Llawrenny Traverse
The following is an account of a sea kayaking and mountaineering trip near Milford Sound over labour weekend by Jon Taylor and Stan Mulvany
The Llawrenny peaks are a group of isolated glaciated peaks lying to the south of Mitre Peak near Milford Sound. They are just under 2000 metres high and lie in splendid isolation between the Transit and Arthur Valleys. They have only had a handful of ascents over the years and were first climbed by the indomitable Edgar Williams and his party from the Arthur in 1954. To my knowledge no one has done a traverse of the mountain from the Sinbad to the Arthur. On Labour weekend 2001 Richard Leppard and I climbed out of the Arthur along the ridge between the Giants Gate and Poseidon Valleys around Mt Terror but failed to summit due to lack of time. Then in January 2004 from the summit of Mitre peak we saw a possible route up the headwall of Sinbad Gully and along the ridges to the Llawrennys and an idea was born.
The project was not an easy one and after searching for a suitable firm I settled on the old respected partnership of Taylor/Mulvany. Jon has been my buddy of some epic trips in the past and was instantly keen. The weather too played ball with a slowly approaching anticyclone and excellent weather predicted for the whole of labour weekend. We felt we needed 4 days to complete the traverse and set off on Thursday night for Homer. On top of the car were our sea kayaks as access was easy using these rather than relying on fishermen to drop us off.
Friday morning saw us down on Fishermans Wharf early unpacking and loading our kayaks. We set off on a calm sound for Sinbad beach which we reached in about half an hour. Here we unloaded the kayaks and Jon towed mine back to Sandfly Point so we could pick it up later. Unfortunately when Jon was away I discovered the billy and cooker were missing when I went to light a fire to make a brew for Jon. I could have kicked myself for leaving them in my kayak. The wind had come up quite strongly by now and when Jon arrived back I jumped into his kayak and headed back. To add to the excitement of battling a very strong off shore wind Jons rudder cable came loose so I had no rudder for most of the way back! This setback cost us two hours.
We finally got away by mid day boulder hopping up the Sinbad creek. It has not rained for the previous 19 days so the river level was low which made travel much easier. About 2 hours in we passed two blue duck on the creek, which were quite unafraid of us. Then we waded/swam across a lovely wide blue pool, a most delightful spot. Another hour brought us to a lovely grassy flat with great views of the Phillips-Llawrenny ridge on the left and the Mitre Peak ridge on the right. The headwall was still several hours away and we could see it lay back on the right, our proposed line of ascent. We were walking through a patch of forest above this and disturbed a weka. An hour later we reached the second set of flats and these were mostly gravel. The upper valley was a bit tedious and we found a nice campsite half an hour before the waterfall at the head. We pitched camp in this delightful and had a nice meal. A kea paid us a visit.
We set the alarm for 5.00 AM next day and we were off by 6.30 AM. We quickly climbed up the steepening creek bed to the waterfall and climbed this on the true right. Above this we could see a good route up the left of the scrubby face at the head of the valley. We worked over to this and saw another weka. Then it was up a series of steps either on rock or scrub to the band of cliffs above. Here we made a traverse to the right and then straight up a few bluffs to the tussock. By now it was noon so we had lunch and then on up to the ridge at 1272 metres. There we were greeted by a stunning view_ to the north a great sweep of northern Fiordland coast out to Yates Point with the glaciated peak of Mt Pembroke to the east while below cruise ships streaked out past Dale point to do a circuit near St Annes Point and back into Milford Sound.
Travel was easier on the west side of the ridge so we set off on tussock benches and reached a spur joining the main Mitre-Llawrenny ridge. Here there was a mighty view down to the Transit valley with breakers on Transit Beach and Lake Ronald visible to the south across the intervening hills. The Transit looked a fantastic valley with a gently meandering river and lovely flats. We carried on along the ridge which steepened and became more difficult. There were some exposed scrubby faces we climbed and eventually the rope came out as we struck some exposed rock climbing. At one stage we reached a rock overhang but more careful study revealed a route on the other side. Then we came up against an intimidating cheval and here my courage almost failed. Jon suggested we try the left. We left our packs and climbed on the Sinbad side on easy slabs.. Further along we came to a welcome snow patch straddling the ridge perfect of our tent so we back tracked and got our packs. We levelled out the snow and had a comfortable night in this spot.
