Lake Chalice / Mt Patriarch?

[buggsubique]

Just a quick call to see if anyone has been up to Lake Chalice (off North Bank Rd) here in Marlborough. I see there appears to be a 4wd track that goes well beyond the end of the road up to Lake Chalice and leads up to Mt Patriarch. Has anyone done this or know if it is openly accessible short of me popping down to the local DOC / forrestry office.

One the attached piccie, Mt Patriarch is lower left of the screen.

Looks like the mean ride if it is accessible. Nordie - you done it?

[JATZ]

I was up there a while back, the road goes well past the Lake Chalice track, I only got to a sign that says "don't go past this sign" or words like that.
The track looked well rideable after that.
Awsome views from up there.
You can see the track just below the ridge above lake chalice and mount Patriach in the distance.
Wouldn't mind heading up that way myself at some stage

[NordieBoy]

It's apparantly an open road and ends a couple of km short of the top but it's a great ride.

I've been meaning to do it for a while and now I've got a new rear tyre I've got traction again but there's a x-country next weekend and a Classic MX on the 3rd

[cooneyr]

Between Mt Patriarch and Altimarlock you fullers have access to what must be close to two of the highest roads in NZ. On Mt Pat you can get up to 1500ish and Altimarlock is 1696. I'm keen to go for a look see around Mt Pat at christmas if I have a bike.

[Lugzy23]

Yeah you can get up there as long as its not closed for logging, might pay to give DOC a ring they could probably tell you. The road was really good last time I was up there, and there is a sign that says "road closed blah blah blah", so we walked from there on, you should be able to get round on a bike piece of cake and Ive seen a 4WD go round there but you would not want to go off the edge cause its one of the biggest drops ive seen. Let us know how you get on, its about 5 years since ive been up there

[buggsubique]

Well the closest I could do it would be the weekend 15/16 Aug. Definitely keen to hook up with a couple of dudes to go check it out. Been having a play around the Onamalutu forest roads lately. infact, went out when it was pissing down on saturday arvo - had a blast in the wet with a couple of very deep and very fast river crossings. But it's a long crawl out if it turns pear shaped...always in the back of my mind!

[NordieBoy]

Damn, 16th is the final round of the cross country series
Warewolf would probably be up for this but he'll be racing too.

[buggsubique]

No dramas, get back with a date that suits most and we'll do it.

[zeRax]

count me in fellow blenheimite whom i havent met ~

[chrisso]

Used to go up Mt Patriach in the 80s when Wacker Anderson owned the property.Jeez that guy was a character, 1 leg-house full of goats, sheep , possums. Goats living in his old London Taxi that he drove into town once a month. Barry Crump couldnt have come up with a better character.
As far as i recall the track to Lake Chalice was easy walking-You might need the owners permission to get to the track??all sounds like fun to me.
I lived in Blenheim

[JATZ]

Almost any time suits me, might be a good excuse to get some new tyres on the

[CrazyFrog]

Mt Patriach is easy to get to, just the last section at altitude is prone to rock slides, if the track is clear, you could just about do it on a road bike. Primo ride, but watch the wind forecast, it's quite exposed.
Get to it down North bank Rd, follow for about 35km to TopValley turnoff. It's all signposted from there, turn left a few more kms up Top Valley onto Staircase Rd, and you can't get lost. It's about 60km return from Top Valley turnoff, or 160 return from Blenhiem, so bear in mind your fuel.
It's also a good detour to do the Onamalutu loop if you're going in that way, allow another 40km for that.
See my photo album for some shots of the Patriach ride, me on the XT600, and a mate on a KLR650.
Have fun or let me know when you're gonna do it, I'll come along again.

[Padmei]

[ and you can't get lost. .[/QUOTE]

AaHaahaahaahaaahaahaaha

[CrazyFrog]

HeHe, nuthin like sending them up the wrong track, especially when they're low on gas!

[buggsubique]

came across these pics online from a previous trip - looks fricken amazing but I gotta get me own pics!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jk.kiwi1...pMarlboroughNZ