It took a solid 3 hours to get down to the Steele Ck junction. There the sign said to allow 10 hours for the trip over to Upper Caples. It was 2:00PM? We decided to go for it. the track climbs to begin with and then drops to a small flat on Steele Ck.
- Steele Ck.
The track heads almost due north straight up the valley. After an hour or so Steele Ck Hut is reached.
- Steele Ck Hut.
- Steele Ck Hut
Above the hut the valley broadens and travel is quite quick for an hour or so.
- The U shaped pass we would take is visible at the head of the valley.
As we ascended the weather closed in again. By the time we crested the pass it was quite late, about 7:30.
- View of the Steele Ck valley from the pass looking back over the country we had traversed.
By 8:30 we were at the bushline on the Caples side. Here we donned our headlamps for the descent through the bush. It was not an easy task to follow the track down in the dark. There were orange triangles on the trees but they were easy to lose. I found the best indicator of when I had walked off track was when the ground felt soft under foot. Several times we stopped and scouted around with our headlamps until we re-located the track. It was after 10 before we hit the new wide Caples track and from here it was only a few minutes to the hut. It was locked up so we spread out on the verandah and made a late supper before hitting the sack.
It had been a long day, starting at 6:30 with the only lengthy stop being at Mc Kellar Hut for breakfast. I think next time I would plan on spending the night at Steele Ck Hut.
K.