Ingenious…The Old Ghost Road ~ Day3, Jan 25
Ghost Lake Hut to Stern Valley Hut ~ 10mi / 16km; Ascent 519ft / 158m; Descent 3,222ft / 982m
Day Three: To Stern Valley Hut
Sunrise at Ghost Lake Hut
Motivated to beat the incoming rain, we rose to the sun pushing its first rays through a bed of broken clouds - a glorious start to our last hours in the Alpine.
As we descended to Ghost Lake basin, the tramping family of four caught up to us. Nivaun offered to take a group photo for them before we took our own. A moment we had captured so many times before, next to our own Olympic tarns. Our time at “the Tops” felt too short. We debated over how to extend our stay, but limits on hut bookings, gear shuttle and incoming weather dictated we keep moving. There was nothing left to do except pedal on past the warning sign for winter travelers and begin the zipper of a descent over to the next climb to Skyline Ridge.
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This Alpine section, above all others, was the most sensitive and delicate ecosystem, starting with the descent from the hut across the shoulder up to Skyline Ridge. Besides all the DOC reviews and approvals required to even begin the work, a feat unto itself, this section had to be constructed without explosives and zero impact beyond the trail surface.
Just a few months prior to beginning the work below Ghost Lake Hut, a decision was made to hold a celebratory opening of the Lyell section, offering cyclists the opportunity for a 25km downhill ride from just above the tree line on Bald Hill to the start of the dray road. Twenty bikes at a time were hooked to a cable and flown to the top by helicopter. The footage of the event went viral and launched the trail onto the world stage of MTB meccas in the making.
Several months later, their ingenious decision and hard-won recognition paid off in ways that made every inch of this Alpine section even more spectacular. A newsletter and article in New Zealand’s Wilderness magazine soliciting volunteers to hand-build this Ghost Lake section garnered an overwhelming response. The boardwalk through Ghost Lake basin, followed by the path of crushed rock our tires rolled over for the next three kilometers, had been sawed, nailed, scratched, scraped, hauled and crushed into existence by an ever-changing team of 18 volunteers at a time from all over the world for 12 weeks during the summer of 2013.
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Having both spent hours wielding manual tools on trail crews in the Olympic and Cascade mountains of Washington State, our appreciation for the track laid out in front of us knew no bounds. We were simply in awe! And at the same time, wishing we too could have been part of such an incredible moment in trail-making history.
Skyline Ridge looking back toward Ghost Lake Basin & Rocky Tor
At the end of the zig-zag switchbacks was another section of fairy-like forest alongside Dragon’s creek, a welcome and peaceful rest stop before climbing back up to the last section of hand-carved trail along Skyline Ridge.
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Here again, the story is one of devotion and ingenuity. The last 1500 meter section across the Skyline Ridge was not only hand-carved, it was done solely by a “summer” volunteer that stayed on with one other member of the permanent crew, also a volunteer, over the next 100 days. At the end of the ridge, with dwindling funds and winter fast approaching, a solution born of ingenuity turned out to be the “signature piece” of the trail, the “Skyline Steps” - 302 steps to descend some 60 vertical meters off the cliff, were constructed in just 10 days.
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Looking North to Stern Valley from atop Skyline Ridge
Thankfully, just two months before our arrival, a reroute down the side of the ridge was opened and the “Skyline Steps” are forever decommissioned ~ a badge of bravado for those cyclists that traversed the intimidating staircase either direction. At its inception, “an untested concept with no precedent” ended up serving the trail well during its first ten years.
We happily cruised down the newly carved track, blasted into the side of the ridge, and descended back into the bush to follow Stern Creek through the valley to Stern Valley Hut.
We arrived ahead of the rain and decided to take the ranger’s advice to stay in the vacant Sleep-out, making it easier to leave early the next morning for our longest day on the trail, and avoid packing a wet tent. It was here in the quiet of our cabin that I had time to read the hut copy of “Spirit to the Stone,” the story of the trail, as told by Marion Boatwright. I was left with such a profound appreciation for how his vision came to life in the most unexpected ways and only through the immense devotion of so many people to bring it to fruition.
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Amongst his many contributions, Marion was in charge of constructing each of the huts along the trail at strategic points to give the crews a base to return to after a long day building track. The Sleep-outs were built later to accommodate peak season travel.
The Lyell Hut was Marion’s first and most stressful (coming down with Shingles just before starting the build), working under a time pressure to provide a headquarters for the crew to begin slogging their way through mudstone laying corduroy track up to Bald Hill.
Next was Stern Valley Hut to provide the crews a base deep in the interior - built in a month by the author, his brother (with a cracked rib after tripping over a log upon arrival at the site) and a long-time friend from the States.
When it was clear they needed two crews working from opposite ends of the granite tops, The Ghost Lake Hut was built in just 19 days (tent and crew surviving a midnight Nor’easter wind storm, mid-build) to house the crew working from the South blasting track across the backside of Rocky Tor to meetup with the crew working up from Bald Hill. Later, the Ghost Lake Hut served as the base for the revolving crew of volunteers hand-building the alpine section.
The final hut at Specimen Point was born out of elation after the hydro company pulled out in 2012 and the road along the Mohikinui River was theirs once again. This hut housed the crew working to open the Mohikinui road from Rough and Tumble Lodge up to meet the crew working their way down the Stern Valley.
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That night echoing through Stern Valley, instead of river voices, I most definitely heard, the ghostly laughter of a trail crew kicking back in the hut after a long hard day, still wafting through the tree tops ~ reminding us their Spirit will always linger alongside those that travel the Old Ghost Road.