Mt Princess –
a pretty little peak with a bath
A pleasant climb of a pretty peak named Mt Princess with its own Princess Bath in the St James Conservation Area
If you belong to a mountaineering club then maybe every now and then you think about actually climbing to the summit of a peak. But one immediate problem is which summit do you choose?
Some peaks look attractive, such as graceful Aspiring; some have unusual features, think Ngāuruhoe; some are spectacular viewpoints, like Earnslaw; while others have cool names, such as Mephistopheles and Damfool. But there are plenty that share all of the above to some degree. One of those goes by the name of Mt Princess.
Princess does not hide herself away—you can see her from the St James MTB carpark even though she is not particularly tall. And she does have a softly elegant appearance especially with some snow cover. She even has her own royal bath high on her southern side. And because she stands away from all the Southern Alps mountains there is a wonderful all-round viewpoint. And certainly her name is alluring. So when you decide that Princess is the one to be with here is one way to go about it.
Start from Maling Pass either by first walking the 6 km up the road from the MTB carpark, or driving your 4WD if you are prepared to take the risk of having it stuck when someone locks the gate to the road. A broad easy ridge takes you to Point 1906 from where you have two choices—continue along the narrowing and chossy ridge, or sidle gently down to the level of the tarn and then climb the snow slope (or scree later in summer) back to the ridge. Above here there is some easy scrambling to the summit. The second route is the more pleasant even if it adds a bit to the climbing.
From the top of Princess there is a grand view of mountains and valleys extending from Nelson Lakes to the north, the nearby Spencer Range peaks of Una and Faerie Queene, then south to Mephistoples mostly hidden far away among a jumble of other peaks.
Take some time to enjoy your day so far, and then think about which way you will take to get down. You have a number of choices. Either by the ascent route, or directly down the valley (bluffs immediately below the tarn may prove tricky) or by climbing from the tarn to the eastern ridge and descending that to join the road above the carpark.
As a day outing from the MTB carpark it’s a round trip of about 10 hours.
Recommended.
For another nice Alp 1 peak go to Te Ao Whekere
Or maybe Mt Potts