Nelson Lakes

a summer tramp - the exhilaration of the Southern Alps in a warm climate

At the northern extent of the Southern Alps, the climate at National Lakes National Park is mild but the glacial valleys, the steep craigs, the rugged ridges and the little lakes are like a drug to some of our members who don't seem to be able to get through a summer without their annual fix of the alpine air and leg bending slopes.

On the right is Angelus - a spot that has it all.

Out on the tops, the air is pure, the flowers are sweet, the tracks are sometimes challenging and the view exhilarating. You get the feeling that life doesn't get much better. And that's about all you can ask of a place.

It can, however, turn real nasty, if the weather packs up. Then it's time to follow the creeks down through the bush line and into the Beech forest. The trees cling to steep sides of the valleys and when the wind is howling along the tops, there is no better place to be.

But the Nelson weather is usually fine. The remaining pictures reveal some of the magic of the park but for the real fix you have to go there.

You have to hump a heavy pack up those vertical slopes, then hump it down again. You have to suffer a blister on your big toe and sample an early morning porridge with brown sugar and cinnamon in Angelus hut. All this and more on a summer tramp at Nelson Lakes.