Category Archives: Tararuas

Mid Otaki & Dracophyllum Hut

Hut Bagging, Level 5 Tramps, Tararuas, Tramping, , , , ,

Intro & Intell

Loop Walk From Poads Road

Date: 12th – 14th March

With a great weather forecast the weekend it was too good not to be out in the hills.

The trip was posted on Meetup and there were no sign ups! To be fair I did not expect any given the description. But it was really sad that no one signed up for the Dorest Ridge or Waiopehu trips.

WTG has over 3150 members but most seem to be virtual trampers who only sign up for urban day walks 🙄

Visited: Waiopehu Hut, Oriwa Water Tank, Mid Otaki Hut, Dracophyllum Hut, Te Matawai Hut, South Ohau Hut, Rabbits Flat Biv.

Day One

I headed up to Poads Road near Levin after work on Friday night, filled in the intentions book at the track start and started walking at 16:44.

Waiopehu Hut for Sunset

It’s a fairly uneventful walk and I arrive at Waiopehu Hut at 19:29

Day 2

Most of the route in new territory for me and I’m worried about the leatherwood. I depart the hut at 8:10 and leave the trail at Waiopehu summit to be confronted by a wall of the bloody stuff. After some back tracking and faffing about I find that I can get past the worst of it by skirting about to the left.

It soon clears into a nice forest ridge line which is easy to follow and marked with pink ribbons

10:03 and I’m at the Oriwa ridge water tank. I knew about this in advance, it’s a great spot to hydrate and if you’re into hut bagging I’d say it has more kudos then some of the unofficial hunter bivs. Many of which are little more then bush litter (more about that later).

Oriwa Watertank

After the watertank there’s a boggy section and more leatherwood to get past. I found that heading around to the left was the easiest passage.

Waaaah 😰 😭

From Oriwa I leave the beaten track and head off down the ridge for the 680 meter drop down to the Otaki river. Whilst there is a bit of a trail to start with it is not marked and soon becomes hard to keep to the ridge line. I find myself off course and sidling over tree fall, so go back to basics and get the compass out which serves me well.

Project Kaka Markers

About 200 vertical meters above the river there are blue markers left from project Kaka. It becomes much easier to follow from this point.

I’m soon in the river and spot a couple of hinds ahead of me.

Deer

Mid Otaki Hut

Mid Otaki Hut

It’s a super sweet spot and I really wanted to stay longer. It’d make a great spot to camp as group overnight trip.

Mid Otaki Hut Veiw

As it was I spent 35 minutes for lunch and got up to the usual shenanigans with Byrus.

Roar!

After lunch it was time to head back up the river. It was stinking hot and I was not really in a rush so found a nice swimming hole to cool down in.

It’s easy travel up the river and from what I understand it’s a good (easier) option to follow it all the way up and come out at Te Matawai Hut. But my mission was to get to Dracophyllum Hut (Biv) whilst the TA trail remains reasonably quiet thanks to Covid 19 🙂

Blue Ribbons up the ridge

There are blue ribbons for the first 100 meters up the ridge which is encouraging as It shows its been travelled. To be fair they, are not needed to navigate as the ridge is a razor blade with big drops down on both sides. It soon calms down and its a nice climb (OK a slog) all the way up to Dracophyllum.

Dracophyllum Biv

I arrive at 16:16 and have a quick break. It’s too early to call it a day and I don’t want any TA walkers turning up to make me yawn. I have a quick flick through the hut book and it’s full of ‘TA SOBO’

TA SOBO 🙄

I add my entry and write ‘Not TA’.

It’s great to be back on the tops.

Mount Crawford Looking Majestic

I can’t get enough of it I can see Mount Crawford and Maungahuka to the south, Carkeek, Thompson and Lancaster to my east and even get Ruaphehu and Taranaki to the North.

Park River with Arete in the clouds

The Park river below begs to be explored, but that’ll have to wait for a future trip. I’m toying with heading up to Arete Biv for the night, but its in the clouds again and that’s a deal breaker.

I arrive at the Pukematawai Junction and 18:34. There is still heaps of daylight left to get down to Te Matawai so I simply sit there and marvel at at the views.

Byrus at the Pukematawai Junction

I finally head down to the hut for the night an arrive just as the sun sets.

I’ve not see a sole all day so it’s good to have some company. There are a group of guys who are heading up to Thompson the next day. One of which is the great grandson of Mr Thompson himself. We have a good yarn about the history of the Tararua Ranges before calling it a night.

