Pushing out of your comfort zone
Mitch Thorn takes his time exploring the depths of the West Coast back country beyond Cedar Flats Hut.
Monday – 08/06/20
The end of May saw my fixed term contract finish, so I did the only reasonable thing and left my calendar clear for the entirety of June to cram in as much hunting as possible. I’m lucky to have my likeminded and dead-keen hunting mate Chris as he decided it’d only be fair if he also took the most of June off via unpaid leave to come exploring. Because we had so much time available to us we decided our main goal was to explore into some pretty remote areas to see what’s a bit further out of reach for the average weekend warrior. For our first trip we decided to plan an 8-day back country expedition on the West Coast, hunting our way into the main divide in search of a Red Stag for the wall. On Monday morning I was up at sparrow’s fart off to pick up Chris, his Landcruiser wasn’t required for this trip as we could drive to the trailhead in the mighty Corolla.
I treated myself to a new Tatonka Bison 75 + 10L pack for the occasion. I’d heard only good things about their storage, durability and comfort under heavy loads; with the scale of the trips we had planned for the month it wasn’t going to take long to put those claims to the test. With the new pack overflowing with food, filming gear and our full winter hunting kit we were off marching into the dark and daunting West Coast. The hike began with an hour of rock hopping up a very slippery riverbed which carved its way through the dense bush. The pure scale of the peaks that towered up almost vertically either side of the river make you wonder how anybody found their way into the backcountry before tracks were established.
I’d recently read about John Alexander Anderson’s hunting stories from the early 1900’s. He and his hunting companion battled for ten hours through the wet bush navigating around unpassable gorges and over steep ridgelines to reach their desired hunting country. It’s at this point you really appreciate the work the DOC put into their tracks, as it takes all the guess work out of bush bashing.
After four hours of relatively easy going, we’d made it to Cedar flats hut- our home for the night. We were happy to have started our trip on a Monday rather than a weekend because the hut book was chocka from the weekend just passed. The main reason for the popularity of this spot is the nearby hot pools which we gladly rested in for the evening.
Tuesday – 09/06/20
Tuesday morning saw us up early with a big feed to prepare for the six-hour slog into steeper and less travelled country. About two hours into the journey, we were treated to the raspy squawk of a Whio feeding in the rapids of the river. After a few photos and a snack, we carried on into the unknown. Skip forward another couple of hours and the climb was beginning to take a toll on me. Due to the Covid induced lockdown my fitness wasn’t where it used to be- having only done one three-day trip in the 3 months leading up to this trip. Furthermore, this was our longest walk-in backpacking trip to date; the extra five days’ worth of food didn’t go unnoticed.
On a more positive note, the Tatonka Bison was still sitting comfortably on my back, and to my surprise hadn’t caused any issues on the usual pressure points. This was easily my heaviest pack for a walk-in trip, maybe those claims weren’t just a marketing ploy. Another two hours of battling through cramp and fatigue followed before we finally got a glimpse of the open tops we’d come all this way for.
About Mitch Thorn
I was raised to hunt from an early age. My old man taught me most of the skills I know and showed me the importance of being an ethical hunter and respecting the animals we harvest. I am absolutely hooked on adventure and I can’t get enough time in the backcountry- always searching for that next mission.
