There’s no better way to prepare for a Garden of Eden & Garden of Allah traverse than by climbing the 2,000-metre peak that shares its name with the Wilderness Area the Gardens are located in. Situated on the edge of the Adams Wilderness Area in the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana, Mt Adams offers a challenging but rewarding alpine experience.
The route begins approximately 10 km north of Whataroa, on the northern side of the Dry Creek (Little Man River) bridge. We turned off State Highway 6 onto a short farm track, parking near the first gate.
Emily and I followed the river up the valley. Despite its name, Dry Creek required numerous crossings. As the valley narrowed, the terrain shifted to technical boulder hopping. At one point, we had to work as a team to hoist our packs over a particularly large obstacle so we could haul ourselves up separately. Emily moved with impressive speed over the rocks, while I focused on keeping pace and avoiding face planting myself into these boulders.
After about 1.5 hours, we reached the base of the bush track. We found just enough flat ground to pitch our two green tents. Above us, the sky was thick with stars, and in the bank behind our campsite, a colony of glow-worms lit up the darkness.
The next morning, there was no time for a warm-up; the track started with a relentless, steep climb through tree roots. We were incredibly grateful not to be hauling full overnight packs up that incline.
Eventually, we broke out of the bushline where the marked track ends. From there, we navigated a tussocky ridgeline.
The views across the Southern Alps were breath-taking with an inversion layer beneath us. After point 1767 we started crossing patches of snow and by pt 2101 we had put our crampons on.
The final push involved a traverse across the top of the Escape Glacier to reach the summit. This section was steep and exposed, requiring careful footwork.
As we stood on the summit, clouds rolled in intermittently, offering glimpses across to the Garden of Eden.
The descent was a true “knee-basher” and we were both glad to have the cold river at camp for our knees before the walk out the next morning.
Day 1: Walk into camp spot at base of Mt Adams bush track – 1.5-2hrs, 324m elevation, 3.68km
Day 2: Mt Adams Summit & back to camp at base of bush track – 11-12 hours, 2,054m elevation, 11.64km
Day 3: Walk out – 1.5hrs, 13m elevation, 3.42km
Full version of trip report: Climbing Mt Adams: A Gateway to the Adams Wilderness Area