Six weeks after my last visit it’s good to see that the dripping tap has finally been fixed.

Day 3:

I depart at 7:40 and am at South Ohau Hut 50 minutes later. I get chatting to guy called Rob who is hunting there for the weekend, he has his family along for the trip.

He’s a good chap who volunteers for LandSAR. It turns out that he built the Mid Otaki Hut. It was originally a garden shed which is why it’s so different from the usual offerings. I also get some good intel about other routes up from the Otaki river.

He checks that I’ve filled my intentions into the hut book which is always good to see.

After 30 mins of nattering it’s time to get my feet wet again. It’s good progress until I decide to stop for another swim.

Keep your Undies away from The Shit Weasel

Byrus gets get up to his old tricks again whilst I take a dip!

I then decide to tick Rabbits Flat biv off the list.

Rabbits Flat Biv

It’s little more then rubbish left by hunters. It really needs to be cleaned up and removed!

I’m back at the car for 12:15 and head to the Ice Breaker outlet in Otaki to replace the undies that Byrus has chewed up. 60% off today so I’m happy. It’s an easy day and I’m home for lunch.

Route and Splits

Day 1

Poads Road 16:44

Waiopehu Hut 19:29

Total Time: 2 hours 45 mins

Day 2

Day 2 splits

Waiopehu Hut 08:10

Oriwa Water Tank 10:03

Oriwa 10:25 (Took time to get past the leatherwood!)

Mid Otaki Hut 12:39 to 13:16 for Lunch

Dracophyllum Hut 16:16

Pukematawai Junction 18:34 (Sit and enjoy views for 20 mins)

Te Matawai Hut 19:40

Total Time: 11 hours 30 mins

Day 3

Te Matawai Hut 07:40

South Ohau Hut 08:30 (Chat to hunter for 30 mins)

Poads Road 12:15

Total Time: 4 hours 35 mins

Tararua Southern Main Range Loop (5-7 Feb 2021)

Tararuas, Tramping, , , , ,
Tararua Southern Main Range Loop
Dates: 

5th Feb to 7th Feb 2021

Attendees: 

William and Bang

The Plan:

1. Start Friday afternoon after work, finish the loop and get out of the bush by Sunday.

2. Meet and tramp with a new friend from the internet. William is an experienced tramper, and we’ve been chatting about hikes and tramps over the past year, I’ve never met him in person

The Trip:

We did the loop anticlockwise, and the whole trip took us 2 days and 3 hrs.

Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Otaki Gorge Emergency Car Park to Field Hut

I picked William at 4 pm and we arrived at the emergency car park at 6ish. There was a bit of traffic on the way – typical Friday afternoon SH1 condition. We took Otaki Gorge Road instead of the emergency track, the walk to Otaki Forks took us 45 mins.

Blue Bluff slip–prone 

Left the bridge at about 7, I arrived at Field Hut at 9 pm, it was still bright! There was originally a plan B as if we got to Field early, we could proceed to Kime to make the next days easier. William arrived 10 mins ahead of me, and he was keen to keep going. I chickened out because I’ve never walked on the ridge in the dark before. We finally made a decision to stay at Field for the night!

William knows a spot with good coverage, and it’s time to have a beer! We talked before the trip about how much alcohol we should bring along and made an agreement to only bring two beers each, one for Friday and the other one for Saturday – We are both drinkers, but we are also aware of the challenge of the trip. Apparently William is a bigger fan of beer than me, see the size of his one!

Cheers to the giant slug on the tree

It was my second time up Field Hut and I could still remember the amazing sunset I enjoyed last year sitting on the helicopter landing pad. Being lucky again, I spotted a string of pearls moving across the sky while William was boiling water out side the hut. “SpaceX!”, I got very excited and shouted out.

SpaceX Starlink

The hut was not busy that day, slept 9 people totally. I didn’t sleep well as I was still excited about what happened in the past few hours, the chatting and drinking, SpaceX, and the fact that I made it to Field faster than I thought I could. We had a good start!

Day 2: Field Hut to Bridge Peak to Steel Ladder to Maungahuka Hut to Aokaparangi to Anderson Memorial Hut

We knew it would be a long day (especially for myself), so we left Field Hut early at 7am. It took us 1 hr 50 mins to walk up to Bridge Peak, very cool and refreshing walking in early morning.

