Richmond Range traverse via Mt Fishtail - Pelorus ridge

For a few trips I've been eying up the ridge system between Mt Fishtail and the Hoiere (Pelorus) River.  I managed to traverse the ridge from Pelorus Bridge and connect to the ridge running north west from Fishtail, but I was wanting to see if you could get down the north west face of Fishtail and along the 3ish km of ridge in between.  I can't find anything on the internet or Nelson Tramping Club website but it is far too obvious and elegant a route to ignore.

The pleasure of not having any intel on the route is that I just have to go on what I have seen from a distance, and what I can guess from the surrounding terrain and reading the map.  Studying the face and the section of ridge at a distance from various angles I've identified four bits that might be tricky and discovered a likely way through the first - a good ledge running down the northwest face of Mt Fishtail.  

I have a few days after Christmas, before my New Year Kahurangi trip, and work a crossing of the range into the itinerary.  I'm coming off a bit of an arthritis flare up in one foot which will slow things down, but all going well I'll get from Blenheim to Nelson in a reasonably leisurely three days to meet the support crew and head to Golden Bay for a few days relaxation before the Tasman Wilderness.

What:    Richmond Range Traverse 
Where:  Via Mt Fishtail
When:   27-29 December 2022

Who:     Solo

Brother number three and partner kindly agree to drop me off.  I've got my eye on a spur running up to pt 1250 on the Richmond Range SE of Mt Fishtail.  I could go up the Quartz Creek track, but I'll mostly be off track this trip so thought I'd start as I mean to continue.  

Right into Fabian Road, right again into Bartletts Rd, across the first ford and along to the (still) locked gate.  About 1045 I wave good bye and follow the short forestry track (marked on the Topo map) up into pines.  

It's the usual manky pine block travel with thinnings and windfall to negotiate and weedy undergrowth.  There's an occasional clearing with a large flat area for logging although at the moment they only seem to be used for wintering beehives.  They give a chance to see how slowly the Wairau River is dropping behind.  

It takes about an hour to get above the pines into native forest.  There's a few ribbons at one point, but mostly there is little sign of much foot travel.  The first possibly tight bit is the approach to pt 952.  I get a bit of a look ahead at one point and it doesn't seem to be too bad.  On the approach it gets pretty steep but a bit of scrambling is all that is required.

Approaching pt 952

The top is broad and marked by a survey pipe.  It's a bit after 2pm so progress is slow. 

  

Ahead up the spur it's looking pretty claggy, and it looks forbidding around pt 1166 - craggy and bluffy. 

It's a bit of a messy decent into the next saddle - no discernible trail, no defined spur and a mix of vegetation including spindly dracophyllum 'forest'.

On the the approach to 1166 I sidle below the top on the NE. I end up in bluffs in bush that require a strategic retreat.  Eventually I make the saddle before the final grunt up to pt 1250.  It's cold and claggy - I can't see a way up on the east face of the spur and I'm not game to climb the exposed spur itself, so sidle and climb a loose chute on the west side.  It's probably a good thing I can't see much below.  

Looking down the west chute - spur on the left

It's open at the top and the clag comes and goes revealing that, although there's high cloud, the clag is localised around the tops.

It's just before 6pm when I stop for a short sit down at pt 1250.  This is part of the Richmond Range ridgeline and I expect there will be a pretty good foot trail as, although there is no marked track, it is a pretty obvious route.  Sure enough there is a ribbon to mark where the ridge changes direction and a goodish foot trail.  

The ridge is pretty with the rocky bones emerging through moss and beech forest.  But with the climb taking longer than expected, the damp bush, and feeling a bit knackered, I'm clock watching and not looking forward to the climb up to Fishtail.    

The climb is uneventful - in the clag you have to search around a bit to get a round the odd bluffy bit but there's no really exposed climbing that I recall.  The top when it rolls into sight is welcome but somewhat anticlimactic.  At around 8.30pm I don't pause beyond the obligatory photo before taking a bearing and following the broad top NW and down.

I've seen the top ridge from below but not been along it - I recall reading though that you don't want to drop off the ridge too soon as the face below is steep.  I follow the compass into the saddle then make my way down into the basin.  Somewhere down here is a hut.  I'm reasonably confident that by dropping from the saddle I can come back along the basin to pick up the stream gully that passes near the hut - however, given that it is getting towards dark I take a quick check on the GPS to confirm.  

I find the stream and around 9.20pm the hut emerges in the gloom.  There's a couple with a dog  in a tent outside and three people and two dogs inside.  They've already turned in, so I quietly unpack and cook my dinner in the tiny foyer before crawling wearily into my bag.  It's taken 10 and a half hours to get up the spur and along the ridge - an inordinate amount of time.    

Fishtail Hut is a lovely little facility but way too small for four people and two dogs.  I really can't understand the thinking behind rocking up to a place like this in the middle of summer with one, let alone two dogs.  The couple in the tent have the good manners to bring their own accommodation and keep their dog with them.

