MOUNT STRACHAN
8.5 km | 600 m | 3.5 hours
Despite the fact that we have bagged this peak, I can’t quite say that it’s been completed. We may have found snow in mid October, but there was no view and so it must be repeated on a clear day to get the full experience. It was definitely a lot more than we were expecting, making the scramble up Christmas Gully a memorable one. Snow can be dangerous when unexpected as it can wipe out the trail and steer you off course. We should have climbed up the river rock in order to stay on the trail and not be hanging from tree branches while our feet dangled off the mountain. Lesson learned!
Our second attempt was a success. We started the hike in the fog, but by the time we scrambled up Christmas Gully the sun was out and the views with the clouds spectacular!
We did however forget how awful the return trail was. We didn’t want to go down the Collins ski run as suggested by Alltrails, and so decided to take the Mt. Strachan trail which runs parallel to it before meeting up with the Baden Powell trail. Filled with roots, rocks, mud, bugs, and being narrow and overgrown, it wasn’t the best choice. Needless to say, we now feel like we are able to cross this off our list and move onto better options.