We arose in the dark and I got the stove going to melt snow. There was little wind and there had been a hard frost. It was light by the time we were putting on our frozen boots. Then we had the Minaret rolled up and were off climbing along the ridge towards a prominent triangular peak. We sidled on the north side and reached easier tussock slopes which led easily to snow slopes to the northwest of the peaks. The snow was in excellent order as we sidled and climbed towards the narrow gully that separates the peaks from peak 1767. Then we were backing down icy slopes into the gut and climbing up towards the plateau under the peaks. Cloud was spilling in off the sea and shrouding the tops. Jon headed off up the northeastern peak while I slowly ground my way up to the col between the main two peaks. Here I found a slump and breakline of the ice field tilted towards the glacier overlooking the east face of the Llawrennys. It looked a bit awkward to downclimb as the slopes below were quite steep with a bergschrund cutting the slope. On either side the mountain was heavily corniced. We wandered up the two main peaks and then hurried back to the col. Here Jon found a sort of tunnel between one end of the slump and the corniced ridge and we had only one pitch below this to easier ground. Then it was a quick walk down easy slopes to the frozen lake 540 metres below.
We had lunch on the rocks at the lake. The sun was intense and it was balmy and soporific. My legs felt like lead. We set off on the 200-metre climb up softening snow slopes to Mt Terror. Then it was a careful sidle along the southern slopes to the ridge beyond. Mt Terror is an impressive mountain with ice fields that drop over an incredible 1000 metre drop into the Poseidon Valley. It is no place to loose it! Further ahead is another less impressive peak that Jon named Death Peak. We picked the south side for the sidle and had a frightening time cramponing across very steep ice slopes that plunged off vertical 1000 cliffs into the valley. This might not have been so bad if we had two ice axes and lighter packs. On and on this scary traverse went till eventually after several hundred metres we reached easier ground. Jon named it the Traverse of the Gods. Then we picked up a series of benches that sloped down to the southwest of the end of the ridge. At the bottom of these was a gully falling into the valley and on the other side was a steep face of tussock and rock that I recognised from my previous effort here. We crossed and traversed it to arrive onto a flat col with a large tarn and lovely easy tussock ridges stretching away towards the Arthur.
By now it was evening of day three and all the danger had passed and life felt good. We ambled slowly down and stopped by a large tarn further down the ridge amid glorious golden tussock. On either side the mountains were resplendent with a golden tussock mantle while above the stark rock and ice fields were sharp against a cobalt blue sky. We unpacked all our gear and I dried out the tent which had frost on it from the previous night. Then I had the primus going and we lay back in the tussock gulping down hot drinks.
I slept well that night but nevertheless I did not enjoy hearing the alarm going off at 5.30 AM. We got organised and were off by 7 AM descending the ridge to Shoulder Hill. The route from the tussock onto the ridge in the bush below is critical as huge cliffs bar the route. I spent about an hour trying to find the exact spot to arrange the first abseil over a 20 feet cliff. Shortly after this arrived out onto the top of a pinnacle in the bush with awesome drops around it. Here was the 70 crack I had climbed before with Richard. We arranged the abseil and off I went relieved to find it was definitely my old route. Once past this there was a steep bush climb up a ridge onto an open top and then it was all downhill following the ridge to the south. This peters out onto a broad bush covered hill at 600 metres with some open rock slabs. Here we hung a left aiming for the island at the south end of Lake Ada till at about 300 metres cliffs bar the route. Here we turned left again in a northerly direction dropping very steeply through near vertical bush interspersed with cliffs. Then we were in a wee stream draining the face above and we followed this down to a bridge on the Milford Track. What an anticlimax for us. One minute in vertical trackless bush and the next on a graded track.
It was a one and a half hour walk to Sandfly Point. Here we picked up my sea kayak. Graeme of the Mitre Peak Cruises was white baiting nearby and said hello. I set off to get Jons kayak at Sinbad Beach. Graeme told Jon Id be lucky to get there in the big seas. Once out of the river there was a very strong onshore wind and the sea built quickly. I felt happy enough in them but I was concerned about the tow back and how Jon's kayak would fare. The odd wave washed over me and one had to concentrate on staying upright. Eventually I closed on Sinbad beach, which is sheltered so landing was not difficult. I dragged Jon's kayak out of the bush slipped on my tow belt and took off. It was blowing like stink but surprisingly Jon's boat rode well and I had not trouble getting it back to Sandfly. When I was closing on the point Jon appeared and shouted, Where the f--- have you been? and then burst out laughing. Graham had apparently put him up to it. I think I was too jaded to offer a smart reply.
All that remained was to load up and scoot across Fishermans wharf for a quick shower and drive home.
