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About Little Mt. Peel / Huatekerekere, Peel Forest
The Difficulty Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Little Mt. Peel / Huatekerekere, Peel Forest, was one of my favorite hiking destinations where I visited four times so far. The drive from Christchurch to the trail head is reasonably short as well as the track to the summit, particularly Deer Spur Track. The view along the track is superb even before the top of the mountain, where is right above the gorgeous Canterbury Plain and overlooks the rolling hills along the side of the plain. It is a very popular track year round, only becoming quieter in winter when snow impedes the way.
During the time I was enthusiastic about time-lapse photography between 2019 and early 2020 before the pandemic, I spent a lot of time and energy (also the money!) to optimize my tool set for the task. I found the coordination between the camera, Apps, motion control devices and an intervalometer were pretty troublesome, not including the problems from other accessories such as power banks.
Little Mt. Peel / Deer Spur Track was one of the testing grounds where I attempted to formulate a SOP for a smooth time-lapse shooting. I stayed overnight on the peak and somewhere below it on my third and fourth trip in December 2019 and January 2020 in order to test my gears during the day-night-day transitions, or so called holy-grail time-lapse.
The night which I stayed near the trig point is very memorable.
When I arrived the peak in that afternoon, there were still several people coming and leaving there; I found it a bit embarrassing to lay out my gears for the night, but that was fine as no one said a word. I only brought a bivy bag and a sleeping bag, thinking that should be enough to survive a night at 1311 m high in the mid-summer. I did survived, but not in a cozy way.
In the evening the peak turned foggy and windy. Once all the shooting gears set up and started running, I hid into the sleeping bag in no time. The damp wind blew wildly all night until the dawn and the cold kept breaking through my layers of protection, making the night sleepless. My camera confronted the moisture bravely, becoming soaking wet quickly, which was worrying because it had a good(?) bath in Bealey River not long ago on the hike to Lake Mavis. Heavy condensation built up inside the bivy bag in a few hours, totally overwhelming the breathable fabric. Technology was not helpful against the elements.
Finally the sun came to rescue me in the morning, slowly dried my gears and warmed my heart. That was the first and probably the last time I only used a bivy bag instead of a tent. The result was not satisfying. That poor bivy bag ended up in storage since then. My tough camera was fine after the trip but I don’t use it anymore. There is nothing wrong with it, just its destiny. I wish it enjoys a happy retirement.
Photos and comments from other trips are available in “Little Mt. Peel, a day hike” and “Little Mt. Peel in Snow”.
