Getting to Coromandel Peak by Foot:

Ever since arriving in Wanaka several months ago, I have wanted to stay on top of Roy’s Peak for a night to watch the sunset and sunrise. I’ve always found that hiking peaks is fun, but staying the night on top of them puts a completely different spin on the experience.

Last week, I finally had the chance and for this adventure, I decided to undertake it myself as Hilary had other plans for the evening. She drove me out to the base of the peak at around 6:00 PM and I started the climb up the mountain with all of my gear. Rather than follow the traditional route up to the peak, however, I cut straight up the mountain to a spot known as Coromandel Peak which is further north from the actual peak. It is the part of the ridge closest to Lake Wanaka, so you end up getting completely uninterrupted views out over the lake that you can’t get from anywhere else. There are several companies within Wanaka that fly helicopters out to Coromandel Peak for wedding pictures, and sunrise or sunset pictures, but not many people access it by foot.

Unfortunately, this means that access by foot is very difficult as there is no path and the ridge is really steep on all sides off of the peak. For most of my climb, I was in waist high grass, with uneven footing, lots of sticky-pokey things stuck to my socks and clothes, slipping on the grass under my feet, and struggling to get one foot above the other because of the steep slope.

There were several times that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it to the top, but I was able to keep pushing further and eventually made it. I was also quite concerned about the wind on my climb up. It was quite gusty and strong and I wasn’t sure what the top of the ridge would look like, or if I would be able to find anywhere safe to put up my tent.

When I finally made it to the peak, however, I was very excited to find that the ridge was quite wide and had small folds in it to put up a tent with flat soft ground. The sun was just beginning to set when I arrived at the top and I quickly put my bag down, grabbed my camera and tripod, and got to work taking some photos. I was immediately blown away (don’t worry, that wasn’t supposed to be a play on words relating to the wind) by the incredible view out onto Lake Wanaka. We had hiked Roys Peak a few weeks ago, but this view was completely different.

Because the ridge is so steep, the ground seems to fall away all around you so there is nothing in the way of your view in all directions. You can see back into the town of Wanaka, out towards Lake Hawea, immediately below into Glendhu Bay, out towards Mount Aspiring, and further back along the lake to Matapouri. From Coromandel Peak, the features of Lake Wanaka look incredibly complex and sculpted. When you are at water level, the horizon blends together and you can’t distinguish the shore from the islands, mountains or peninsulas. From above, however, you can see everything at once. All of the complex features, the rivers that filter into the lake, the different colours, the arrays of bays, points, coves, and islands are laid out in front of you like a painting.

Shortly after the sun had set, the wind immediately died off with no warning or transition. I had just finished setting up my tent and had already prepared myself for a windy night when it suddenly and abruptly stopped as if someone had flipped a switch. The entire night, I expected it to pick up again, but it never did for my entire time up on the peak.

And, with the wind gone, everything suddenly became incredibly peaceful and serene. Not only were the views outstanding, everything was now totally silent and still. As I sat by myself on the ridge, I kept thinking that I should have been doing some sort of meditation or yoga.

It wasn’t long after I had my tent set up that it began to get dark. There was a lot of cloud cover to begin with, but after the sun set and the wind died down, the clouds began to open up and the stars started to show through.

With the complete silence around me, I could hear sounds from across the lake as boats were heading back to town, and music floated up from the Glendhu Bay Campsite far below me, and I could even hear the sounds of people hunting rabbits on some of the farms bordering the lake.  

Sunrise on Coromandel Peak:

It was about midnight when I finally climbed into my tent to get some sleep before waking up for sunrise in the morning. All through the night, the wind was nonexistent and when I woke up at 5:30AM, everything was just as peaceful as it had been the night before. It was still dark when I woke up with just a glimpse of light showing on the horizon. I could see a few headlights further up the ridge of other hikers that had overnighted on Roys Peak, and there were lights that I could see of people up early on the roads, lake, hills, and even some of the other peaks in the area.

It was a very cold morning and I had trouble getting out from beneath my warm sleeping bag, and when I crawled out of my tent I found that the humidity in the air had all frozen to my tent and coated it in frost.

I grabbed my camera and started moving, however, and began to warm up quickly. As the sun began to rise and I started taking pictures, I could hear sheep on the hillside below me, boats out on the lake, planes and helicopters overhead, running water from a river flowing into the lake below me, and birds chirping as they hunted for bugs in the grass.

Just like the night before, I was amazed by the views of the peacefulness of the entire experience. I thought a lot about how photography has taken me to so many cool places and allowed me to have experiences like this. My main motivation for the trip was to get photos, so without that, I probably never would have gone. The experience was far more than simply taking pictures but photography was still the catalyst and motivation behind the effort that I had to put in. 

Walking Down from Coromandel Peak:

Once I had watched the sunrise and taken some pictures, I packed up my gear and headed down the mountain. I decided to try a different route down than what I had climbed up. It seems that no matter which way you ascend or descend from Coromandel Peak, it will be very steep and difficult.  

If I were to do it again, however, I would climb from the parking lot for Roy’s Peak up the first several switch-backs until I reached a small rest stop with a fenced area and picnic tables. Then I would head straight up from there and aim for the peak with the radio tower on top of it. It’s still a hard climb but you don’t have the exposure and trouble finding the route like I had where I climbed up.

I was very excited to have finally completed my goal of staying overnight on the peak, and even though the sunset and sunrise weren’t very exciting, it was still a lot of fun. It has definitely motivated me to do some more overnight trips on some of the many peaks in the area so stay posted for some more!