Ten starters squeezed into 2 cars and headed for Graham Valley. Barry took the scenic route Tasman-Harleys Rd-Ngatimoti and well justified on a fine morning with views up to the Arthur massif. However, the sky was lightly overcast, almost misty from the Australian bushfires and strong westerly winds were already apparent at Flora carpark. Our party swarmed up the beautiful track to Mt Arthur Hut where the wind was not too apparent. But after we carried on up to the exposed ridge, the wind became very strong and some other parties were already in retreat. On we soldiered to near the track to Gordons Pyramid. The wind really was unpleasant with gusts almost knocking us off our feet.  Mt Arthur and Winter Peak were now obscured by mist. So we decided that the summit was for another day and we went back down, stopping for lunch in a tussocky spot out of the wind just off the ridge. As an alternate we made a circuit by going out via Flora Hut. Calm, mild, dry track conditions, plenty of bird song and no rush so it was very pleasant. Some looked longingly at continuing on the Mt Lodestone circuit but the day was passing so we trudged back to the cars on the 4WD road. There was a compulsory stop in Upper Moutere for real fruit ice creams. Although mission was not accomplished it was an excellent leg stretch in good company (what a wonderful variety of backgrounds including Alaska, Switzerland, Korea, Taiwan).

Trampers: Barry James (leader), Nina Solter, Pat Holland (scribe), Debbie Hogan, Mary Hsu. Visitors: Sam Young, Eunhee Kim, Sibylle H, Anne Lim, Mike Daly.