45 almost epic adventures on the South Island & Rakiura
Mt Fell blog | April 2017
I thought Easter would be sufficient time for going up Mt Richmond, and mentioned the prospect to a friend.
He said he would love to come but wanted a different time, and a different route to what I was proposing, ie, the funnest day you can have near Nelson: climbing Mt Fell from the Pelorus River.
He suggested leaving from the Wairau Valley, which means you drive halfway to the top. You can pop up and back in a day.
I smiled and realised why I prefer tramping on my own. I didn’t bring the subject up again.
In any case the weather wasn’t suitable, the run into the Easter brought Cyclone Debbie, then Cyclone Cook. Not quite as much rain as predicted but still plenty on Easter Friday.
I went a week later which was also a long weekend, if you took off the Monday before a Tuesday Anzac Day. I left on Friday morning as well. This would give me five days to make it not a complete race.
Fortunately someone had marked the track with orange plastic ribbon about five years before, most were faded but still discernible, wrapped on the trees.
The track then stretched along a ridge for a kilometre or two before the last big climb up Mt Fell. Parts of that are steep, scrabbling with hands to drag myself upwards required.
