The old Ghost Road Wee Tiki Tour 2017

9th The Old Ghost Road Lyell to Stern Valley Hut

The Old Ghost Road is a bucket list item for many a mountain biker, 85kms of single track through pristine NZ backcountry wilderness, stretching from Lyell to Seddonville. The track was opened in late 2015. There are many options when it comes to the Old Ghost Road including, getting a gear drop, heli biking so you only do the downhill to riding the whole thing in one day, we chose to carry our own gear and do the track in two days. This can be done with a larger backpack or extra roll attached to the bike, either to the handle bars or on a rack, within our group we had all these options in use and all worked equally as well.

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An early start loading up the bikes and heading to Lyell

With the West Coast is renowned for it's high rainfall the blue skies brought with them high spirits 

All packed up and ready to hit the trail

The first day starts with 25kms of uphill

After riding through dense forests we pop out into the open of the big slips

Exposed sections of trail are common and not for the faint hearted

Heading up to Lyell Saddle

Lunch stop at Lyell Saddle Hut where we say farewell to Suzie and John who are going to shuttle the cars to the other end 

Into the forest again

We pop out of the trees and are rewarded with views that seems to stretch forever

Pretty pleased to have the 25kms of climbing behind us

Heading into a very exposed and rocky section of track

Andrew is pretty excited

View from Ghost Lake Hut

A quick break at Ghost Lake, this is where many mountain bikers stay the night, we need to keep moving as we still need to get to Stern Valley Hut 

From the vantage of Ghost Lake Hut we can see some pretty tricky switchbacks in the next section of track

Happy to have survived the switchbacks

Up on Skyline Ridge

Julian's at it again

Riding the length of Skyline Ridge

Kees contemplating the Skyline steps

They are pretty steep

Now for some very sweet downhill that just kept on going taking us all the way to Stern Valley Hut

Our accommodation for the night, Stern Valley Hut. The sand flies were numerous and vicious so no exploring the surrounding area and it was fairly late when we arrived anyway. We took up the entire hut with 4 bunks in the kitchen and six in the adjoining room. The hut has gas cookers all cutlery and crockery and the bunks had mattresses as well as a heater which we didn't need as it was fairly warm, especially for those of us on the top bunks while those on the bottom bunks were not so warm. I had a silk sleeping bag liner and a light woolen blanket which kept me plenty warm enough, Kees on the bottom bunk with only a cotton liner was not quite as happy. 

An intimate dehydrated meal for ten by torchlight

Julian get medical attention for his grazed knee

Those who were sympathetic to Julians injuries got to share dehydrated strawberry cheese cake, the verdict...interesting

10th Old Ghost Road Stern Valley to Seddonvile

After a pleasant breakfast of porridge we headed out in dribs and drabs with Andrew and I the last to head out

The track takes us up the valley past lake Grim and Lake Cheerful then up through the Bone Yard

The Bone Yard, where the track winds its way through and up a bolder strewn slope

The lovely lady behind me in this pic was running the Old Ghost Road while her husband, whom I titled the Royal baggage train, provided support vehicle services on his mountain bike 

The climb trough the Bone Yard was rewarded with a sweet downhill that just seemed to last forever

For the remainder of the track we followed the banks of the Mokihinui River

Many and varied swing bridges dotted the track, the one thing they had in common was that nobody wants to be on a swing bridge at the same time as Andrew

Old mining equipment off the side of the track

John and Andrew have missed each other! John and Suzie have shuttled the cars to the Rough and Tumble Lodge and ridden up the track to meet us

The Rough and Tumble Lodge is a welcome sight and a wonderful place to relax after two days on the trail

The Lodge is situated on a bend in the river and is the perfect place to enjoy some luxury and escape the sandflies

If you are interested in riding The Old Ghost Road I thoroughly recommend reading "Spirit to the Stone" by Marion Boatwright which documents the making of the track and details the incredible effort that was required to complete this mammoth task

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