Wilderness* WALK 1200km 48km
Maps inspire me. I have a particular fondness for topographical sheets produced by Land Information New Zealand: the simple colours, the shading that lends form to ridges and gullies, the symbols and the hatching. A sheet like my old M30 Matakitaki is filled, margin to margin, almost entirely with mountains that offer countless possibilities for trips.
At the 1:50,000 scale, these maps provide a lot of information for trampers: thick bands of orange contours warn of bluffs, shades of green show subalpine scrub, striations represent gorges.
Maps are, of course, a simplistic representation of the landscape and the scale is not so detailed as to rob us of mystery. Planning a trip from the map alone, guessing at the challenges and rewards that untracked terrain might offer, surely counts as one of tramping's most satisfying experiences.
It had been a couple of decades since I'd been in the Matakitaki Valley, part of a large chunk of country added to Nelson Lakes National Park in 1983, It's accessible from Murchison, with a track up the main valley and various routes onto the ranges above. On one side it's flanked by the Nardoo tops and Emily Peaks; on the other is the Ella Range.
Peter Laurenson