Stunning view over Dennan

The weather was so nice and we could see Kapiti Island, Taranaki, Ruapehu, and the South Island in the distance. We had some long breaks over Bridge Peak, having snacks and enjoying the nice views. William made a time-lapse video of the fast moving cloud over the knobs, it was stunning!

Me at Bridge Peak

Time to head in the cloud and mist! As for me, walking in the clouds is annoying because I have to wipe my foggy glasses now and then. I quickly took William’s advice and took off my glasses. It’s not that bad walking with a blurry-ish vision.

Towards the white

After a short break at the junction to Pakihore Ridge, we were getting closer to the ladder. “I will definitely need a photo of myself on the ladder! “, I got excited again as I’ve never been on the ladder before.

Junction to Pakihore Ridge and Penn Creek Hut

At 12:20pm, we reached a steep slope with a large rock in the middle, it’s the south face of the Tuiti (not 100% sure). Followed by the hardest part of the day (maybe of the whole trip): traverse Tuiti and Tunui, aka the Tararua Peaks. We put away our walking poles as we have to somehow climb across the big rock with both hands and maybe a small jump. Then we scrambled onto the top one by one. Within a short climbing, I saw a steep down rockface with large bluffs below. “The ladder is just down there!”, William pointed to the mist.

After the big rock – climbing up on Tuiti?

I went down slowly, and felt a little bit sacred even there is a rope to hold onto all the way. The ladder is right down the end of the rope.

Me on the hand rail to the ladder
Top of the ladder

The ladder was built between Tuiti and Tunui. As I stepped left off the track onto it, the ladder feels extremely firm and steady. Climbing down the ladder was probably the easiest part of the crossing, I was so surprised!

Me on the steel ladder

We carried on after a short break down the base of the ladder, followed by another long section of steep climbing with steel ropes. I felt for the first time vey tired after the climbing. The last 500m to Maungahuka Hut felt really long and slow, we had lunch in between and reached the Hut at 2:20 pm.

Maungahuka Hut in white

It’s still 6 hrs DoC time from Maungahuka to Anderson Memorial Hut, time to make a decision! We quickly decided to keep on as we could at least make it to the Aokaparangi Hut, which is about 3 hrs away. We layered up and started again at 3ish. I arrived Aokaparangi at 5:45, William was faster than me. We made another decision to keep on as the last 1.5k is below the bushline, where we should be safe even in the worst case that we might have to walk in the dark.

Aokaparangi

Blue sky came back again as we were walking, it feels so nice! We arrived Kahiwiroa at 8:10pm, and then probably spent the next hour watching the sunset, taking photos and videos while slowly walking down Kahiwiroa. The sunset was gorgeous!

William taking photo of the mountains
Sunset over Kahiwiroa 1
Sunset over Kahiwiroa 2
Walking down Kahiwiroa

It was about 9pm when we switched on our head torch and entered the bush. I was tired and hungry, using my last ounce of strength to keep up with William. We lost sight of markers couple of times but we managed to get back on track, we arrived Anderson Memorial Hut at 10pm. It’s a vey cosy hut and we were the only two staying overnight. Sitting on the bunk bed we had our second beer, celebrating the challenging day. I had a great sleep at night!

Day 3: Anderson Memorial Hut to Waitawaewae Hut to Otaki Forks (via the new track) to Otaki Gorge emergency car park

We woke up a bit late on Sunday, and left Anderson at 8:18am. Another long day started, and it is warmer! The track was easier but it took us 10mins to find it as it’s quite overgrown around the hut. We arrived at Junction Knob at 9:30, from where we could clearly identify all the ridges we had walked on.

View over Junction Knob

We kept on and reached Shoulder Knob at about 10am, where William suggested we should take a longer break and enjoy more open views before we head below the bush line. While sitting on the grass I noticed I’ve finished most of my snacks already, how rare! And so did William!

Weather Station? on Shoulder Knob
Stunning view over Shoulder Knob

The track (the Te Araroa Trail) descends from 1310 to 300, and it looks very steep on the Topo. luckily, it is not that bad to walk down. Under the swing bridge about 500m away from YTYY, I found a nice swimming spot. I’d love to come back again for a swim next time.

Walking down the Te Araroa Trail
The swing bridge 500m away from YTYY

At about 1:30pm, I reached Waitawaewae Hut, and then we had lunch outside the hut. It feels so good to sit and eat on the bench again. I knew I was drinking more frequently than yesterday so I checked my water bladder, it was almost empty! Because of the hot weather and my tiredness, I drank 2.5L of water in the past 6 hrs! I quickly filled my bladder and double checked the map, located a stream on the way to refill in case I run out of water.