I have a leisurely start watching the others head off in various directions - tent couple and dog head up to the ridge to explore and I assume head for the top, two-dog woman heads back along the track out then climbs the steep spur to the top from the SSW, the other couple (mother from Blenheim and her visiting daughter) leave just before me to head down the track to the carpark.  I get away about 8.20 - it's clear although the valleys are full of cloud that may rise as the air warms.

 

It takes about half an hour to potter up the scree and rocks to the ridge.  The first order of the day is to find a way down the precipitous northeast face of the mountain to the ridge below.  First I check out the notch at E 1640510, N 5411984 (west of the high point that is west of the large north face slip).  It  looks a bit steep and gnarly and I don't push it but proceed west to the next notch (E 1640341, N 5411900).  I know this one is a goer having explored part way down it on my previous visit.  

I make my way down the ledge.  It's pretty good going - there's a bit of a drop into some nasty chutes and cliffs but plenty of space to work with.  

Part way down - looking back up the ledge

The last section I didn't explore on my earlier trip turns out to be as straight forward as anticipated, and within 10 minutes I'm on the ridge and looking back at the face.  There's a bit of vegetation to get through to get to the ridge proper but a few animal trails help.   

After a lot of anticipation and studying this face from a distance from many angles, it is a relief, yet not an anticlimax, to get down so easily.  I am quite chuffed as I turn my attention to the section of ridge which is now in reach.

I take a bit of a break and sit looking back along the ridge.  The first notch I looked at could be a goer but it looks like a much more rocky scramble and nowhere near as straight forward.  I had also toyed with navigating the large slip and sidling below the rocky bits - from here that looks like a world of pain and frustration.  

Dunno what all the worry was about 

Getting moving again it's easy going for a short while to the first anticipated obstacle.  The topo map shows a bit of a pinch in the contour lines half way to pt 1329 (E 1639835, N 5412581) - eyeballing the ridge from a distance it had looked rocky but enough bush to promise a way through.  

I'm sidling on the east side of the ridge top when I get to the bluff (about 0940).  There are some steep crumbly chutes on the east face - a dislodged rock rattles down for a long time before dropping into a deep pool somewhere far below.   I backtrack to the top of the ridge and find an easier way around on the west - then I think a wee clamber down a less sketchy gully in bush on the east (I'm a bit hazy on this bit though - I tried and discarded a few options through here).

Looking down a chute on the east side of ridge

The next hurdle is a knob that doesn't look so bad on the topo map (E 1639779, N 5412692).  An aborted approach on the east sees me retreating from the middle of a wee face where the footholds become just too sketchy for my liking (probably doable, but I'm not that comfortable with 'probably'!).

Once again I scramble back to the ridge top and find a way around on the west.  It's steep but there is bush to hold on to and I find a way down to where the ridge continues.  It's rocky along here, but I'm past what I anticipate are the most tricky bits and it's not looking too difficult now.  

From the West side of the second knob

 

Looking back - first bluff on the left, knob on the right

I work along the ridge and to pt 1329 - this one looked steep from a distance but the map indicates it should be navigable by keeping away from the west face.  This proves to be the case - it's steep and covered in slippery humus but quite navigable.   

Partway down my foot slips and I come down heavily on my side.  Arresting the slide is first up followed by the usual rapid 'ouch' assessment.  My right ribs have taken the impact and it feels like there will be quite a bruise but no other apparent damage.  

Just after 11.23 I roll up to the top of pt 1173.  This is where I reached this ridge last time from Pelorus Bridge.  I take a break to sit on the mossy ridge top listening to the harsh calls of a stubbornly invisible long tailed cuckoo in the tree above.  

Although only half way across the range the main purpose of the trip is complete.  I wouldn't recommend it to most people, but it is satisfying to get through the short ridge section and not have to retreat and take a long route around.  

Being through this section only once before, I would hesitate to say the ridge is familiar but I recognise spots and can pick more efficient lines in places.  I stop for a leisurely lunch in the company of a few tōtōara (South Island Robins) and korimako.  

There's a few bony bits around pt 1137, which are by passable with sidles on the east if you notice in time.  

Finally I get to pt 820 - this is near where I'll veer down a different spur from last time.  It's easy to spot the junction - the ridge finishes at a wee pile of rocks.  Left drops to pt 678, right is new territory - a spur that drops to pt 206 and the river.

There is no obvious foot trail on the spur and there's a bit of treefall and undergrowth.  It's mostly straightforward although you have to be careful not to be diverted right into a gully at around 600m.  There are some lovely flat sections and cathedral like forest.  

Approaching pt 206 there are sections of dense understory and tātarāmoa (bushlawyer) to contend with, and in the absence of any trails I start veering left to find a way down to the river.

The map would have you believe that this side of the valley shelves gently to the water's edge.  I'm not convinced though and am unsurprised to stumble to the edge of a sharp 10m or so drop.  It's not climbable so I scramble northeast along the foot of the spur, through rigger growth.  Eventually the bank eases and I find a way down to the edge of the river.  

