Altitude: 0m to 679m. Gain: 679m. Loss: 297m . Gradient: 38 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills:
Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey
The track to Washpool climbs the ridge directly behind Pararaki Hut – 550m to the top and I felt every meter of it. A well marked, well cut track but a relentless gradient: the first 200m bloody steep, the rest merely steep. However, glimpse views from the climb, and a good clearing at the top the top look out along the coast past Lake Ferry and Ocean Beech and across to the Seaward Kaikouras - snow-capped with fire in the evening sun. There’s even cellphone coverage at the summit – the only point on the trip. You can decide if that’s a good or bad thing. Cruise tape (flagging / marker tape to you northerners) wrapped round a tree near the summit marks the turn off along the ridge towards Sutherlands Hut.