Stanley
The probable first traverse of the Llawrenny Peaks on 21-24 October 2005 by Jon Taylor and Stan Mulvany ( Southland Section NZAC and Southland Sea Kayaking Network)
The Llawrenny peaks are a group of isolated glaciated peaks lying to the south of Mitre Peak near Milford Sound. They are just under 2000 metres high and lie in splendid isolation between the Transit and Arthur Valleys. They have only had a handful of ascents over the years and were first climbed by the indomitable Edgar Williams and his party from the Arthur in 1954. To my knowledge no one has done a traverse of the mountain from the Sinbad to the Arthur. On Labour weekend 2001 Richard Leppard and I climbed out of the Arthur along the ridge between the Giants Gate and Poseidon Valleys around Mt Terror but failed to summit due to lack of time. Then in January 2004 from the summit of Mitre peak we saw a possible route up the headwall of Sinbad Gully and along the ridges to the Llawrennys and an idea was born.
The project was not an easy one and after searching for a suitable firm I settled on the old respected partnership of Taylor/Mulvany. Jon has been my buddy of some epic trips in the past and was instantly keen. The weather too played ball with a slowly approaching anticyclone and excellent weather predicted for the whole of labour weekend. We felt we needed 4 days to complete the traverse and set off on Thursday night for Homer. On top of the car were our sea kayaks as access was easy using these rather than relying on fishermen to drop us off.
Friday morning saw us down on Fishermans Wharf early unpacking and loading our kayaks. We set off on a calm sound for Sinbad beach which we reached in about half an hour. Here we unloaded the kayaks and Jon towed mine back to Sandfly Point so we could pick it up later. Unfortunately when Jon was away I discovered the billy and cooker were missing when I went to light a fire to make a brew for Jon. I could have kicked myself for leaving them in my kayak. The wind had come up quite strongly by now and when Jon arrived back I jumped into his kayak and headed back. To add to the excitement of battling a very strong off shore wind Jons rudder cable came loose so I had no rudder for most of the way back! This setback cost us two hours.
We finally got away by mid day boulder hopping up the Sinbad creek. It has not rained for the previous 19 days so the river level was low which made travel much easier. About 2 hours in we passed two blue duck on the creek, which were quite unafraid of us. Then we waded/swam across a lovely wide blue pool, a most delightful spot. Another hour brought us to a lovely grassy flat with great views of the Phillips-Llawrenny ridge on the left and the Mitre Peak ridge on the right. The headwall was still several hours away and we could see it lay back on the right, our proposed line of ascent. We were walking through a patch of forest above this and disturbed a weka. An hour later we reached the second set of flats and these were mostly gravel. The upper valley was a bit tedious and we found a nice campsite half an hour before the waterfall at the head. We pitched camp in this delightful and had a nice meal. A kea paid us a visit.
We set the alarm for 5.00 AM next day and we were off by 6.30 AM. We quickly climbed up the steepening creek bed to the waterfall and climbed this on the true right. Above this we could see a good route up the left of the scrubby face at the head of the valley. We worked over to this and saw another weka. Then it was up a series of steps either on rock or scrub to the band of cliffs above. Here we made a traverse to the right and then straight up a few bluffs to the tussock. By now it was noon so we had lunch and then on up to the ridge at 1272 metres. There we were greeted by a stunning view_ to the north a great sweep of northern Fiordland coast out to Yates Point with the glaciated peak of Mt Pembroke to the east while below cruise ships streaked out past Dale point to do a circuit near St Annes Point and back into Milford Sound.
Travel was easier on the west side of the ridge so we set off on tussock benches and reached a spur joining the main Mitre-Llawrenny ridge. Here there was a mighty view down to the Transit valley with breakers on Transit Beach and Lake Ronald visible to the south across the intervening hills. The Transit looked a fantastic valley with a gently meandering river and lovely flats. We carried on along the ridge which steepened and became more difficult. There were some exposed scrubby faces we climbed and eventually the rope came out as we struck some exposed rock climbing. At one stage we reached a rock overhang but more careful study revealed a route on the other side. Then we came up against an intimidating cheval and here my courage almost failed. Jon suggested we try the left. We left our packs and climbed on the Sinbad side on easy slabs.. Further along we came to a welcome snow patch straddling the ridge perfect of our tent so we back tracked and got our packs. We levelled out the snow and had a comfortable night in this spot.
