One of the hidden gems in Nelson that we are always poking people towards is the access road up to the Cobb valley, as it gives you unprecedented access to the alpine environments of Kahurangi National Park. It also is quite unique as the road terminates at a Department of Conservation hut (Trilobite hut), so it opens up plenty of options to drive in late in the evening and have a bed for the night before setting off on an adventure the next day.
We spent a leisurely 4 days doing this route, which allowed us lots of time for swimming at the Alpine lakes and side trips. It’s quite possible that you could knock this trip off in a weekend if your fitness matched your enthusiasm.
We ended up doing this trip with a few friends, so vehicle logistics were fairly easy as we just dropped a vehicle at the Cobb dam exit and then drove to Triolobite hut to start walking. Last time we were on this route, we just stashed a bike so we could bike back round the reservoir to recover the vehicle afterwards.
Once the vehicles were sorted out we headed on up the main Cobb valley route from the Trilobite hut. The valley itself was farmed for grazing a long time ago, before turning into the catchment for the man made reservoir for the Cobb valley hydro scheme which was commissioned in 1944. It’s a long and easy meandering valley passing through beech forest and open alpine grass plains. It steepens a wee bit at the end as you climb towards Cobb and Fenella huts.
Although we have a penchant for rugged terrain , we really appreciate the valley going up as it’s studded with many huts, and it’s really camping friendly, so it makes a great place to take both younger and older folk to get a really nice dose of the alpine scenery.
We arrived at Fenella hut, and joined a group of elderly ladies who tramping the valley, it was so good to see the adventurous spirit and comradeship they had maintained through the years. After a quick game of poker and an evening cocktail we put our heads down to prepare the traverse across the tops to Ruby lake the next day.
The initial morning climb up to the Lockett range is short and fairly steep. You get great views all the way as you are fairly ensconced in the Alpine scenery from Fenella hut which sits at 1120m before you even start the climb.
At the ridge summit , marker poles head off to the north west heading for lonely lake hut and the Dragons teeth. We’d come this way before from the Dragon’s teeth low route and were unfortunate to have no views in persistent rain from Lonely lake hut all the way through to Fenella . In mind of this, a few of us decided to add on a short scramble up to Waingaro peak(1604m) to take in the views of the surrounding mountains. The effort was amply rewarded with clear views of the Dragons teeth and view right the way down the Waingaro valley.
We descended back down to the ridge and walked the untracked Lockett ridge to catch up with the others who had forged ahead. Although the ridge is untracked, it is well trafficked and in most parts is easy to navigate by following the beaten path. I deviated at point 1672 and tried to get up and over it, but found out quite rapidly that the others had chosen a wiser path over the boulder fields around the southern side.
We had a fun descent into the Alpine bowl that holds Ruby Lake, involving a bit of scree running and some great controlled slides down the lower snow grass slopes. Camp was established at the outlet end of the lake , the sweat of the day washed off in the cool alpine waters and a campfire lit for cooking and the obligatory long gaze into the dying embers before we retired for the night.
The next day was scorching. We awoke leisurely , as we had planned for a very short day so we could get some beach life on the amazing alpine beech at the campspot at Diamond lakes outlet. We had initially planned to do some extra side trips that day. But to be honest the weather was perfect for an afternoon of swimming, and beach lounging. We discovered that our new sleeping mats also make a really effective water craft for exploring the lake.
Diamond lake really is a magic spot in good weather, we all couldn’t stop taking photos as the changing of the sun’s angles during the day revealed more beautiful folds in the surrounding hills and reflections of the mountain tops
The next day we packed camp and headed up to lake Lockett itself, also another really great camp spot. There is a really well marked track from Diamond lake to lake Lockett that continues down Diamond lake stream and traverses out to the quarry above the Cobb Dam , it’s a short walk down a 4wd road back to the lake Sylvester carpark from here.
There is an alternate way out from Diamond lake that we have done on other occasions , this involves ascending to Lake Lily and then traversing through to Iron Lake to come out down the lake Sylvester track. This gives you a few more lakes to swim in on the way out!!
All in all this was a great trip with great friends. It’s an amazing loop with relatively easy access that gets you mountain scenery second to none. Even though we could have hiked it faster, it was unanimously agreed that the 1/2 day we had at Diamond lake was the highlight of the trip.
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