The alarm went off early in order to see the sun rise on 2022, but the cloud was still down so we had a few extra hours of sleep before a leisurely late-morning start. Most of the cloud had burned off by midday so we set off with day packs up the scrambly ridge to the summit of Mt Technical (1870m). We took a confidence rope but didn’t use it, and enjoyed some exposed but solid scrambling as close to the ridge as we could manage. After a lengthy lunch at the summit, enjoying 360° views, we returned to our campsite the same way, and cooled off with a waterfall shower and stream-cooled beers. Sunset on the 1st January was spectacular, so we pretended it was still New Year’s Eve and celebrated with cheese and whisky. After a bit of stargazing we called it a night at about 10:30pm.

The next day we packed up camp and continued along the main ridge over The Apprentice (1678m) and Lucretia (1643m) before descending to Brass Monkey Bivouac where we intended to stay the night. Unfortunately this small two-bunk biv has a serious mould problem, so rather than spend a night breathing in green spores, we retraced our steps slightly to a large tarn south of Pt 1602. This turned out to be a great decision, as the tarn provided a perfect location for a refreshing swim, and beautiful views to the southwest over The Grand Duchess (1703m).

After another swim to start the day cold, on 3rd January we began traversing the northern slopes next to Brass Monkey Biv, crossing some large boulder fields and dense alpine shrubs, while being baked by the intense sun. Following the wide ridge from Pt 1390 we picked up the Rough Creek Track and descended into the welcome shade of the bush to the north. By spectacular luck, we emerged onto State Highway 7 just as another group of trampers were about to leave, so didn’t even need to stick a thumb out to hitch a ride back to the car at Lewis Pass.

Liv looking along the main ridge of the Lewis Tops towards Mt Technical

Looking back down the west ridge of Mt Technical towards our campsite