Mid Hill Tarns
9-10/1/2025
To the tarns:
8.5 km, 1035m gain
I set out on this mid-week tramp to Mid Hill expecting a “mid” experience, but it ended up being an incredibly tranquil experience with a stunning sunrise.
I was searching for a mid-week easy-ish overnight tramp to fill my weekdays while on summer holidays. After hours of poring over topo maps, the answer was right in front of me on the coffee table: on the cover of the newest Wilderness mag! There I saw a photo by Dennis Radermacher of the Mid Hill tarns.
I left Christchurch at 12:30pm, arriving at the Lagoon Saddle track around 2:30pm. My late departure was deliberate - I wanted to start walking as late as possible to avoid the worst of the strong sun on this calm, sunny day. After enjoying a late lunch in the carpark, I started this tramp at almost 3pm.
The first hour of the tramp took me up through the shady pine forest on the Lagoon Saddle track, and I was thankful that it meant I could be out of the sun for another hour. Along the way I encountered a couple groups of TA walkers finishing their northbound trek from Hamilton Hut. At 4pm I came out into the open, with grand views of the mountains of Arthur's Pass across the Waimakariri River. I carried along this track for about 3km to get to the high point before the track bends sharply south and heads down towards Lagoon Saddle Hut. This section of track is incredibly familiar to me, having done trips along here like the circuit and Mt Bruce many (five?) times.
Upon arrival at the high point on the track, I headed off-track in a south-west direction, aiming for Mid Hill. The way forward appeared easy enough, but picking a route around all the hidden bogs, streams and spongey terrain and then skirting around the lakes and forests between the Lagoon track and Mid Hill took a good deal of time. The route I took when returning the next day was more enjoyable and direct than my route through this area on the first day. On my way to Mid Hill, I skirted the south side of the lake, but on my return, I skirted the largest forest block on the north side of the lake (see my route on the topo map). I highly recommend the latter route over the former.
Ascending Mid Hill was a slog - I was out in the open, and although it was 5pm and getting late in the day, I was walking nearly directly west into the sun, which still had quite a few hours left to set. I took water breaks every 50-100m of ascent. Still, I arrived at the tarns just 3hr 44 minutes after departing the car, so...not bad!
I pitched my tent in a great spot, and went about photographing the scenery. What was remarkable was that there was absolutely no wind at all, and it would stay that way throughout my stay. Absolutely none! Not a single bit of tent material rustling during the night. It was so tranquil. I had a peaceful dinner looking out over the tarn, read a bit of a book, and went to sleep just before 10pm.
I took quite a lot of photos, read more of my book, had a great breakfast, and packed up camp. Leaving at 8:15, it took me 3hr to get back to the cars, and again the weather was calm and sunny.
Once back on the Lagoon Saddle track and in the shade of the forest, I soon came across TA walkers starting their day walk southbound to Hamilton Hut, and a couple Christchurch locals planning to do Mt Bruce. It was another incredibly hot day, and I was so glad I was done walking by 11am!
This ended up being a fantastic, peaceful trip with a gorgeous sunrise. Maybe I'll post another mid-week trip next week!
