Because this weekend I will hike to the Manuka Hut, stay there and then hike back the next day, it should be a 5 hour hike of just over 16 km

It was predicted to be sunny but there’s still a lot of cloud around here

Here = at the Hakatere Conservation Park

But so far at least the temperature is nice

Some more sun coming through

Lovely landscape, nice to be walking here

Looking back

I wasn’t expecting river crossings, that’s a nasty surprise, I hate getting wet feet so I always take off my boots, cross the river on my bare feet (or Tevas), dry my feet and put on my boots again, slows things down but at least my feet stay dry, and warm

It’s very quiet here, I’m loving it

The Winterslow Range covered in snow

Another river (stream) that I just crossed, the water is rather cold, but that’s to be expected in early spring

Looking back, at Mt Somers

Arrowsmith Range in the distance

I took a little detour past Lake Emily

Mt Somers Range, I’m getting closer to Manuka Hut now

Looking back at where I came from

About 2 more km to the hut now

It should – literally – be right around the corner

And yes!

Water coming off the Mt Somers range, this will be my drinking/cooking water (after filtering)

Won’t be long before the sun is behind the mountain

So a quick selfie before it’s too late. I’m quite tired I must say, it turned out to be a 20 km hike because of my little detour past Lake Emily

The Manuka Hut

Sun’s down, moon’s up

Me trying to sit still for 10 seconds for a long exposure shot of the inside of the hut, I failed

The fireplace, not much wood, it’s a cold night, at least outside of my sleeping bag

This could only be better with a smoking chimney

The next morning! I had a good and loooong sleep

I’m on my way around 9 already, bye bye hut

Manuka Lake, Arrowsmith Range still covered in snow

This is the mountain bike track, the track I didn’t walk yesterday but do today, because it’s shorter and my legs hurt

Even more stream crossing though

Looking back again, Lake Emily is just on the other side of that hill in the foreground

Another selfie, so I know I was actually there to enjoy the scenery

The first part of the track was steep and through forest, here I am finally out of the forest, at Duke Knob, looking towards Staveley Hill

Soon I’m back in the forest again, following the Bowyers Stream upstream

It’s a lovely stretch of forest though and the stream is really clear

There’s the odd bridge to cross

A waterfall

At least walking in the forest keeps me cool a bit, it’s a very warm day

The second time I finally get out of the forest, Pinnacles Hut is in view a little higher

At Pinnacles Hut

Inside Pinnacles Hut

The view from the hut

The pinnacles that give the hut its name

Since I’ve still got hours of sunlight left I decide not to stay at Pinnacles Hut but continue to Woolshed Creek Hut. Looking north is the Winterslow Range

Lots of pinnacles further west of Pinnacles Hut

Walking up to a saddle, this is the view looking back towards the Canterbury Plains

Some people walk up along this slope to get to the summit of Mt Somers, looks very steep

Winterslow Range again

To the west some great clouds are drifting in, it will have been great for gliding

Mt Somers Range coming into view

Past the saddle and descending towards the west

This area is truly stunning

Lovely colours

Impressive rock formations

I did not expect such beautiful scenery at Mt Somers!

If I had more time I’d climb up there to take some more photos

But it’s getting later and more clouds are slowly drifting in

I’m lucky to be here at this time of day and with a nicely clouded sky

The Morgan Stream

Face on the right

Sun in the ideal spot

I could be tempted to go skinny dipping here

Shadows are getting longer

And clouds from the east starting to drift in now

I checked out the hut but there’s a warden and it’s too busy, so I’ll be camping, this looks like the perfect spot for it!

Me and my trusted Freedom Camping/Zempire Mono tent

You can’t beat that view, shortly after this photo I had my dinner and went straight to bed

This morning, I am greeted by beautiful weather

The Woolshed Creek Hut that for some stupid reason you have to book online

This whole area makes me think of scenes from American Western movies

Another bridge and many many hours of walking still ahead

As usual DOC is terrible with their signage so sometimes you walk in the wrong direction for a while but occasionally it at least brings you to a beautiful spot, like here

Not sure what the green stuff is but the colour is nice

A little waterfall and a pool worthy of a swim, but not this time

Another waterfall

Looking back to the north-west, Mt Somers Range Straight ahead, Potts/Arrowsmith Range in the far distance

The Bus Stop Overhang

Yes, Bus Stop

Looking back to Potts/Arrowsmith Range again

Today is an incredibly warm day (37 degrees in Christchurch) and here I am, walking in the blazing sun, luckily there’s a decent breeze

Looking back towards the Bus Stop

2 hours later, I drank 6 liters of water already and am now out of water, I need to find a stream somewhere. The track goes straight ahead towards the saddle underneath that cloud. In this heat it’s not much fun constantly having to walk up

Acland Shelter

When I finally made it to the Mt Somers Summit Track I decided to abandon my initial plan to camp here and go to the summit tomorrow as I have not found any stream to get new water, what remains is another 2.5 hours of walking, luckily it’s downhill from here!

Looking south-west towards the Moorhouse Range and Tara Haoa Range in the distance

The Mt Somers Summit Track, steep, maybe another time

Very strong wind now, it’s pushing me down the mountain, I’m glad I was finally able to do this track, though especially today was pretty exhausting

Map and height profile of the track, the first part yesterday was 11.4 km, today I walked 13.3 km (with about 20kg on my back)