An enjoyable half day hike from Collingwood up to the 1,208m summit of Mt Stevens, the highest point in the Wakamarama Range, with views of the Aorere Valley, and parts of Gouland Downs and the West Coast.
There were gorgeous views before I even started hiking, with early morning light in the Aorere Valley.
The first couple of kilometres of the Mt Stevens Track is along an old 4WD track, which is clearly prone to puddling, given the handy shortcuts to avoid getting wet feet. The reflections were rather good though.
The track was more open than expected, offering lovely views ahead toward Mt Stevens, and across the valley.
Most of the more than 1,000m climb to the summit was through bush though, pleasant but not hugely memorable.
Reaching the bush line was though, helped by great light.
The summit of Mt Stevens wasn’t far away but it was a race to get to the top before the forecast cloud arrived.
I reached it in time to enjoy the views while eating much needed lunch.
As I finished the cloud was definitely rolling in…
…which made navigating back down to the bush line a little trickier than on the way up.
Thankfully it stayed put ontop of the mountain and I got a couple more clear views on the way back down.
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