Empty Packs

A Short Walk In the Kepler Mountains

2021-01-15T00:00:00+13:00

Between the 9th and 14th of January I went on a trip up the Iris Burn Valley and back to Te Anau by the tops. There were considerable difficulties to surmount and it was not clear until well into the fifth day of the trip that we would make it. We were out a day late.

I learned a lot about alpine route finding and risk mitigation from Stanley and Gavin. We all returned tired from the effort. I also learned not to underestimate the Waiau. It is the most satisfying trip I have been on. Thanks a million gentlemen.

My now well used 45l empty pack performed extremely well, even with all the extra gear we needed to carry. It feels ready now.

South Fiord of Lake Te Anau

2021-01-04T00:00:00+13:00

The last 2 weeks has been difficult, I deceded to use the first good day since Christmas for a quick solo kayak mission up the South Fiord of Lake Te Anau.

I left after work on the 3rd and paddled the short distance to Brod Bay. I woke up the next day to mirror calm conditions and had an uneventful and spectacular paddle to the top of the fiord for lunch.

The wind began to build on the return paddle, I stopped at 3pm at a fabulous Rata beach and camped for the night under a tarp.

I was up early after a warm dry night, trying to beat the sandflies, and had an uneventful paddle home in gentle rain and mirror calm conditions, all the way to Te Anau at 9:30 for a light day at work. I slept well.

The Tin Range

2020-12-14T00:00:00+13:00

On Saturday the 5th of December I headed off to Stewart Island with 4 friends.

The original plan was to spend a few days in Port Pegasus with packrafts, climb Gog and Magog, traverse the Tin Range, and packraft our way from Rakeahua Hut through Patterson Inlet almost all the way back to Oban. The weather forecast turned out to be foul, but since transport to Port Pegasus is hard to arrange we went anyway, without the rafts. We needed to use the first 2 days good weather for the exposed Tin Range, and walked in to Halfmoon Bay on the Southern Circuit.

We caught a ride on a boat chartered by another group who took a mountain of gear, kayaks and a zodiac, it took forever to load the boat in Bluff and finally we were off making good time in heavy seas. I emptied my stomach several times over the side of the boat and was grateful for the liquorish I ate for breakfast as it came back up. 2 of the 5 of us disembarked completely spent. We set off after a quick and functionally deprecated lunch stop up easy forested slopes that become a benched tram line, wooden tracks still visible in places, through grevious Stewart Island scrub. Our goal was to sleep at the Mt Allan tarn and we did but not without some minor drama in the scrub. Route finding to Mt Allan does require some skill in several places. It pays to patiently search out the easy way, as soon as you find yourself fighting scrub, stop, reconsider, find an easier way. You can’t brute force your way through it. The Tin Range is not high but it is extremely committing, once you are on the range the only way out is forward.

After Mt Allan the route finding is a lot easier except in a few crucial places and on the final descent into the Rakeahua Valley. There are extensive trapping and bait stations all the way to the valley floor. We saw a few deer and some curious southern New Zealand Dotterel. The scenery is wet, barren, windswept and perhaps reminiscent of Scotland at times.

We slept our second night in Rakeahua Hut, and continued up the valley next day and over the tops to Doughboy Bay. Several Kiwi were sighted in broad daylight. The Southern Circuit is stunning when the track is in forest, however the barren manuka tops are severely degraded from use and the track can be quite muddy. We spent 2 nights in Doughboy Bay, a most charming place, though the beach and dunes are severely polluted by plastic.

The walk to Masons bay was more of the same, coastal forest, muddy manuka tops, capped off by magnificent flowering rata in the dunes and a fast drag race up the hard packed beach into a fierce head wind to the 20 bunk Masons Bay Hut.

After Masons Bay we had an easy time into Freshwater Hut, North Arm Campsite and back to Oban where we stayed the night in the backpackers to catch our boat home early Sunday afternoon.

Thanks to Stanley, Belinda, Gavin and Sally for a very relaxing trip.

Homer Gertrude Conservation Trip

2020-11-20T00:00:00+13:00

I am just back from a trip to the Homer Saddle and Gertrude Valley to check the Alpine Clubs DOC200 and Trapinator traps.

I started around 9 am on the 19th, with the Gertrude Valley, with a personal side trip to the saddle after checking the last trap, arriving back sometime after 3 pm. In the evening I did the Possum line.

This morning, the 20th, I went up the Homer line in cloudy and fortuitously dry weather, leaving for home after an early lunch before 12 noon.

It is an absolutely phenomenal time to visit alpine Fiordland with the Mount Cook Daisy’s out in full bloom and warm long days.

Introducing the Packraftineer Pack

2020-11-18T00:00:00+13:00

Today I finished my first 70l Packraftineer Pack. I have been working on the pattern for months and to finally put one together is exciting.

It is a big bag with no pockets, because it is designed to contain a packraft, paddles and PFD on longer off track Fiordland missions. Anything on the outside is highly likely to get lost in a thicket of coprosma or horopito, and pockets get ripped and fill with leaf litter.

It incorporates some new construction methods and fabrics that will filter down to my other packs.

