Tent Tarn  – solo

I had to get away as I was getting withdrawal symptoms from not getting out and about for a bit. Nobody wanted to venture out with me on what was forecast to be a not so good weekend so off I went solo for a quick overnighter to visit Grail Falls, camp at Tent Tarn and possibly Twin Spires or Cathedral if the weather allowed.

Walking solo requires extra safety and some less risk taking as you are alone with generally no one to assist you. You can suffer the same unforeseen injuries as you can walking with others but you must have some sort of safety plan. I have as one of my safety measures a SPOT-2 personnel navigator and when walking solo I have a rule that it is always on my person at all times. It won't save me if I fall on my head and become unconscious but at least I can set it off if I injure myself badly. Others monitor my Spot messages as well and lack of activity would arouse interest in my welfare. There are many arguments for and against solo walking and those for and against could argue all day about the pro's and cons. Life is one big risk and driving on the road every day is more risky than bush walking. I am done on this topic for now and off on my solo walk.

​

I was up quite early and arrived at the end of the Mersy Forest Road by just after 8AM. Two other cars had obviously been their overnight. Quite gloomy but no rain just yet. Up the Moses Creek track for the first quick stint across the first bridge to sign the logbook. After the first uphill section you go through a strange area that must have been burnt out years ago, pretty easy to follow except for one sharp left turn that goes into some thicker scrub briefly. I am obviously not the first person to go straight ahead here. Back on track its all uphill from here till you crest the ridge above Chapter Lake and first hear and see Grail Falls. You do pass an area just before the crest that probably has a tarn in it, but not in summer, bone dry today.

A steep decent and you arrive along the Chapter lake shore and then a rough damp uninviting but reasonable size campsite just below the base of Grail Falls. The cloud is on the ground now and the view of the falls and lake is not that great. This is my first trip onto the plateau here and I eventually navigated my way across the creek and around the cliff base to the ascent up a very steep, very slippery rocky cliff. You arrive after a short scramble on the rock slabs above Grail Falls. Not a great view today but there is a Geocahe here to spend a few minutes finding. The beautiful valley ahead was just white with cloud, why was I here again?

I got very wet trousers going along the valley pushing against the close in scrub till I reached the first creek crossing that was easily navigated today. Around Chalice Lake following the well cairned track except for the one point where I zigged instead of zagged apparently and got off track briefly. At the end of Chalice you cross an area that would be underwater when levels were high. You gain a rocky ridge and because the rain had stopped I had some lunch, less than 2.5 hours after leaving the car.

After lunch it's down the other side to cross a creek and on a compass bearing to Tent Tarn. I quickly arrived at the Southern side of Tent Tarn after about 45 minutes and found a nice campsite under a native pine right next to the Tarn. After setting up camp I wandered up towards Cathedral and Twin Spires to see if the cloud would part at all and give me some glimpses of the view up here. At the rocky knoll between Cathedral and the Spires it was not looking good. Apparently Cathedral and the Spires are just over there in that white stuff.

The cloud was very low and I got as far as Twin Spires South and clambered down onto the edge of the escarpment. I hung around for ages as the cloud was teasing me with brief glimpses of an amazing view. I picked out the private hut at Kia Ora a couple of times and down towards Lees Paddocks. I gave up eventually and returned to camp for some tea. The rain was quite persistent now so I heated up my home made dehydrated meal and tried out my new titanium mug by boiling a drink in it. A few Sudoku and a read of an old Wild magazine and I was out like a light.

I awoke to worse cloud than yesterday and more rain. I decided that it was not worth another summit visit so ate breakfast and walked out after luckily packing up camp in between showers. I was back at the registration booth by 11:20AM and soon on my way home with an expectation that I will come back on a good weekend to see the views as they will be stunning.