Maori name- Not found
Roberts Ridge to Lake Angelus, returning via Speargrass Track.
Lake Angelus is a huge alpine tarn carved into the Traver’s Range by a long-since-melted glacier. It’s nestled high in the range between lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa, in Nelson Lakes National Park at the top end of New Zealand’s South Island.
To get there from Mt Robert carpark, we took Pinchgut Track to Roberts Ridge, which we followed over Julius Summit and down into Angelus Basin. Pinchgut is the hardest and most boring part, but it only takes an hour or so and there are some good views back over Saint Arnaud and Lake Rotoiti. Once you’re on Robert’s Ridge it’s pretty flat most of the way, but there are some boulder-hopping sections toward the end that require concentration. It’s just over 12kms and took us about six hours. You’ll need to take a whole days water with you because there’s none until you get to the lake.
The little peninsula that sticks out into the Lake Angelus is a good place to camp because thick speargrass provides some natural (though a little speary) cushioning. Alternatively you could stay next to that lake inside Angelus hut if the weather is bad, but that costs money. We went in February and the water was still freezing but we had a swim anyway.
For a change of scenery, and because it follows a fresh running stream, we took Speargrass Track on the return trip. There’s plenty of river crossings, bush bashing, and shin-deep mud, so bring good waterproof shoes if you’re gonna go that way so you don’t end up with the beginnings of trench foot like we did. This route is a fair bit trickier, and will take longer than Roberts ridge, but the forest is rad. In retrospect it might have been a good idea to stay an extra night at Speargrass Hut on the way out, because it was a pretty long day.
The best advice I can give you for this hike is don’t leave valuable shit in your car. When we got back to Mt Robert carpark, a bunch of cars had been robbed and my bag, containing 15 rolls of exposed film, was gone. Despite the best efforts of the rangers and the Murchison police force (which consisted of one guy named Mike), I never saw the bag or the film again. We later learnt that robberies are common at that carpark and that there are lockers in the Nelson Lakes visitors centre, which I would recommend you use.
by Ed Gorwell
2015
@edgorwell
