On our first time up Mt Somers (1688m) we missed some of the views north and west due to cloud, but no such problem this time. You get wide open views of the Southern Alps, of Mt Taylor, the highest peak in the Canterbury Foothills, and east over the Canterbury Plains. Wander a bit around the summit plateau to get the best views in all directions. And to turn this already good walk into a real classic, descend off-track on the northern side of the mountain, and return along the Mt Somers Track past the spectacular Pinnacles rock formations.
It’s a pretty long walk and will require experience in snow and ice during the winter. Track notes at the end. See my post on a shorter out and back climb to the summit here.
Mt Somers & The Pinnacles Circuit: The Scenery
I’ve mixed in shots from our first time up the mountain in May 2020, and the rest are from September 2021. First are some of the May shots…
Now to September…
Throwing in one more from May 2020, then back to the rest from September…
On our descent now…
Track Notes
Walking clockwise, there’s a marked track from Sharplin Falls Reserve car park to the junction with the Mt Somers Summit Track. From there it’s a sparsely poled route to the summit.
From the summit it’s easy walking past point 1595 to a rocky spur that you can take down to the Mt Somers Track. Take this back past Pinnacles Hut to the start. Some sections of this were a bit rough and involved multiple stream crossings. You can of course return back along the outward route from the summit, which is a shorter option.
There’s more info on tracks in the area on the DOC website. Best allocate all day for this route.
Thanks for all the work you’ve put into this blog Ed. It’s much appreciated. I often use it in my adventure planning, and am happy to have just discovered (and shamelessly copied to my own maps to combine with my own) your google ‘my maps’ of your hikes. It’s great. Just had an absolutely fantastic trip up Mount Clara last week after reading your other post. Now for Mount Somers! Keep up the good work :)
Hi Em 🙂 Glad you enjoyed Mt Clara. I like how wild and wooly it was up there with that fabulous patchwork of snow and scree. Mount Somers at this time of year will be interesting up that south face. It can be icy at the bottom of that slope (that was in September without much snow even), and beware some dangerous run offs on the way up. If you are up for a long day you could also climb it from the north via Pinnacles Hut.
I didn’t even know it was possible to combine maps. I sometimes find all my hiking ‘blobs’ on my regular Google Maps when I’m getting directions or whatever, and for a while don’t know how to clear them 😄. At some point they disappear again. I do find it is a very satisfying record of my walks, seeing all those blobs all over the South Island and SE Australia. All my conquests!