Located at the Southern end of the Adams wilderness area and at the very head of the Perth valley is Able Lake which drains the Able Glacier after it quite literally tumbles off the side of the Garden of Eden ice plateau. It’s inspiring country, even if these days the lake is more of a flat patch of gravel and the glaciers no doubt a fraction of their former selves. 

This has to be one of the more scenic landing sites with its dramatic topography, and it’s even more so in a storm with water just streaming down the steep sides and the river rising quickly. Being more comfortable in steeper terrain will open up a bunch more scope from this landing site, and with camp being about 1000m above sea level it’s certainly a place for axe and crampons if we get early snow unlike this year.

The campsite site is exactly where you land in the helicopter, on a flat piece of ground that’s clear of the surrounding boulders. These boulders are great for securing your tent pegs more firmly in the ground, but just remember to clear the rocks away again so the pilot can land on the return journey.

The rough travel and numerous gorges the length of the Perth is the reason these valleys were really only explored from about the 1930’s onwards. These days the tracks are well marked and maintained in the lower valley, but with the upper valley untracked I’d doubt it would see much foot traffic. Although with the ZIP operation now in full swing there may well be a track of sorts.

There’s plenty of glassing to be done even from camp, and with hunting both up stream in the more open country, or downstream in the scrub and slips even as far as climbing into Adverse Creek. With the creek being a rather slippery proposition in the wrong conditions.

A ZIP kea feeding site

Animal numbers are certainly lower these days with the extensive culling in the previous years, and also with an unknown number being shot by zip and fed to kea. Which disappointingly as you can see included a bull at at least this site in the Perth. But from what I hear the kea are on the increase with a bunch of juvenile birds being seen, and along with it an increase in tents getting ripped up. So, keep those campsites tidy and less appealing to those curious kea.

Originally produced for NZ Hunter Magazine, grab a subscription here