We started on the Cardrona road on the Spotts creek track and moved up through the valleys onto the ridgeline.
The track is 22km long with a height gain of 1200m (ish) The day was beautiful and dry. Although it was still cold at the top. This took us 8 hours and 30 minutes which we were impressed by especially as it was dark for the last 20 minutes or so.
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| Walking up through the valleys to the ridgeline |
The first peak to get to was Mount Alpha which we approached via spotts creek. The bush is sparse but unfortunately on the lower end of the walk the cows were not and there was a lot of mud and other things on the ground as evidence. The walk up to mount Alpha is relatively gentle and pleasant as you are walking up a mountain (hill in these parts). Once you are up Mount Alpha to get to Roys Peak is a little more entertaining with steep drop offs to the side and narrow paths with scree (not a walk for anyone who doesn't at least appreciate heights. It is not recommended to stand anywhere on this path and tell your friend to look down at the beautiful drop below them for some reason this was not appreciated. The final point Roys Peak is a point where people go for day walks or run to the top of for a bit of light exercise (quite a lot of crazy people in Wanaka) as it is only 1200m height gain.
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| Although it was warm there was still ice on the path in places |
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| Cardrona range |
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| Yey first summit completed now for the second |
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| The final stretch of ridgeline was spectacular and fun with Roys Peak in the background |
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| I can see my house from here |