YTYY Hut

I did a bit digging about the infamous Waitawaewae Hut Track before we started. It is a 5-7 hrs advanced track according to DoC website, and it looks fine from the Topo. What I also noticed is some people from Facebook claimed that it’s the crappiest track they’ve ever done and it takes way longer than the DoC time.

We left YTYY at 2:07pm, instead of the river route, we took the main track to the Arapita Creek junction. This section was ok but a little short of orange markers. I went the wrong way once somewhere after crossing a stream, and I had to bush bashing up back to the track. I felt really tired climbing from the junction to Plateau, and was taking breaks now and then. I was walking slowly until I met another tramper and heard it already took him 6 hrs coming from Otaki Forks. I got nervous and immediately realised I have to push my self a bit more! I checked my bladder when I got Saddle Creek, it was almost empty again, I know it! Couple of minutes walking after a quick refilling, I saw William again at the junction, he had been sitting there for a while waiting for me.

William suggested he should slow down a bit so I can keep up with him, and it could save me some energy. Followed by the horrible part of the Waitawaewae Hut Track – the upper track built to avoid the slip. The track is rough and slow except for the last 20mins’ tramway. There were heaps of craps and fallen trees blocking the way, and it was even harder for us as we were tired! William did most of the wayfinding when the track was blocked, and we managed to walk out of the section at 7pm.

The junction of the old track with huge slip and the new track

The last 3.5k was very easy, and we speeded up again. We made it back to Otaki Forks at 8:25pm. The whole Waitawaewae Hut Track took us 6 hrs and 18mins.

Back at the bridge

Sitting on the ground, I ate up everything I left，feeling happy and accomplished. We walked another hour to the Emergency car park, then I drove William back home. I reached my place at 11:30pm. What a solid weekend!

To wrap up:

Huge thanks to William for the accompany, Julian for the trip tips and Nik for the PLB!

Good on William and myself to be well-prepared for the trip. It was a challenge for us (me especially), very glad we made it through! Also very happy that I’m slowly building up my fitness, I feel way more comfortable and confident on this one comparing with the Dorset loop trip I did last year.

Future improvements:

1. Make the bed first: we forgot to make the bed first when arrived at Field Hut. I was in a muddle at night and in a hurry in the next morning too, that’s probably how I left my first aid kit in the hut. I did go back to Field on the next Saturday, it’s not there anymore.

2. Start early: we discussed and agreed that we could leave Anderson a little bit later next morning because we had a big day and we need more sleep. I could probably do better if I wake up and start walking earlier as it’s cooler.

Tararua South Range Loop

Hut Bagging, Tararuas, Tramping, , , ,

A Shit Weasel Hut Bagging Mission 13th/14th Feb!

Park the van up at the emergency car park and run over the Slip to Otaki Forks…

08:02 Start at the bridge and go clockwise towards Waitewaewae Hut. 45 mins in (08:47) I get to the path split. Decision time, explore the unknown old slip track, or take the horrible track above the slip that I have no love for?

I go with the slip option. 8 minutes later and I’m thinking I’ve made a mistake.

Big Slip on the YTYY track

It’s pretty clear that I’m not going to sidle across this one, I try climbing up the side to go over the top but it’s taking too much effort. I’m trying to be efficient with my energy today. It’s nothing but thick bush and I’m pulling trees out as soon as I get close to the edge!

Now there are a couple of blog posts about passing up over this slip which I had scanned over before i left, but these are both over 8 years old and I think the slip has grown since then.

To preserve my skin I decide to put my gloves and gaiters on to protect myself from the sharp rocks. I smash and slide down through the bush and eventually pop out onto the lower half of the slip which has a more forgiving gradient. 25 minutes later and I’ve stopped faffing around.

Waitatapia Stream

At the bottom is the Waitatapia Stream.

The way around the slip!

It’s a pleasant spot but I don’t have time to linger. I follow it up stream and soon find the old track. It’s slippy under foot so it’s slow going, river travel is never fast. I think the new (shit) track would have saved me heaps of time but I’m all good with the adventure.

09:42 and I find an old steam engine

I’m soon distracted again as I spot a possum. It scurries up a tree to escape. I pick up a rock and knock it out of the tree on my first shot. Whilst killing possums is always high on the agenda I have to remind myself that this is not the days mission. This one will keep and I take solace in the knowledge that I’ve already killed one this year so am still being a good kiwi.

