Unless you own a helicopter, the only way to get to Lake Henderson is a hard climb through native bush and tussocks. Located high in the mountains beside the Cobb Valley this large lake is well worth the effort.
Besides being absolutely stunning Lake Henderson’s other claim to fame is that its home to a population of endangered Rock Wren, a very small endemic bird that only lives above the bushline in the South Island,with very limited numbers in remote locations its feared that the Rock Wren may go the way of its cousin the Bush Wren which is now extinct, which is just added motivation to head up to this remote lake.
On our trip we followed the track the Rock Wren project workers use, which is a pretty direct route rising from the valley floor to the bushline and several small tarns which are a perfect campsite on the way to Lake Henderson. Arriving late in the day we decided to set up camp, enjoy the calm conditions and tuck into some tasty freeze dried meals.
The next day we got up at sunrise, again to nearly windless conditions, packed our bags (cameras, Jetboil and freeze dried meals) and headed up and over in the Lake Henderson basin. The first thing that struck me was how none of the maps or photos I had seen before had done justice to this imposing basin and the steep cliffs surrounding it. It didn’t take long to start hearing the high pitched calls of the wren, however actually locating one proved alot harder than I had imagined. Infact the only wren we actually saw during the day was whilst we were sitting among the rocks enjoying lunch, making the hard slog all worth while.
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