We arose in the dark and I got the stove going to melt snow. There was little wind and there had been a hard frost. It was light by the time we were putting on our frozen boots. Then we had the Minaret rolled up and were off climbing along the ridge towards a prominent triangular peak. We sidled on the north side and reached easier tussock slopes which led easily to snow slopes to the northwest of the peaks. The snow was in excellent order as we sidled and climbed towards the narrow gully that separates the peaks from peak 1767. Then we were backing down icy slopes into the gut and climbing up towards the plateau under the peaks. Cloud was spilling in off the sea and shrouding the tops. Jon headed off up the northeastern peak while I slowly ground my way up to the col between the main two peaks. Here I found a slump and breakline of the ice field tilted towards the glacier overlooking the east face of the Llawrennys. It looked a bit awkward to downclimb as the slopes below were quite steep with a bergschrund cutting the slope. On either side the mountain was heavily corniced. We wandered up the two main peaks and then hurried back to the col. Here Jon found a sort of tunnel between one end of the slump and the corniced ridge and we had only one pitch below this to easier ground. Then it was a quick walk down easy slopes to the frozen lake 540 metres below.
We had lunch on the rocks at the lake. The sun was intense and it was balmy and soporific. My legs felt like lead. We set off on the 200-metre climb up softening snow slopes to Mt Terror. Then it was a careful sidle along the southern slopes to the ridge beyond. Mt Terror is an impressive mountain with ice fields that drop over an incredible 1000 metre drop into the Poseidon Valley. It is no place to loose it! Further ahead is another less impressive peak that Jon named Death Peak. We picked the south side for the sidle and had a frightening time cramponing across very steep ice slopes that plunged off vertical 1000 cliffs into the valley. This might not have been so bad if we had two ice axes and lighter packs. On and on this scary traverse went till eventually after several hundred metres we reached easier ground. Jon named it the Traverse of the Gods. Then we picked up a series of benches that sloped down to the southwest of the end of the ridge. At the bottom of these was a gully falling into the valley and on the other side was a steep face of tussock and rock that I recognised from my previous effort here. We crossed and traversed it to arrive onto a flat col with a large tarn and lovely easy tussock ridges stretching away towards the Arthur.
By now it was evening of day three and all the danger had passed and life felt good. We ambled slowly down and stopped by a large tarn further down the ridge amid glorious golden tussock. On either side the mountains were resplendent with a golden tussock mantle while above the stark rock and ice fields were sharp against a cobalt blue sky. We unpacked all our gear and I dried out the tent which had frost on it from the previous night. Then I had the primus going and we lay back in the tussock gulping down hot drinks.
I slept well that night but nevertheless I did not enjoy hearing the alarm going off at 5.30 AM. We got organised and were off by 7 AM descending the ridge to Shoulder Hill. The route from the tussock onto the ridge in the bush below is critical as huge cliffs bar the route. I spent about an hour trying to find the exact spot to arrange the first abseil over a 20 feet cliff. Shortly after this arrived out onto the top of a pinnacle in the bush with awesome drops around it. Here was the 70 crack I had climbed before with Richard. We arranged the abseil and off I went relieved to find it was definitely my old route. Once past this there was a steep bush climb up a ridge onto an open top and then it was all downhill following the ridge to the south. This peters out onto a broad bush covered hill at 600 metres with some open rock slabs. Here we hung a left aiming for the island at the south end of Lake Ada till at about 300 metres cliffs bar the route. Here we turned left again in a northerly direction dropping very steeply through near vertical bush interspersed with cliffs. Then we were in a wee stream draining the face above and we followed this down to a bridge on the Milford Track. What an anticlimax for us. One minute in vertical trackless bush and the next on a graded track.
It was a one and a half hour walk to Sandfly Point. Here we picked up my sea kayak. Graeme of the Mitre Peak Cruises was white baiting nearby and said hello. I set off to get Jons kayak at Sinbad Beach. Graeme told Jon Id be lucky to get there in the big seas. Once out of the river there was a very strong onshore wind and the sea built quickly. I felt happy enough in them but I was concerned about the tow back and how Jon's kayak would fare. The odd wave washed over me and one had to concentrate on staying upright. Eventually I closed on Sinbad beach, which is sheltered so landing was not difficult. I dragged Jon's kayak out of the bush slipped on my tow belt and took off. It was blowing like stink but surprisingly Jon's boat rode well and I had not trouble getting it back to Sandfly. When I was closing on the point Jon appeared and shouted, Where the f--- have you been? and then burst out laughing. Graham had apparently put him up to it. I think I was too jaded to offer a smart reply.
All that remained was to load up and scoot across Fishermans wharf for a quick shower and drive home.
Stanley
The probable first traverse of the Llawrenny Peaks on 21-24 October 2005 by Jon Taylor and Stan Mulvany ( Southland Section NZAC and Southland Sea Kayaking Network)