Saturday 15th February 2025
Starting from the St James Track carpark, near the Lewis Pass, a small group of six enthusiastic trampers set off up the track adjacent to the highway for a day walk. The weather was stunning but rapidly heating up. Initially it was an easy gradient through beach forest for the first 30mins or so before the gradient becames quite steep.
After another hour to 1.5 hours we got to the hard won but stunning views from the Lewis Tops, over the Maruia Valley and accross to Mt
Apprentice and Mt Technical. It was a hot slog walking up to the top but lovely cool breeze on top. Lots of lovey alpine plants once we got
above the beach forest and a few wee Pipits. The tarns along the Lewis Tops were very scenic and certainly looked like some lovely places to camp. I was surprised at how many other walkers we saw, including tourists, overnight trampers and hunters over-nighting as well.
It was a really chilly breeze on the tops, and we all donned our windproof gear, which was a good reminder to always bring your warm wind and waterproof gear no matter how short a trip it is, especially if your getting out onto the Tops. It was about a 4hour walk all up plus a pretty long drive from Hokitika, but we’ll worth it.
Great day out with Ben Lafuente, Rashada Chunekar, Joy Comrie, Haran Fisher & Dave Hindman
Di Clendon (Member)