Up to the saddle

Up at silly o'clock but it would have been a lot earlier if my original 3 day trip into the hills had eventuated.

A fairly tame tramp into Pinnacles hut this morning for the 3 of us. We lunched on the porch in near balmy conditions then a quick trip up to the saddle between the Staveley/Pinnacles and Woolshed Creek.

While the day had started cool and gloomy, with persistent drizzle looking likely you can see conditions were pretty good by mid-late afternoon. The nor'west breeze was light and warm though we could see the weather cut up rough only a little further inland from us.

We sat on rocks in the sun, munched on a snack and figured out by map and compass what the peaks were we could see. It's classic Canterbury landscape and with the plains and Banks Peninsula behind us, you can see we're not far from home. Then a quick descent back down to the hut before while we still had daylight.

Just enough of everything today to not over tax the dregs of my cold, yet I feel like I've done something. Miso soup and nuts for nibbles, lemon and garlic chicken with veges followed by dark chocolate covered ginger with a nip or 2 scotch.

Yum and a good day.