The river is another decision point.  I know the Hoiere can be deep with rocky banks and I'm mentally prepared for a pack float - providing I can find a suitable entry and exit with run out options.  My luck is in - the river is relatively low and here it is flat with sand on this bank and shingle on the other.  It turns out to be just over knee deep and I barely need the stick I find for the crossing.

It's a small relief that the river crossing has been better than expected - Plan B was to sidle, traverse and or boulder hop up valley to find a better spot or reach the bridge a K or two upstream.  I suspect this would have been a bit painful.  

Scrambling up a 2m bank on the other side I find myself on the track showing every sign of many TA walkers passing through.  

Captain's Creek Hut is a short way up valley and there are four tents pitched outside.  I resign myself to camping but it turns out that no-one is sleeping in the hut so I have it to myself.

At 5.40 it hasn't been a particularly long day (a bit over 9 hours with breaks) but I am feeling battered and worn - and yes, just a little smug.  

Looking back on the day it was around 40 minutes from the hut to get past the Fishtail face and onto the ridge, a bit over two hours to get through the tricky bits, and a bit over 6 hours to traverse the rest of the ridge and cross the river to the hut.  It could all be covered in far less time but it has gone surprisingly to plan.

I get about the business of eating and turning in and keep to myself.  My ribs are bruising up and getting a bit sore and I'm not really in the mood for company.

The morning is bright and sunny and I'm in no hurry, but at 9.20 I'm still the first to leave the hut clearing.  

The route I've mapped out runs straight up an interesting looking spur behind the hut. There's a few steepish looking bits but it doesn't seem particularly gnarly as it winds in a series of steps to pt 992.  There's a bit of a saddle then I'm hoping to pop out above the Maitai Dam around the Dew Lakes.   

Initially, the spur has quite a bit of tight understory but it soon opens up, barring a few areas with tree fall and/or thicker undergrowth.  Despite this and the lack of views, it's a really pleasant amble upwards.  

I haven't got any time pressures so have a long lunch break at pt 992 chasing a wee patch of sun along a log.  

Lunch stop

There's no obvious trail off 992 to the saddle, so I follow the compass through thickening bush using the odd glimpse of the cliffs around Maungatapu to keep on line.  As it is, I end up a bit west of the saddle proper and have a bit of bashing through thick ferns to get back on line.  I think the trick through here is to head due north off 992 before swinging northwest.

There's a more obvious trail coming up out of the saddle - not sure if animal or human but it gives something to follow.  The topography is a bit confused and it gets a bit scrubby and boggy but up is easy - finding a way down would be another thing.  At one point I hear voices which must be near the Dew Lakes but I don't encounter anyone until I pop out on the ridgeline track around E 1634340, N 5424940 - on the Maungatapu side of Dew Lakes.  There's a couple just disappearing southwest, and a northeast-bound runner sweats his way past a minute or two later.

It's open on the ridge and I can now see it's 3.25 on a beautiful afternoon.  To the SSE Fishtail lurks on the horizon and I reckon I can just make out the line of my ledge (yep - still a bit smug).        

It's familiar territory now - down past the Rush Pools to the Maitai.  I potter on down, only seeing the runner on his return leg.  It's sweltering in the open patches and the shade of the bush is welcome.  

Once on the forestry road I think appreciably of the lift I got up the hill last time through, but no such luck today.   I note there are four cars in the carpark at the bottom - it's 4.20 so these are not great odds for hitching a lift.  

There's no-one about so I trudge off down the road hugging the patches of shade where possible.  After a while, a milestone marker informs me somewhat gratuitously that it is 10 long, hard and dusty kilometres to town.  This is a bit of a downer, as is the car that passes without stopping - one down, three to go.   I get past the 8km marker before a battered 4WD pulls up.  He's lives in the Brook and has just taken his two young children for a swim in the Maitai, away from the crowds at the popular holes closer to town.  He does a bit of hunting so I think was more inclined to be sympathetic to my situation. 

He drops me at the shops on Milton St with the choice of a dairy or the Sprig and Fern.  The dairy wins and a couple of ginger beers later I'm in a cab on the way to brother number one's Nelson place for a shower and a long sleep.

Postscript

This was a really satisfying trip.  The highlight was confirming the link through that short section of ridge off Fishtail.  I won't be repeating the trudge up the spur from Bartletts Road - it was quite interesting in places, and I would sort of like to know if there's a better line through the final crux - but not enough to do it again.  I still have unfinished business along the Richmond Range so I have no doubt I'll be doing the bit between Baldy and Fishtail at some point - hopefully with some visibility.   

The route off Fishtail requires care but is pretty straightforward - the following section of ridge wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea though.  Again, it was pleasing that the spur down to, and the crossing of the Hoihere were viable.  I struck it lucky - I wouldn't assume a safe crossing point at other places on the river.  

For some reason I was quite taken with the spur up from Captain's Creek hut - a much better alternative to a third trip on the Middy-Rocks track (unthinkable!).        

It might not have been the smartest move to do a somewhat challenging trip with just three days break before a longer even more challenging trip ..... I'm carrying a bit of damage as a result, but at least got to test a bit of gear and the food plan.