The photograph to the left is of Upper Nina Biv.
With three old friends I spent four nights and three days in the Lake Sumner Forest Park.
From 8 July to 11 July 2017 we tramped up the Nina River, to Nina Hut. We day-tripped to Upper Nina Bivvy and then crossed Devilskin Saddle (after visiting Devils Den Bivvy) to the Doubtful River and we stayed our last night at Doubtless Hut.
Finally we walked out to State Highway 7 and drove to my friends' relatively new 'bach' at St Arnaud just before snowfalls closed Lewis Pass.
I have popped my ten better photos to an album on Flickr. And the photo below is the result of some 'Flickr 'embed' script.
What did I learn and bring back from the tramp?
I could say that oh: I took too much food (I had some left at the end). I needn't have taken a pair of fleece pants (yes it was cold, we all tramped in 'polypro' tights but a spare dry pair of tights would have been lighter). And never omit your sleeping mat! (It should always be in your pack even on a 'huts' trip and even more so in winter!)
But that's just a checklist for next time.
When the trip was being planned I said I'd only tramped in the area once or twice. Actually I'd temporarily forgotten I had done a lot of tramps between Lake Sumner and Lewis Pass. The trip evoked a lot of memories and a lot of yarns ("There was another trip I may not have mentioned, where we bush-bashed up to Brass Monkey Biv..") which my long suffering tramp companions politely heard out.
Even little-suspecting fellow trampers we met heard a few yarns! We meet two wonderful women teachers from Christchurch who were outdoor instructors. It of course turned out we knew friends in common and that launched more tall tales from our respective archives.
The big wake-up for me was that although I do look like a bald and white-haired 55 year-old with a lined-face, I got that way by doing a lot of tramps and other adventurous things!
And also that my old tramping friends are still my bestest-ever friends.
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