The Garden of Eden and Allah Ice Plateaus
A seven day hike through the Garden of Eden and Garden of Allah ice fields in the Adam’s Wilderness Area – including a route guide and photos.
Episode 3 of 3
Episodes 1 and 2 here
The next day we found that apparently getting off the Lambert Glacier wasn’t going to be straight forward either. The line to exit via the O’Neil Glacier we first attempted involved a little too much rock climbing and a massive chasm (it’s denoted as a glacier on the map).
We ended up backtracking and then having a discussion about our plan. We could try and get out to the east via Lambert Col or try to continue up a steep snow slope to gain the O’Neil Glacier.
I was keen to avoid the problem of high rivers as in 2024, as were the others, so we found a route upwards that looked doable.
It involved a mixture of climbing up a steep snow slope and wedging ourselves into snow shelves next to rocks. The consequences of a fall here were constantly in the back of my mind so I was making sure every step was locked in before I moved again.
Once at the top of this climb, we were on the O’Neil Glacier and able to relax again for a bit before we needed more teamwork to get up an awkward climb over a rock step.
Mathew scaled up and gave Emily and me a bit of a helping hand. The rain then increased and the visibility decreased as we traversed around Mt Stoddart on scree terrain.
When we were past pt 1544 the terrain flattened off but what once would have been a nice camping area next to the stream was strewn with boulders. We continued with a Type 2 bush bash through dracophyllum trees on a very steep descent to the Lord River.
It was a whole-body workout with some rather funny moments such as when my pack got caught above my head while trying to squeeze under a tree and Emily watched me inadvertently do two backflips while losing my balance trying to climb over a branch.
By the time we got to the Lord River we were very glad to have the bush bash behind us and get out of the rain and into dry clothes. Although we had managed to get down, it would have been nearly impossible, and certainly miserable to go up that route.
Mad Water was running fast and furious the next morning after a night of continual rain but we all managed to get across safely.
I did some more cursing at all the large and slippery boulders in the stream bed as we climbed towards the sidle to False Blue Lookout, but luckily a circus of kea turned up to distract us. I think they were cackling away at me constantly falling over on all the boulders
I was very glad once we were back in tussock on the sidle, Emily pointing out a rock wren along the way. With the tussock being wet and on steep terrain, we had to ensure we didn’t go for a slide.
Getting to Blue Lookout was like trying to find our way through a maze of huge boulders that dwarfed us all.
At Blue Lookout I think we all felt a real sense of achievement over what we had done over the last few days. The hard work was now behind us as we would be back on tracks for the rest of the trip.
We decided to each do the descent to Hunters Hut at our own paces. Mathew sped down with Emily not long behind him and with me doing my best impression of being a ‘downhill nana’ that I’m well known for, and doing a bit of first aid along the way as the chafing on my legs was still painful with each step.
After not seeing anyone since our first day, we suddenly had a lot of company in the hut with another group also on their way out from an epic trip.
We had fun with the cableway the next morning and enjoyed spotting a few whio paddling along peacefully in the Wanganui River.
Before the road we passed by some natural hot pools in a side stream of the Wanganui River and took a well-deserved soak.
Making it into the Adams Wilderness Area to traverse the Garden of Eden and Garden of Allah all in one day still feels a bit surreal.
The entire trip was the most challenging and rewarding trip I have done as a baby dinosaur. I shredded two pairs of gloves and finished the trip covered in bruises, cuts and grazes but it was absolutely worth it all.
I think this trip has encouraged us to dream big and aim for more trans-alpine tramps, and that the best view really does come after the hardest climb.
Steve,
I’ve actually done that traverse around the side of Mt Lambert twice. The first time was on a trip with Grant Wheaton and Struan Little and a number of other Wellington people. There’s a write up of that trip by Struan in our 1990 Journal called “If This is the Garden of Eden I’ll Take the Apple”. The second time was on a trip with Grant and Sue Napier and John Rhodes. There’s a write up of that trip by John in our 1995 Journal called “The Great Unknown”. (That report has a photo of me standing on top of the Little Unknown with the Garden of Eden stretched out in perfect sunshine behind. It also has a photo of the lower Lambert icefall and the O’Neil Glacier, and by comparing it with the photos in this report you can see how much things have changed.)
To download a PDF of the journals, just go to the Publications menu at the top of the front page of our website and follow your nose.
I haven’t seen Grant or Sue in years – I’ve completely lost contact.
Harry
Was the 95 trip I was thinking of I think. Likewise, lost contact with Grant. See Sue a bit, she’s not tramping any more, recently retired (taught one of my my boys at high school), doing a bit of travel.
Bloody hell – time flies. It’s hard to believe that trip was 30 years ago. Say hello to Sue for me when you see her.
Harry
Steve B. (if you’re the Steve B. I’m thinking of) – wow, long time no see!
I think there’s actually a write-up of that trip in one of our old club journals – I’ll have a look and see.
Harry
Harry – If your the Harry I’m thinking of, perhaps your story of that traverse around Mt Lambert might be the next story. Steve B.
Great trip! I’m envious!
Do you have a better photo of your route up the cliffs from the Lambert Glacier? There’s one of you walking across the glacier towards the cliffs and it looks like there might be a bit of a break in the middle of the cliffs, but it’s hard to tell.
Another route from the Lambert Glacier down to Hunter’s Hut is to follow a broad shelf system around the eastern side of Mt Lambert and up to a saddle to the north of Mt Lambert. You can see the start of these shelves in the top right of your photo of your camp on the Lambert Glacier, leading around from the top of the icefall. These shelves peter out before you reach the saddle, and you have to drop down a steep gully for a couple of hundred vertical metres before you can sidle across and into the stream leading back up to the saddle. About half a kilometre down the other side west of the saddle another little saddle to the north leads you over to some superb alpine tussock basins, and from there there is an old track or route leading down to Hunter’s Hut. That’s the way we went about 30 years ago.
I’ve always thought the early explorers or map-makers missed some opportunities with the names in this area, especially with the Lambert Glacier. Who was Lambert? Hopefully he wasn’t some boring English politician! Perhaps he was Raymond Lambert, the Swiss mountaineer who climbed high on Everest with Tenzing Norgay in 1952. If so, he certainly deserves to have a place in the mountains named after him, but his name isn’t really in keeping with the Biblical / Mesopotamian theme of the area. I reckon the Lambert Glacier should have been called the Garden of Aladdin or the Garden of Ali Baba (or perhaps they could have given one of those names to the northern branch of the glacier and the other to the southern branch). And the isolated rocky ridgeline between these branches of the glacier (spot-heights 2279 and 2220) would make a perfect Noah’s Ark. And the area is just crying out for there to be a Hanging Garden of Babylon somewhere (perhaps the extension of the Garden of Eden between Mt Farrar and Guardian Peak?). Too many missed opportunities!
I presume we are going to get a club talk about the trip. (It would be nice to have a few club talks…!)
Yes I thought so too. Be nice to be able to get back there again!
Tony
Great photos! I’m looking forward to Part 3! That view looking along the Garden of Eden from the Great Unknown looks familiar from about 30 years ago.