11:38 and Byrus has finally bagged YTYY Hut

Waitewaewae Hut

I think this has to be the worst hut in the Tararuas! There are 4 lazy bums inside who are still in their sleeping bags. It’s like a bedroom full of unmotivated, depressed teenagers.

One French lad says hello and talks about to walking to Parawai Lodge. He asks if I’m staying the night! “Hell no, it’s a shit hole” I reply before engaging my filter! I have an early lunch and am out of there asap.

11:38 and I leave the river behind for the slog up the hill.

It’s a nice day on the tops

14:05 and I’ve made it to Junction Knob. 360° views which you never get tired of. I can see many peaks which I know. Arete, Banister, Mitre, Broken Axe, McGregor and Mount Holdworth, Later in the day Hector comes into frame too. I also spot Park forks and Dorset Creek which I had ventured down the previous weekend…

Although I should be paying attention to where I place my feet I keep getting distracted and end up flat on my face a couple of times.

Anderson Memorial Hut

14:38 and Byrus bags this second hut of the trip and I have a second lunch.

16:52 and I reach Aokaparangi. I feel like I’m slowing down. I’m not used to going this fast for this long and I’m starting to question my endurance.

I note that the DOC sign says Maungahuka hut 3-4 hours (5 mins to Aokap Biv junction)

5 minutes later at the Junction the next sign reads 2 hours 40 mins to Maungahuka. It’s lunacy. Normally the times get harder to beat the deeper you get into the Tararuas, yet this is the easiest 1 hour 20 you’ll ever do!

I leave my pack and run down to check the biv out.

17:05 and I’m at the Biv and am greeted by a black goat. I give it the devil salute and it disappears into the bush.

Aokaparangi Hut

It’s a super sweet spot and a very spacious biv (OK the sign says Hut). Byrus has his photo taken and I have another quick break.

The toilet is pleasant too now that we are away from the volume of crap created by the TA Walkers.

17:30 and I’m back on the main trail after my little side trip.

Soon I can see Maungahuka hut it the distance. it looks like a long way to go.

One last push on tired legs over Wright and Simpson and I’m at Maungahuka for 19:18.

Byrus bags hut #4

I had told myself that if I got there by 5pm then I’d push on and do the whole loop in one day, but it was not to be this time.

I think I could achieve it with a lighter pack without the over-night gear and a bit more training. It’s still a big commitment to make that decision.

The hut is empty. I wash myself, eat, then sleep.

Day 2

It’s a white out and the wind has picked up. Not exactly what the forecast had promised but not unexpected either with it being the Tararua Ranges.

I leave the hut at 07:10 and am layered up.

I managed to lose the track once heading up over Tunui and have to turn back finding myself faced with a 100 meter vertical drop below my feet. It’s only a few meters off, but the poles are not easy to spot when it’s rough.

It’s not a day to admire the views and get great photos! In fact it feels very sinister. I have a moment where I feel like I’m being watched, there is a black figure ahead looming in the mist that I’d subconsciously noticed. I then see it’s just a large rock. It’s not the reaper, but it’s a good reminder to be careful.

Once I drop down below McIntosh I’m below the clouds and delayer.

The last climb up to Bridge peak felt slow, am I tired from yesterday? Probably.

I finally get to the highest point of the loop at 10:00 and i’m back on more familiar ground.

I’m happy that I have enough bounce left to run down the hill.

Field Hut

Field hut

10:52 and I’m at Field hut. No need for Byrus to get a photo here for his Hut Bagging collection, as he’s been here many times before.

There is a group of 4 guys outside. We exchange tales for 10 minutes. They seem amazed that it was only 4 hours ago that I was at Maungahuka. It’s taken them 2 days. They joke that I’ll be out for lunch and indeed I am. I get back to Otaki Forks bridge at 11:57.

I then walk back over the Blue Bluff slip to warm down.

Route and Splits

Day 1

Otaki Forks 08:02

Slip 08:55

Other side of Slip 09:20 (Heaps of faffing!)

