As a shortish tracked route to the top of a mountain with views I had been thinking about climbing Mt Guy (1319m) ever since we moved to Christchurch. Somehow though it took us a year to get up there. The views from the mountain are very good, although the summit was clouded in so we missed all but the views south over the Ashburton Lakes. It was a pretty short trip up, so we’ll be back on a clear winter’s day (<– we did that soon after, and that’s the link!) to get those missing views. To compensate for a short walk and limited views we decided to finish the walk the long way, completing the Lake Clearwater Circuit Track. The weather actually cleared as we descended from Mt Guy so we got views from ground level of the Southern Alps and other peaks.
You can have a look at my post for Mt Harper to see how the area looks in sunny weather, at least those views to the north-east. It is possible to do a circuit on Mt Guy, returning off-track via point 1274m to the north-west. We’ll probably do that next time, so stay tuned (now done – click here).
Track notes at the end.
Mt Guy & Lake Clearwater Circuit Track
Then it was up to the cloudy summit, and back down again…
Track Notes
On marked tracks the whole way. You can park at the Lake Clearwater Village at the lake’s edge and walk to the base of Mt Guy on a vehicle track, then up to the summit (maybe 1.5 – 2 hours). Or in a 4WD you can drive along the lakes edge on the easy vehicle track to where it fords the edge of the lake, or indeed go on through the ford to the Mt Guy Track junction. There’s more information on the DOC website.
You can also do a circuit returning off-track via point 1274m to the north-west, then along Te Araroa and the Eastern Link Track to the start.
