#5 of 100 trips for 100 years - Silver Peaks - The Three Ridges (Yellow-Rocky-Green) 30 October 2022

I was more than happy for a break to rest and refuel at the Phil Cox Hut after a fast descent from Mountain Road carpark down the Tunnels Track to the Waikouaiti River and a very quick ascent up 250m to Phil Cox Hut by the 10 enthuasitic trampers who had turned up for a day tramping in the Silver Peaks. We had taken a photo of the team at the start, all looking fresh and eager for the day's walk. I wasn't feeling so fresh or eager after an hour of fast walking to get to the Phil Cox Hut.

Once we'd all had a chance to top up the energy with a snack we headed along Yellow Ridge at a slightly slower pace. I found this part of the trip interesting as I reminised over the changes of Yellow Ridge over the past 35+ years. Yellow Ridge was once an open yellow tussocky ridge with great views all around. Today the views are still there but I'm not sure for how much longer. The ridge today has a narrow band of yellow tussock but is mostly scrub. Yellow Ridge is now becoming more green than Green Ridge.

It was another 1.5 hours before we reached the turn off to Rocky Ridge which is not obvious and required a bit of bush bashing for the first 50 or so metres until the feet found something that resembled a track. It was impossible to see my feet due to the waist/shoulder high tussock so I just trusted my feet to keep to the track which was not always the case and there were frequent times when it took some scouting around to find the track again. This is the part of tramping that I enjoy, getting off track and relying on instinct to keep me heading in the right direction.

The group stayed close together and once we found a large rocky area about half way along Rocky Ridge we stopped for lunch. Rocky Ridge has also changed a lot over the past 35+ years since the stock has been taken out of the Silver Peaks Reserve. Previously Rocky Ridge (like Yellow Ridge) was open tussock and you could walk at will down any of the adjoining ridges - not any longer, it is fast becoming overgrown with scrub. Lunch was an enjoyable rest with expansive views of the Silver Peaks and surrounding hills.

All too soon lunch was over and our journey along Rocky Ridge continued. There are a few hilly parts of Rocky Ridge that I had forgotten about and once we reached the Hermits Cave turn off the track became more obvious. We stayed on Rocky Ridge and passed the Cat's Teeth which are always an interesting part of the ridge with the track weaving it's way between the large rock tors. This part is very different to any where else on Rocky Ridge.

Once we reached the end of Rocky Ridge and were onto the main Silver Peaks track it was a quick descent to Green Hut Site for another refueling stop and the final hour's walk out to the cars. Thankfully the final hour's walk was not as fast as the first hour and we arrived back at the cars 16.5kms and 6 hours 50 minutes after starting, looking tired, scratched and happy to have completed one of the classic routes in the Silver Peaks