Starting from the Klondyke Corner road end, I made a bee line for the Jordan Stream and Turkey Flat. Picking a route on river gravels through the flat allowed me to avoid all of the spikey Matagouri scrub that the area is renowned for. I stopped for morning tea at Birch Notch, which gave me my first proper view of Jordan Stream and was set back far enough from the Waimakariri river gravels to deter most of the sand flies.
The Jordan Stream provided straightforward access to Jordan Saddle. In it's lower section it was a wide gravel bash and although more confined in the second half, it never presented any real difficulties. Several large gulches are passed which drop straight down to the stream from Little Jordan Spur. Once above the tree line, the main stream eventually swings around to the south east, just above a small water chute. I left the stream here and climbed a mixture or gravel and scrubby slopes to the grassy saddle, which was a lot windier than the confines of the stream.
Jordan Stream from the saddle.
The Waimakariri is just visible behind.
The steepest part of the route is getting in to the head of Galilee Creek from the saddle and involved a descending sidle to the northern most branch of the creek. From here the travel down to the Avoca valley is easy, descending alongside the creek the whole way. Lower down, for the last few hundred metres before the Avoca Valley, old, dry creek beds provided a convenient shortcut to the valley proper.
The Avoca Valley is a spectacular area, that despite having 4WD access has a reasonably remote feel. The view up valley is dominated by the bulk of Mount Gizeh. I followed easy river gravels and flats up to the appropriately named Easy Stream, which gave access to the return route over the Sphinx Saddle. Tucked in to the bush here, maybe 100 to 200 metres up the Easy Stream on the true left, is a large open area, that is almost field like. There is extensive camping here. However I elected to carry on for another 1.5km or so and called it a day at a more intimate campsite just above a kink in the stream.
It rained in the late evening and overnight, but stopped with daybreak on Sunday morning. Progress up to Sphinx Saddle was straightforward, though as on my previous trip I headed for the saddle to the south west of the named one on the maps.
The descent to the Anti Crow River is my favourite area of this trip. The headwaters of the Anti Crow are a spectacular Alpine area in their own right and the scenery is stunning. There is also the great scree descent from the saddle itself, which is fantastic fun. The Anti Crow then allows for fast travel, with multiple river crossings all the way out to the roche moutonnee in the Anti Crow Hut area.
Looking towards the Anti Crow River and the Mottram Peaks.
I stopped for lunch at the hut, meeting the first people I had seen on this trip - to Aucklander's down for the anniversary weekend. From here it was about an hour an a half back, skirting along the base of Turkey Flat, for a more or less line of sight route back to the road.
