Coleridge Pass
Shanti reports…
Mum said this trip was so I could see the views of Lake Coleridge that I missed out on last week… but it turns out that it was really a recce trip to look at the access to Red Hill with a view to summiting that sometime soon. Phew! But the views towards Lake Coleridge were pretty awesome too.
Mum also picked this route beacuse the forecast was windy - and she figured the valley would be sheltered. She was right for once. (Don’t let on that I admitted that, will ya.)
We set off from the Porters Kkifield. Mum parked in a layby just after we passed the staff quarters and we headed sightly downhill. The route descriptions that the humans had read said that there was no path and navigation was simply done by following the Porters River.
We found a path on the true right of the river. Following it was a lot easier than bush bashing. The path eventually crossed the river and continued above river level on the true left.
We lost the path for quite a while in the middle and found it again a short while before we arrived at the gap between Red Hill and Blue Hill - which is Coleridge Pass.
Getting closer. That’s Red Hill in the centre with the pass out of view on the right. We got as high as that lower ridge in Red Hill in the photo.
Here’s the view from Coleridge Pass. It was a tad more windy here than in the valley. We stopped for lunch. That’s when I had a bit of a mini-silk. Mum announced that she had left my treats in the car!
Yes, Liz did give me some of Maisy’s treats… But… REALLY!! Left my treats in the car???
The humans decided to head up to the first bump on Red Hill, which somehow (it ususally does) progressed to the second bump on the ridgeline. We topped out there and it sure was windy.
But the humas were happy with their recce and felt that this was a good route to revisit when they had more time (and less wind) to climb Red Hill - so down we went - but not without some windswept photos.
We dropped back down to the pass. Picked up the trail. Duly lost it in the middle and dropped back down to the river to pick it up again. When we were close to the car the trail split in two. Our humans decided to follow the one that crossed the river near the noisy water pump. They walked a thin plank to cross. Maisy and I decided it was safer to get our legs and bellies wet in the river.
Then we climbed up a bit to the road and wound up a little to the layby where the car AND MY TREATS were wating.