Camping on the Dogs Range
Shanti reports…
Mum had had a bee in her bonnet all winter. She wanted to take me winter camping! Whether I wanted to go camping didn’t actually feature in this plan… but it turns out I was okay with tagging along. It is better than the alternative - and I didn’t pull the long face I used the last time I was given a pack to carry.
So this trip repeats the Mystery Lake trip we did - but Mum wanted to go further. Her initial plan was to try to walk to Potts Hut, but she hadn’t walked with a full pack for a quite a while and decided that shorter was better. I wasn’t going to complain when she set up camp on the Dogs Range instead. As Mum will explain at length, it is pretty silly to go chasing after hares with a 3kg pack on your back and a long way to walk… but a dog has gotta be a dog!
Looking back towards the start down the Potts River.
It didn’t take too long to get to Mystery Lake - just over two hours or so. We had set off just after a hail storm and Mum was dressed for the weather forecast which was below 10 degrees, but it was well above that - so she was overdressed and muttering… AND I wasn’t allowed near the water in case I decided to swim… which would have got my sleeping bag wet, and also meant a wet dog in the tent with Mum.
After a short lunch stop we start up the Dogs Range to join the Potts Hut trail. It is a long detour, heading off to the right and then meandering back left - and Mum said that next time she would cut up the Dogs Range going off route.
I was reluctant to leave my spot in the tussock, but I might have been a tad tired.
The wind arrived during the night as expected. Mum was up early and packed up as fast as she could. I had breakfast but Mum decided to wait until there was more chance of getting the gas stove to work - so we headed off at sunrise.
Mum decided on a short cut stright off the dogs range, planning to join up with the Mystery Lake track. We have now done quite a few off-route walks, and Mum was confident that with good visiblity and her InReach for any extra help needed that we would manage that just fine - and we did.
By 10am we were about an hour from the car and Mum fancied a coffee. She still couldn’t get the Jetboil stove to work. Mum said it was a combination of the cold and the wind. So after a little muttering we were back on the trail. The signpost that says 1km to the car park is wrong. Mum told a chap called DoC that several times during the hour it took to walk that section. I’m sure poor DoC had a warm ear!
The good news is there were treats for me and coffee for Mum at the car!
