Above the route

If you look carefully just below the middle of the photo you'll see a series of white dots. These are the tops of poles that mark a route in sub alpine and alpine areas. If you look even more closely you'll see them disappearing to the saddle.

Go large and you'll see even more :-)

This afternoon I headed up to the saddle between Pinnacles and Woolshed Creek catchments. The higher I went the more calm and at peace I felt. Today I felt like climbing up above the route so I was dwarfed by the towering buttresses of Mt Somers.

You don't see these unless you take the track up to Pinnacles Hut. They're impressive, old volcanic formations, huge towering columns that mark major fault lines. Just a few more faults to go with the countless others that riddle out landscape.

It is a magnificent place to sit and look out across the Canterbury Plains. You'll note the lack of snow too.

After a happy couple of hours wandering up and down, I was back with my mates in the hut. Remarkably no one else arrived. We shared pre-dinner snacks, mine was a vacuum packed piece of smoked salmon I'd caught and smoked.

Then it was dinner and dram of single malt and a choccy biscuit. I made a decent attempt at reading a Listener magazine I found in the hut but I drifted off to sleep while the others played cards.

I woke during the night and an impossibly large fully moon lit the hut. After heeding the call of nature I stood outside and took in the moon lit contours and form of the land. It wasn't cold but there is only so much a girl can take in dressed only in merino boxers and shirt. Reluctantly I left the magic of outdoors for the warmth of my sleeping bag.

Gosh it was a good day.

Oh, and to put your minds at rest, I had all my safety gear with me when I was on my own, including an emergency locator beacon. I also had a time limit and my mate knew where I was.