Nelson Lakes - Day 2 - Descent from Angelus

Up at 6 am to a beautiful sunrise, the hills were gold and the reflection on the lake was perfect. I spent a couple of hours pottering around taking photographs before we set off back up to the ridge. From the ridge we took the Speargrass Creek Route which followed a creek down to the Speargrass Hut. The sign at the top said “Route Only” – that should’ve been a warning! It was a beautiful route, but had a minimal path, the flowers were gorgeous and great views back up to the ridge. Soon we left the muddy path to descend on scree, again I would’ve preferred a lighter pack!

We crossed the creek, then back again and again and again… Eventually the valley widened a little and we entered forest. We had orange triangles to follow but the way was tricky and at points muddy. I eventually managed to fall into the mud – yuck! This was an extremely hard trail. I guess that “Route Only” meant that the trail was waymarked, there wasn’t actually a path.

We joined the main Speargrass track, 2.5 hours to the car park the sign said, easy I thought – ha! The trail traced it’s way through a gorgeous beech forest with birdsong from the bell bird to accompany you, but no real indication of where you were or how far you had to go. Underfoot the going was softer but concentrations was required to avoid the tree roots – very tiring.

A wonderful walk but hard going – worth it for the ridge, views, flowers and streams.