Mt Oxford Saturday 18th November 2017
Barry Wayne Ally and Christine had an early start departing from Timaru at 6.30am. It was a 2.5 hour drive from Timaru to the Coopers Creek car-park arriving on 9am. There were already a few cars parked at car-park and there was a thin layer of cloud hanging on the tops which wafted in and out. We set off initially following a vehicle track which took us passed bee hives, a scout camp, crossed the Coopers Creek stream then a gradual climb to start on a well-worn track then on to a steeper gradient.
With I thought a reasonable pace on and making good progress, taking in a few breaks to rest and take in the views below and stops to talk to others along the way after 3 ½ hours we made it to the summit (1364m). Definitely a good climb. We took shelter from a cool breeze for a lunch break and to watch the cloud coming and going, taking in ever changing views (because of the cloud) before decent via the same track. As we dropped to around 1000m the cloud disappeared and the tops had cleared. We arrived back at the car park at 3pm so all up around 5 ½ hours.
Thank you to Barry for leading this trip. I enjoyed this walk and it proved to be a good day trip from Timaru.
Christine