Adventure Magazine

Eric in sight of the source of Te Awa Whakatipu.
"The melting ice is leaving behind a brutally scarred
landscape, yet to be softened by the smoothing effect
of water erosion or any significant plant life."
Dawn mist on the way to Sandy Point
Amber approaching Rees Saddle with the imposing
Mt Clarke in the distance
Approaching Dart Hut with ice shrouded peak
of a distant Mt Edward.
Group photo just before reaching Daleys Flat Hut
Allowing for an extra night at
Dart Hut allows time to take the
day trip to the source of Te Awa
Whakatipu/Dart River with a view
of the Dart Glacier. Well worth
the planning and effort. Less than
20,000 years ago this region
was part of a network of massive
glaciers that gouged out the valley
now filled by the waters of Lake
Whakatipu, continuing all that
way to where Kingston now sits.
Today, the lower regions of the
valley walls, while still impressive,
have had time to erode, and for
alpine plants and beech forests
to establish themselves, slightly
lessening their precipitous sides.
Geologically the last section of the
Dart River as you head towards
Cascade Saddle is a landscape
still in its infancy. Here you get an
insight into what this whole region
looked like thousands of years
ago before the glaciers retreated.
The melting ice is leaving behind
a brutally scarred landscape, yet
to be softened by the smoothing
effect of water erosion or any
significant plant life.
The day I ventured into the valley
was overcast with plenty of low
and damp looking cloud. I was on
my own with most of the group
enjoying an easy day at Dart hut.
The air sliding off the glacier was
cold. Vegetation at the entrance
to the valley is sparse and limited
to stunted new generation plants.
Mostly the land is nothing but bare
moraine and crystal-clear streams
of water. Valley walls along the
western side are cracked, broken
shist cliffs, capped by thick ice
sheets riddled with threatening
looking ice-cliffs. Many streams
of melting ice freefall several
hundred meters down from the
clifftop to join the river below,
their silver colour contrasting
starkly against the blacks of the
precipitous faces. At the base of
one of the larger waterfalls smaller
chunks of ice have formed a wide
triangular fan.
Closer to the glacier at the upper
reaches of the valley, large
mounds of ice lie on the valley
floor, covered in a layer of small
rocks and moraine dust from the
ice cliffs above or perhaps left
behind by the retreating glacier.
The glacier itself might be a mere
thumbnail of ice compared to
its former glories, but it remains
impressive. Get out there before it
retreats into history.
Many other highlights made
this a memorable visit - various
rock bivs give an insight into the
resilience of earlier inhabitants
who mined, hunted and gathered
in the region, and the bush is full
of stunning flowering plants to
mention just a few.
And we nearly missed out on
almost all of it.
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BOBO.CO.NZ/SALEWA