| | | Paringa Rock Bivy, South Westland |
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The strong wet Nor'wester which drenched us on the 1000m climb out of the Paringa valley abruptly changed to a southerly gale. The drips of water from the bivy roof soon turned into long icicles.
Fortunately the bivy was sheltered from the southerly. It was very comfortable with its straw floor, fire place and garden of flax and alpine plants. The latter framed a panoramic view of the Lantern Peaks across the valley. Snow swirled in peculiar vortices in front of us while we watched from our sleeping bags. The thin wire cutting across the picture (barely visible in this compressed jpeg) is the 30m aerial of our (heavy) mountain radio. Thus, we were able to chat to people back in Christchurch and listen to the forecast... "Gale-force southerlies - extreme about the tops, turning norwest". Not that it mattered - we had to go on to have any chance of climbing Mt Hooker. Definitely an idyllic bivy - and one of my favourite all-time camps. Ironically, finding liquid water was the only problem. We were able to light a fire (which Anna Walls used to burn my clothes... well I guess they got dried).
A combination of being drenched, carrying 30kg up 1000m of West Coast bush and then the sudden assault of the southerly led to a dramatic change in body temperature. Even being in a sleeping bag wasn't doing the trick. Only after some serious eating did things return to normal. Still, the biv was a great place to be! |
Overview of the Hooker wilderness area | Back to Jonathan's gallery Copyright (c) 1996 Jonathan Carr |