Mountainbiking Nelson : Nelson Mountainbiking

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Working Bee's

The next club working bee will be held on Sunday Feb 21 at 9am and then every fortnight from then for the next 6 months.
Please meet at the Kaka/ Sharlands road carpark, on the left over the concrete ford, just before 9am. We then drive up to the worksite in convoy as the 3km gate is always locked.
The ideal tools of trail creation are grubbers, rakes & spades. Sue will bring her fluffy duster for tidying things up afterwards. Steve will bring Eddy to help keep the possum numbers under control. I will bring my stove, coffee, tea, milk & sugar & some spare cups plus some biscuits.
If you could come along and help us with the trail building and maintenance that would be most excellent. You could also bring along your riding buddies to give us a hand. It doesn't matter if you are not a club member all help is really appreciated by everyone who rides our great trails. Imagine what could be achieved if everyone who mountain bikes in Nelson gave up 2 or 3 half days a year to help with trail building. The amount of new and improved trail we could create would be fantastic
Please come along and give us a hand, it is hard work but it is also very satisfying and we promise a laugh or 2 along the way, don't we Steve.
If you have any questions, need more info or a ride then feel free to email me or call 021-2482248.
Look forward to seeing you next Sunday, the 21st, at 9am.
Cheers, Juddy

Posted by Dave Judson on 14/ 2 / 10; 9:54:51 PM Discuss

St James Station

Click here for a map of the area.

Interest being already piqued by Alan's write-up of his Fowler Pass excursion, my appetite to explore this country was further whetted by photos from Andrew Scott, Diana Bowering & Geoff Miles' circuit of Maling Pass, Lake Guyon & Fowler Pass. Deborah & I were dead keen to get in there and, as Andrew & Diana were equally keen to explore further on down the valley, off we set for Hanmer Springs on a perfect weather forecast.

We began from Fowler hut. Alan gave a good account of the Fowler Pass track in his account - the only thing we'd add to that is it is well worth the extra km to drop down to the lake for a dip. It's shallow, warm-as (at least when we went in) and an ideal spot to wash off any cowshit you may have picked up on the way (DOC are reducing stock numbers on the Station).

Our tour guides cool their heels in Lake Guyon
Heading off down Stanley Vale

Climbing back up from the lake, we kept to the west side of Stanley Vale and followed a stock track (call it single-track) round to the rustic Stanley Vale Hut. Apparently DOC intends to upgrade the hut which is well worth preserving. From here, we pretty much followed our noses over the grasslands - doing our best to avoid the matagouri - until we picked up the eroded trail of an old 4WD route down the Stanley R. We crossed the river a couple of times and scrambled up or dropped off terraces before climbing high on the Stanley's left bank to pass Stanley Gates. Very LOtR.
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Posted by Guy Trainor on 14/ 2 / 10; 9:53:21 PM Discuss