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Highlux Photography
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Swingbridges, Toaroha Valley, West Coast. I love t

Swingbridges, Toaroha Valley, West Coast. I love these classic, utilitarian installations of the NZ back country. So many opportunities are made possible by them.
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#swingbridge #toarohavalley #cedarflat #tramping #trampingnewzealand #westcoastnz #departmentofconservation #backcountry

The Historic Cedar Flats Hut, Toaroha Valley, West

The Historic Cedar Flats Hut, Toaroha Valley, West Coast. Apparently the best surviving hut of its type on the coast. I'm not sure which year it was built 🤔 Anyone...?
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#hut #cabin #refugio #tramping #toarohavalley #cedarflat #hokitikanz #shelterfromthestorm

Day 5 of our Easter Toaroha - Mungo - Kokatahi tri

Day 5 of our Easter Toaroha - Mungo - Kokatahi trip was a longish one. Day 4 had been spent in the welcome shelter of Top Kokatahi Hut while a rain storm swelled the rivers and threw cascades down the mountain sides. Our valley turned into Waterworld for a while. We left early the next day, by torchlight at first, as we climbed the steep creek in the gloom. The day's sun burned off the last of the mist as we reached Zit Saddle and for the first time in three days we had a wide view - right down into the Toaroha and out toward the coast. 1000m down we went, past Adventure Biv and onwards through the still dripping forest to Cedar Flat. The sandflies joined us for lunch. The final leg to the road seemed to take twice as long as it had done on the way in, but I didn't wish it over - these valleys are too special for that.
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#trampingnewzealand #tramping #hiking #permolatgroup #adventurebivvy #toarohariver #zitsaddle #cedarflat #departmentofconservation #federatedmountainclubs #exploretheworld #hikingnewzealand

Day three of our Toaroha - Mungo - Kokatahi trip d

Day three of our Toaroha - Mungo - Kokatahi trip dawned damp (again) with low cloud, which added some route finding challenges to the crossing over to Top Kokatahi via Park Stream and Mount Chamberlain. This terrain is steep and sometimes loose, but with careful map reading and route finding we picked our way up the steep gully and ribs out of the Park and around the top of the range. Rain set in in the afternoon, so with the frequent crossings of the river and tussock & scrub bashing we were pretty well soaked through by the time we reached Top Kokatahi Hut - a welcome and warm shelter for the night, and following day's storm.
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#tramping #hiking #departmentofconservation #mountainsafetycouncil #federatedmountainclubs #newzealandadventure #hokitikacatchments #transalpine

Here's another flurry of photos from Easter in the

Here's another flurry of photos from Easter in the Toaroha, Mungo and Kokatahi catchments, day 2.
ℹ️ After lunch at Toaroha Saddle (last photo) we continued on the over-the-top route to Mungo Hut (first photo) via the outrageously steep Topo Creek spur (thanks for the re-cut, #permolatgroup ). It was perhaps the best moment of this 5 day trip, with the rain holding off, the views opening up a little and for the always fulfilling sensation of off-track travel in a wild and quiet corner of the Southern Alps.
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#tramping #trampinginnz #mungohut #explorenewzealand #federatedmountainclubs #departmentofconservation #hokitikacatchments #hokitikanz #permolatgroup

Here's a wee selection from days 1 & 2 on our East

Here's a wee selection from days 1 & 2 on our Easter Toaroha-Mungo-Top Kokatahi trip in the Hokitika Catchments.
ℹ️ On day 1 we had a rainy tramp up to Mullins Basin Hut, which has been rebuilt to pristine condition (for a remote hut) by a dedicated volunteer crew 🙏 Day 2 drizzled and rained again but we crossed the tops via a sometimes devious route to Toaroha Saddle for lunch (biv on the saddle is the last photo)...
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#tramping #toarohavalley #nzphotography #nzadventure #hiking #backcountry #permolat #wildwest #hokitikacatchments #remotehuts #purenewzealand

