Mount Holdsworth

After a few weekends of terrible weather we decided we needed to get out of Wellington - even if it was only for a day. So when the weather forecast was for no rain or southerly gales we decided to take a chance on a day walk up Mt Holdsworth. Bec has not been walking in the Tararuas yet - so this is one of the nicest day walks as the track is in good shape and not too steep/muddy/rocky/rooty. It has been quite cold lately, so we were all dressed and prepared for bitter cold and wet. As it turned out, we got sweaty as it was a bit muggy on our ascent.


Aaron, Helen and Bec at Rocky lookout - with Mt Holdsworth behind (under the clouds)

As we got up to Powell Hut, at the tree line, we started to see patches of snow. After lunch at the hut we headed up to the top of Mt Holdsworth and there was a lot more snow, and the temperature definitely dropped a couple of degrees. It was, however, surprisingly calm, cloudy - with no views to speak of, but the sun did try to break through a couple of times.


Near the summit


On the edge


Mount Holdsworth summit trig and the sun (well sort of)

We got back to the car park at 5pm, a little tired and sore. The walk is about 17 km and over 1000 m of ascent/descent. We had a nice dinner in Upper Hutt on the way home - it was great to get out of the house and do something... needless to say we will spend the rest of the weekend recovering.