13-14 September 1997: Boyle, Boucher, Foley

Maps M31 and M32

For this weekend tramp seven trampers in two cars left Christchurch at 7am on the Saturday. The drive to the Lewis is always a pleasure and it was obvious as we headed towards the Boyle township that we were in a perfect weather pattern. Clear blue skies, very little cloud and virtually no wind. We were heading for the southern end of the St. James Walkway where we would park the cars and start our weekend tramp.

We headed away from the parked cars at 9.45 am. Starting at 600 metres in height we still only needed 'T' shirts and it was only on the very tops that there was any snow. Walking alongside the Boyle river we headed up the valley passing the Magdalen Hut on our right and continuing a short distance past the Boyle Flat Hut where we had lunch. After eating we continued our saunter to reach our evening camp site at 4.15pm. Choosing this site (the confluence of the Boucher and the Boyle at 920 metres) we felt walking 9km with a vertical rise of only 300 metres bad been a perfect days tramping.

After dinner, with the temperature dropping fast, the wise went to bed early. The strong however, collected firewood and lit a good fire in the riverbed. For those who know about catabolic conditions, we camped in the perfect position to experience them, and the cold wind sliding down the Boucher made for an extremely cold night.

On the Sunday morning those whose boots had got wet the previous day had the pleasure of thawing them. After breakfast we broke camp at 8.45 & headed up the Boucher Stream to reach the saddle that crosses the Libretto range at 11.15 am. The wind was very cold across the saddle so we dropped down and sought shelter, where we had an early lunch. The morning's walk was very pleasant with a mixture of bush, river, tussock and finally snow. The saddle over the Libretto is approximately 1500 metres and offers a wonderful panoramic view.

After lunch we dropped down into the more northern of the two streams that lead into Foley's Creek. This part of our tramp became quite slow and tedious. There was a great deal of windfall and negotiating this and other obstacles, combined with walking in the river, caused some rumbling in the ranks. However when Dave shouted be could hear cars on the road, the pace quickened and we stepped onto the Foley Bridge at 2.50pm.