With the weather deteriorating, I knew I was going to be in the thick of the wind and rain. Good thing I believe in no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing!
A short drive had me parking up at the bottom of Beebys Knob (1,442m). If you want to experience some stunning environments without having to travel far, this is the walk for you.
The beech forest was ancient and was constantly changing. There were definitely some points along the way which screamed Lord Of The Rings vibe as well which was just awesome.
A surprise along the way is that for a fair chunk of the track, it is shared use with mountain bikers able to ride down. A 4wd track to the south of Beebys Knob, which is treated as the climb, then feeds into this route as the descent! Some serious technical skills required but would be one hell of a ride.
The rain began to get heavier as I climbed and even though I was under canopy cover, rain dropped off leaves and it wasn’t long until I was wet.
The final push to the bushline was so cool. Shorter beech trees, incredibly dense and green moss covering everything! Such cool terrain.
I had chosen to walk up in my baselayer then do a complete change before leaving the bushline. This was a great idea as it started to snow at this point!!
As soon as I stepped out of the bushline I was getting hammered by horizontal wind, rain and snow. One of those times where you’re stoked on investing in good clothing, as I was warm and cozy under my layers!
From the bushline I followed the 4wd track fully exposed to the elements. The conditions were pretty horrendous as well as low cloud had engulfed the hillside so it made navigation a bit more difficult. It was just a matter of reading the landscape and finding where to peel off the track and climb to the top of the knob.
Conditions at the top were no better and made getting a photo very difficult. My phone camera would get misty with the rain then my number sheet would blow all over the place.
The descent was straight forward and it felt good getting back under the canopy again.
Back at the car, it seemed I had been out in what was the worst of it. Upon returning, there was no rain nor wind which made life a lot easier to strip down to dry clothes and refuel.
#47 Beebys Knob – 1442m, 12.09km, 3 hours 30 minutes
This ending my Blenheim peak frenzy. 5 peaks in 3 days. 63km walked and 5,116 vertical meters gained.
Safe to say I was rather sore and tired after this effort.
Till next time,
Cam