Three days of tramping in Arthur’s Pass

We were rather excited to leave Christchurch and make our way northward toward Nelson with a quick stop at Arthur’s Pass along the way for a little mountain time between ocean escapes. I don’t quite recall how we first found Arthur’s Pass, most likely one of the google rabbit holes we went down, but I’m pretty sure we read something about beautiful mountains and a network of trails and were sold.  We booked a three-night stay at the Arthur’s Pass Wilderness Lodge, a not-luxe but perfectly lovely small hotel nestled into a working sheep herding station (farm) surrounded by giant mountains and with a network of trails ranging from 5-25 km spiderwebbing straight out the front door. They had delicious food, a never ending supply of freshly baked cookies and granola bars, soft pillows and trails to run and tramp along….we were in heaven. The afternoon we arrived our host Michael, who ran the farm along with his wife Hannah and their 2 daughters, aged 2 and 4, instantly bundled the boys off to see the sheep.  He let them bottle feed the baby lambs, run around with the sheep dogs to wrangle up the sheep, attempt to catch an actual sheep (he did, the boys weren’t quite so successful;), and teach them all about the nuances of sheep farming and wool production.  80% off their wool is contracted for Icebreaker yet they still do all of their shearing by hand with giant snips, something a talented shearer can somehow make happen in about 3 minutes per sheep. They shear in the spring because, as Michael liked to repeatedly point out, sheep are not the smartest of all the creatures out there and if they take away their heavy winter coats before the babies arrive, the mamas will tend to retreat toward shelter when spring weather turns chilly, bringing the little lambs with them and thus greatly increasing the survival rates of the little babes.  That counts as homeschooling, right?

We spent the next three days sleeping late, with misty and wonderfully chilly mornings burning off at about 9:30 each day, prompting slow mornings followed by long breakfasts before heading out for the days adventure.  We also fully settled into the New Zealand tramping lifestyle, setting off each day for giant missions, backpacks filled with picnic supplies, loads of water, lots of cookies, jackets and sun shirts all (as the weather seems to change on a dime and the weather stations seem more prone to surmising than predicting). We tramped our way around Castle Hill (Kura Tawhiti), a geologic wonder that sits midway through a broad alpine valley with sheep stations and rolling green hills on every side. A bizarre collection of giant, weather-polished limestone rock formations are scattered through the rolling hills, clearly the remnants of a glaciers hard at work eons ago.  Some were the size of elephants, some the size of skyscrapers, but they all seemed almost purpose-built for climbing on and hiding between and they absorbed hours of boy energy as we romped, climbed and slid our way up down and around them all. Another day lead us up the Bealey Spur Track, an 8 mile return hike that lead us up to an old and quite weathered tin shepherds hut, through fields of manuka (the manuka flower turns out to be a beautiful hearty bush that grows everywhere in the mountains and valleys of this area), forests of dense moss with grandfathers beard growing in such prolific quantities the entire forest appeared made of it, and giant expanses of brushlands, all looking down on braided rivers and across to snowcapped peaks. Honestly, if you told us we were in Leadville or another big valley in the mountains of Colorado we wouldn’t have challenged it. Once at the top, the boys were only disappointed that we didn’t have sleeping bags in which to spend the night in the spare little hut - we had to promise them plenty of nights to be spent in huts in the years ahead.

Our final adventure was one of those crazy ones where you set off not expecting to actually make it, and then can’t quite believe it when you find yourself at the top… Will had been researching hikes in the area and read about Avalanche peak, which we quickly wrote off as way too hard for the boys. Their ears perked up upon hearing this, wanting to know why it was too hard and what that even meant. Well, it meant that the trail gains 3,500 feet of elevation over the course of 3 miles and requires careful navigation as the entire top section follows a high-alpine ridge with rather severe consequences on either side. Most sane 6 and 8-year-olds would agree that sounded awful and ‘way too hard’ but not our spawn. They were nearly jumping up and down with glee at the challenge and insisting that we at least give it a go. I guess it’s our fault for creating them, as we do the exact same thing, but still 🤣 🤷‍♀️ It only solidified their excitement that the 6-mile return trail was supposed to take 6-8 hours and there were about 3 different signs at the start noting “only extremely experienced New Zealand trampers allowed”. We figured we’d climb our way up for an hour or so until the novelty wore off and then go find some ice cream, but no, turns out tramping really agrees with these boys in a way hiking back home never did! It was an intense, steep, slippery and shockingly beautiful climb. There were definitely a few moans and groans from little Hux, for whom many of the steps were higher than his waist, but they were both so excited that they just kept on going. About .2 of a mile from the top with the last few hundred feet of vertical to gain, the trail got pretty darn sketchy, and Huxley happily decided that it was his cue to build rock towers and have a picnic with daddy while Holden and I very cautiously scrambled up to the summit. It was incredible to see Holden’s strength and excitement up toward the top, mountain-goating past grown-ups and barely stopping to catch his breath.  The views were truly breathtaking, looking down at glaciers and with endless mountain peaks in every direction, as far as the eye could see. He barely paused long enough to let me take a picture and was scampering back down, eager to chase down daddy and Hux. We made it up and down in just under 5 hours with no blood, no tears, an ample quantity of cookies consumed and two very happy boys (and two very impressed and proud parents). It’s a special moment as a parent when you realize you no longer have little kids but rather two quickly growing boys who are making for the absolute best play and adventure mates one could imagine.

RANDOM RECS

We stayed at Arthur’s Pass Wilderness Lodge and loved it. While not “luxury”, it was perfect; incredibly comfortable, warm and welcoming with delicious food, the nicest staff we’ve encountered, rooms continually refilled with cookies and granola bars and fresh fruit and the most beautiful network of trails extending right out the door.

A visit to Sheffield’s Pie Shop and subsequent consumption of as many pies as you can.

A visit to the enormous boulders of Castle Hill, a hike up to the Bealey Spur Hut and a trip to the top of Avalanche Peak if you’re feeling adventuresome!