The blades of my aquabound paddles are the frame. 3D mesh and EVA foam in strategic places make it super comfortable. A fitted waist belt and new minimal straps with load lifters make this new bag the most comfortable and stable backpack I have ever owned. It is made to measure for my torso length, shoulder width and waist circumference, and will be for you too.

Roll top with an adjustable clip, to make it easy to close when you are loaded to the brim. There are four tabs to tie down a raft on the top using light weight cord, and four tabs town each side of the pack so you can tie a PFD to the back if required. Though it is designed to accommodate everything in the bag. There are also four tabs and cord inside the bag to help stabilise the paddles. Also capable of carrying an ice axe or trekking poles on the outside of the bag.

The most exciting news of all. Without really trying to make a light bag, except to make the simplest bag possible to do a specific job, it comes in at a super light 536 grams. A very capable 536 grams too. It is not a pack you need to baby.

Here it is, the Packraftineer.

Precip Like Rain Pants

2020-11-11T00:00:00+13:00

This morning I took a short break from sewing packs and dry bags to make a pair of rain pants for myself. I made a few mistakes, it is a very light fabric and you really have to keep your wits about you, and dont even think of making a buttonhole, that was a disaster. Overall I am very pleased with the result. At least I know they fit me after all the effort I put into making the pattern.

The Wild Podcast

2020-11-04T00:00:00+13:00

I had a talk with Jonny on The Wild Podcast, find it here, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Kepler In A Day Again!

2020-11-03T00:00:00+13:00

Monday and Tuesday this week were forecast to be splendid mild early summer days. Finding myself not over busy and feeling antsy I had planned on a quick trip up Mt. Titiroa. On Sunday quite randomly I found needed to be in town on Tuesday for a interview so that postponed my original plan.

Instead I opted, perhaps unwisely, for a one day Kepler, usually I bail at about 50km at Rainbow Reach but this time I was determined to do the full loop track.

As usual I had a fabulous time over the tops to Moturau but that last stretch always hurts and this time I had 15km of it.

I went slowly and felt contained, completely within myself, though somewhat sore. It took 14 hours and I found while I seem to have more endurance than ever I seem to have become a little slow. I am ok with that, most of what I do, where there is not a track within sight, is slow and deliberate anyway.

Living down in the south, we are not accustomed to heat. As much as we enjoy the luxury of a warm sun, for us 20C is a hot day. I had a Tuke with me, a new one rushed together on Sunday as my personal one now lives permanently with Sammy Stoat. It was great, I barely noticed it. I did learn though that XPac works well against the skin even on a hot day for us, against a merino shirt it does get sweaty but the only time I noticed was putting it on again after a short rest. Perhaps the most welcome lesson to me, my Whittakers Chocolate supply, safely stashed in the base pocket, never came even close to melting.

Flying Visit to Sammy Stoat

2020-10-22T00:00:00+13:00

A group of us fund raised to buy Sammy Stoat, resident near the top of Lake Alabaster, a PLB and heavy duty down jacket. It was my job to get them to him.

Watching the weather forecast, I left home 6:30 am on Tuesday the 20th for Lake Marian Car Park at the top of the Hollyford Road. It is a 15 km bike ride to the bottom, including a few minor dismounts.

I packrafted the Hollyford, which is in great condition at the moment, to Rainbow Creek.

Walked to Alabaster Hut. Paddled up the lake against a fearsome headwind and walked off track for a short way, and a ferry glide accross the Pyke River to the airstrip, arriving totally spent but in surprisingly good time at 5:30pm.

Next morning I left at 7:15 in calm conditions for the paddle down to the lake. Lake Alabaster was placid and foggy. Trusting the good conditions would last a few hours I paddled the ‘wrong’ Western edge of the lake to check out a few things that have been on my list for a while. I got out at Pyke Lodge and walked out to the road end in good time, I saw Riflemen, Kakariki and had a close encounter with a curious Kaka. Back at the carpark 5:30 pm, exhausted but happy.

Doubtful Sound Conservation Trip With Side Adventure

2020-10-14T00:00:00+13:00

I have just returned from a trip to Deep Cove to check traps for the Deep Cove Education Trust and Permolat Southland. Thanks to Stanley, Sally, Annabel and Alastair for a great trip.

Three of us went 4 days early and tacked on a very stimulating adventure on the ridges and valleys nearby, incorporating some of the tracks Permolat Southland have cut in the last year. I managed to give my empty pack a very thorough test in the toughest conditions in the world.

We survived very comfortably with a much larger than normal load over the impossibly steep Fiordland terrain, deep snow, impenetrable and near vertical scrub bashing, many rocky bum slides, swollen river crossings, wet dripping forest and 40 hours of constant rain.

I am very confident my Empty can handle anything that comes your way.

Please visit and stay at the Deep Cove Hostel, they really deserve support, they do a fabulous job for many schools and with their conservation work.

The Deep Cove Hostel is very warm and comfortable, accommodation is separate to education facilities and an absolute steal. There are a lot of well marked day walks nearby, and some serious adventures for those who are looking for more.