Post #2591316

2026-04-04 01:51 UTC

In good conditions the Cascade Saddle is not that technically difficult, with some moderate scrambling. It can go poorly if you fall, but you wouldn't fall if it was dry and not snowy. It did take us 11 hours from Aspiring Hut to Dart Hut, though, so a pretty long day. The posted time is 9 hours.

Replies (1)

@va2lam@mastodon.nz 2026-04-04 02:01

There were so many kea! Haven't seen quite so many before. As I posted before, also takahē. Apart from that, here are some silvereye/tauhou. There were one or two fantail/pīwakawaka and South Island robin/toutouwai, but I didn't get good pictures of them. #BirdsNZ What was also unusual was that the kea were hanging out at the huts. On a previous trip to Aspiring Hut we'd talked to a party who had gone up to Cascade Saddle and seen 6 keas. Here, there were about that number at Aspiring Hut, and also about that number at Dart Hut. It was the kea welcoming committee at Dart Hut: the hut is near a river with a bridge, and then there is a ladder down to the hut. The kea hang out near the ladder and at the hut.

Open ##2591317