More photos at:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...02010/?start=0
After a quick journey through to Hanmer for some lunch we headed up towards the lake. The temperature hit 11 degrees (C) as we climbed and there was no sign of snow at road level and no sign of bad weather. There had obviously been snow recently as a lot of the native grasses were flattened , just a week too early!
Because of the dry road and despite some interesting small but severe pot holes in the road we were at the lake turnoff by about 1.30 so we decided to head up to Island Saddle to see if we could find some snow there, being the highest road point. There was some snow in patches across the road and the top of the saddle provided a little stretch leading to a pylon where I could finally try out the new front locker. Not really testing conditions for it but it did demonstrate the effect on steering having the front locker engaged which pretty much resulted in removing the ability to steer very effectively at all
After a few photos we headed back down but in a fit of bravery decided to tackle the steep track up to the pylon that sits on a hill just before Island Saddle. A bit doubtful and hoping that there was not going to be any hidden ice or snow we engaged low range and crawled up. The effort was worth it with great 360 views and more photo opportunities. The view heading down with the track disappearing down a drop off was pretty exciting.
Taking the turnoff into Lake Tennyson and heading to the lake shore we were the only people there. A quick survey of the possible campsites yielded some decidedly soggy looking areas. We then checked out the stream crossing that leads to the track around the southern edge of the lake. It didn’t look any deeper that when we last crossed it so with a few stone chucked in to check the depth we picked a spot close to the bend and shot through without any issue. The rutted tracks along the lake were just as rutted and pretty wet but with no gradient to cope with they were easy going. At the far campsite we found lots of frost in the shadows and the same great views as last time. After a bit of discussion we decided to camp here due to the sheltered nature and great view and despite the lack of a proper loo.
Camp was quickly set up and we took a bit of a wander to a nearby stream where Liz spotted some icicles’ on twigs, a sign that it was not going to get any warmer. There were several stone fire rings and despite earlier no fire signs we decided to light a fire with the compressed sawdust “logs” I’d bought along. These things are not easy to light without good tinder and kindling, we had newspaper but it was struggling then Liz suggested using the electric air mattress inflator to force air into the struggling fire. This worked a treat with forge like flames streaming straight out of the gaps around the logs and soon we had a self sustaining fire- note to bring different fule and fire starters next time (as well as marshmallows to toast).
We retired to bed fairly early and awoke to a -1 frost with ice over the tent and just about everything else left outside. However as soon as the sun rose it soon melted off and we packed down to start the journey back.
We decided to head up to the Amuri Ski field and passed a few cars coming down. The top portion of the access road has sharp switchback corners that the long wheelbase Jeep struggled with and a hot oil warning forced it to become a low range climb. I don’t know how some of the 2wd vehicles make it up the top part of the track! The field was open but very few skiers probably due to the thin nature of the remaining snow. We took a look around and a few pics hen it was back off home to Chch after a brief stop in Hanmer for the obligatory wander around the shops.
All in all a great weekend but a pity that there was no snow on the ground- I guess we’ll just have to head back there when there is
More photos at:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...02010/?start=0
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