Mt Fyffe to Kowhai Saddle tramp

A sunny Saturday morning saw us pack up our kit and head north along the scenic drive to Kaikoura where we headed inland to the start of the Mt Fyffe track. A straight forward but unrelenting slog up the 4WD track meant that we were soon high above the plains in time for a late lunch with a view...

Kaikoura peninsula

Foothills south of Kaikoura

A couple of hours and 900m of height gain later we reached the Mt Fyffe hut - a small basic shed with 8 bunks. After dumping most of the weight from our packs we continued on up the track hoping to reach the summit and return to the hut before dark.

The track was still easy tramping although climbing all the way but now the exposure along the open ridge made for exhilarating views.

The Kaikoura peninsula and the shadow of Mt Fyffe on the plains as the sun dropped in the sky.

The final ascent to the summit with snowy Manakau behind.

View from the summit along the ridge (we saved that for the following day).

The summit of Mt Fyffe (1602m) with Manakau behind and to the right dropped right down to the plains and sea.

Made it with plenty of time to get back to the hut before dark!

On Sunday we woke to high cloud and rain in the distance as the sun rose over the ocean but undeterred we decided to ascend the 500m back up to the summit of Mt Fyffe so that we could continue along the ridge to the Kowhai Saddle.

The ridge the following morning with some interesting weather patterns to the north.

The ridge was initially quite wide and gently undulating with awesome views out to sea and across to the main Seaward Kaikoura range. As we progressed the vague track traversed across scree slopes and a narrow ridge between Gable and Gables End.

Traversing to Gables End.

An old marker post as we crossed some light snow.

Descending to the Kowhai Saddle

From Kowhai Saddle we had great views down the river valleys on both sides. From here we anticipated a well tramped track but unbeknownst to us the fun was only just beginning...

View down the Kowhai River and our exit route to the end of the valley.

A vague track lead down from the saddle to the stream and we were soon quelching over boggy ground. At the stream, the track vanished and we were left to our own devices to scramble down over rock and boulders. It was slow going but good fun and as the stream grew we started searching out stepping stones and jumps to cross from side to side.

Successfully keeping feet dry whilst balancing across - the poles came in very handy!

Further downstream the valley became a small canyon with a series of small waterfalls but luckily we stumbled on a track marker which lead us along the valley side through wet bush. Someone must have been through with a machete recently as there were a lot of green branches strewn across the narrow track adding to the slippery ground but at least that showed us the way!

Eventually the track spat us back out into the valley but with the steep sections now behind us the valley bottom opened out somewhat. After crossing the river (now a lot wider), easy travel across the grassy flats lead us to the small Kowhai hut in a clearing in time for lunch as a few spots of rain fell. Conscious of how much longer the valley descent was taking than we expected we pushed on, grateful of a stretch of easy grassy flats. But not for long!

As the river widened into a braided valley we trudged along the rocky banks crossing from time to time to avoid steep rock on the outside bends of the river. Each time we crossed it got harder and harder as the stepping stones got further apart until there was no option but to wade...

First of many wading crossings, the last was above our knees.

We lost count of how many times we crossed the river, each time the water was deeper, wider and the flow stronger (or were my legs just getting more tired?) and each time a fresh flood of cold water filled our boots. Needless to say we were grateful to finally find the car just as it was getting dark and starting to rain and to change into dry socks and trainers!