Easter in portrait: A small set of images from thi

Easter in portrait: A small set of images from this year's Easter west coast tramping trip which used to be a most-years thing but this was our first since setting off overseas in 2016. I'll keep on posting favourites from this 5-day trip in the next few posts.
ℹ️ route was: Toaroha Valley - Mullins Basin - Toaroha Saddle - Mungo Hut - Top Kokatahi - Zit Saddle - Toaroha Valley.
Thanks to the amazing volunteer crews who have been working on tracks & huts in here 🙏
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#remotehuts #permolat #tramping #wildwestcoast #hokitikacatchment #toarohavalley #mullinsbasin #doc #newzealandadventure #purenewzealand #toarohariver

Autumn has been such a great time to be in the hil

Autumn has been such a great time to be in the hills. We're weekend warriors again, and trying to make the most of it. More soon from tramping and bikepacking the past couple months
🌳🌲🌳
This shot's from the stunning Victoria Forest Park, Buller, which is like a mini Fiordland tucked away in a quiet group of ranges.
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#tramping #victoriaforestpark #victoriarange #buller #hiking #purenewzealand #greatoutdoors

🏞️ The Darran Mountains, Day 6. Exit day! Wit

🏞️ The Darran Mountains, Day 6. Exit day! With almost no food left and the perfect weather drawing to a rapid close, we made good use of the final clear day to make our way out to the lower Cleddau Valley via Pakihaukea Pass and the Tutoko Valley. In classic Darrans style, it was a day with a bit of everything: the frozen neve beneath Patuki; precise route finding through the glacier and over the steep pass via the line of least resistance and greatest speed; and then down through the vertiginous Fiordland forest, clinging to beech, flax and sometimes not much at all.
ℹ️ Blog link in bio for the full story...
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#darransclimbing #darranmountains #fiordlandnationalpark #subalpinism #climbing #alpineclimbing #newzealandadventure #purenewzealand #adventurespirit

The Darran Mountains 🏞️ Day 5. Summit Day num

The Darran Mountains 🏞️ Day 5. Summit Day number two. We had two goals for this Darrans journey: traversing the central Darrans from the Lower Hollyford to the lower Cleddau Valleys via Glacier Creek and Pakihaukea Pass, and also to attempt a new route on Mount Patuki. Our camp at Turner's Eyrie put us within two hours walk of the base of the mountain's NE outlier buttress, so after assessing various possibilities we started up, soloing to a big ledge first and then making 6 pitches (crux 19) to the summit. A final scramble led us to the summit of Patuki proper, and more amazing 360 deg views of our surroundings.
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#rockclimbing #darransclimbing #darranmountains #fiordlandnationalpark #fiordland #subalpinism #alpinerock #patuki

🏞️ The Darran Mountains. Day four. From our b

🏞️ The Darran Mountains. Day four. From our bivvy on rock slabs above Turners Biv, we sidled beneath Syme and Milne and then climbed right over the top of Tarewai, descending to Pikipari Pass. This route to Lake Turner seems audacious on paper, but it's actually fast, fun and puts you in an amazing position on the skyline of the Darrans. From a clagged in Lake Turner we pushed on higher, into the head of the cirque and up the rock buttress & talus to Turner's Eyrie, our cosy cliff-edge home for the next two nights. 📷 The last photo is from a previous trip and provides some perspective on this incredible spot.
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#darransclimbing #darranmountains #subalpinism #turnerseyrie #climbing #fiordland #fiordlandnationalpark #transalpine #centraldarrans #tewera #tarewai

🏞️ The Darran Mountains. From a trip in late

🏞️ The Darran Mountains. From a trip in late March.
1. Tom soloing rock ribs as we tried to gain Madeline's northern glacier from the rock shelves above Donne Glacier Lake. We were blessed with some incredible rock on this section.
2. Te Wera viewed through the Milne-Tarewai col (head of 'The Cleft', from which Cleft Creek takes its name).
3. The classic SE Ridge of Mt Tutoko, from NE side of Madeline.
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#darransclimbing #thedarrans #darranmountains #fiordlandnationalpark #subalpinism

© 2021 Highlux Photography. Mark Watson

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Blog
Explore
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