Day 3 of my Blenheim visit and today’s recipe was short and sweet. The weather forecast along the Richmond Range was atrocious. So, I adapted and headed into St Arnaud to bag 2 more Peaks to avoid the weather.
An early drive saw me arriving to the carpark at quarter to 9. The weather forecast was indicating that the weather was a lot better here than back in the Wairau Valley. That being said, visibility was next to none thanks to some low cloud engulfing the township, lake and hillside.
As mentioned before, short and sweet was what I was after, and Mt Robert (1,421m) met the requirements.
The walk up is steep and zig-zags it’s way up a spur. It ventures in and out of beech forest. About 2/3 of the way up puts you right into thick beech forest. A welcome respite from the heavy mist that was developing.
After an hour of climbing, I was in the open, with bugger all views, and heavy drizzle saturating everything it touched.
With this heavy drizzle set to develop I knew the next peak was going to be a cold, wet affair.
Photos taken, it was time to head back to the car and relax for a bit.
I turned the car into a Chinese laundry with wet clothes hanging up and the heater going full blast! I then meandered down to the iconic Lake Rotoiti jetty to have lunch, recuperate and dry off.
#46 Mt Robert – 1,421m, 5.07km, 1 hour 25 minutes
Short drive then back in the elements!
Till next time,
Cam