YTYY 11:38

Junction Knob 14:06

Nichols Hut 14:38

16:55 Left Track to visit Aokaparangi Biv

Aokaparangi Biv 17:06 (break and a snoop)

Back on trail 17:30

Maungahuka Hut 19:18

Total time: 13 hours 16 mins (inc extra 35 mins for Aokap)

Day 2

Maungahuka 07:10

Bridge Peak 10:00

Field Hut 10:52 (10 min break)

Otaki Forks 11:57

Total Time: 4 hours 47 mins

Kapakapanui loop, running

Fitness, Tararuas, Tramping
Start time 07:02

Recently Laressa and I did the Kapakapanui loop as an Evening stroll which we posted on Meetup. Some of the comments were interesting as such as “Wow! 4 hours! You’l be running! lol”

Actually, we didn’t need to run, we just didn’t do any faffing and simply chatted the whole time without pushing it that hard.

Whilst I understand that DOC times list the loop as 6 – 8 hours, the reality is that it’s a walk on the outer edges of the Tararua Ranges so the times are very generous and aimed at your casual weekend walker, not hardened trampers.

It did get me thinking how long it would take to run so I set off to give it a crack today. My goal was to get it done in under 3 hours, but I was not sure if I’d be able to nail it first attempt.

Junction, I’m going anti-clockwise this time 07:09

I set off early to avoid the midday heat (plus I had other commitments that day) and picked the Anti-clockwise direction to avoid running down the steep bit.

The path is in great condition, probably the best I’ve ever seen it. Massive respect to DOC or whoever has cleared the trail up to the trig, it used to be an over-grown mess. Seeing where your feet need to be placed makes a big difference.

The Trig 08:25
Stunning day up on the tops whilst the coast on the other side is still shrouded in clouds!

Very little running was done before I got to the trig, and I cursed each time my shoelace came undone wasting precious time faffing around with them. I also had to take my back pack off to access my water bottle. Such a rookie move! I have a bladder so really should know better.

None of the usual princess action avoiding the mud. The feet are getting mucky.
Kapakapanui Hut for some water! 08:48

I think I passed someone I know on the way who called me a crazy idiot. Sorry I was too zoned to return the compliment, plus I was about 20 meters past by the time I registered as I raggy-dolled down the path 😔

Back down to the river 09:31
Back to the car 09:40 Loop done 🙂

Total loop time 2 hours and 38 minutes. Not a bad for a 13km morning jog and my shoes are clean thanks to the river at the end 😁

Southern Crossing – Jan 2020

Tararuas, Tramping, , , ,

After 5 reschedules over 3 summers I finally covered the small section of the Southern Crossing I hadn’t competed. It was certainly worth the wait – we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

We were collected from Waikanae Train station at 3.15pm and dropped at Otaki Forks by Kapiti coast shuttles ($100 for a car or 150 for a van as at Jan 2020).

We arrived at Kime Hut just in time for sunset. It always surprises me how much quicker you travel with a small group (2!). It was cold on Bridge Peak so the down jackets got used day 1.

Sunset from bridge peak

There were only 2 others in hut, they were doing the TA – taking the more exciting route as they put it (I agree).

Kime Hut

Saturday we awoke early for sunrise and watched from field peak. We returned to kime and had a leisurely breakfast. Another stunning day with little wind.

Sunrise from field peak

After a day of perfect 360° views, we arrived at alpha hut early afternoon and chatted to those passing through (including runners training for the southern crossing run) and some familiar faces camping and staying in the hut.

mt hector

We waited for friends to arrive realising we didnt know what time they left Kaitoke or when to expect them (lesson learnt). They arrived grateful for a full water tank, it had been a sweltering day on Marchant.

We had a peaceful night other than an earthquake! There is service in one corner of the balcony so we were able to find info on geonet before returning to civilization.

Down Marchant Ridge always takes far longer than I remember, this day was no different. We took a 2 min detour towards bull mound where the track opens up and you get views of ridges all around you.

View from a short detour towards Bull Mound

Once back at the car the consensus was to stop at Brewtown for a pint.

Note no times listed as we had perfect conditions and a small fit group.

I highly recommend kapiti coast shuttles for transportation on the Western side of Tararuas.

Dorset Ridge Hut

Tararuas, Tramping, , ,
Dorset Ridge Hut

I’d like to start with a big shout out to the team (Julian, Laressa, Alex, Yadgar, Katerina, Emma, The Shit Weasel, Mr Grey) for making the challenging but WONDERFUL weekend happen.

We did a loop from Mitre Flats Hut to Dorset Ridge Hut via Mitre Peak and Adkin, Middle King. Here is a chart made according to my timing:

DayRouteDistanceEstimated HoursActual Hours
FridayThe Pines – Mitre Flats Hut7 km3-4 hours on Topo2 hrs 40 mins
SaturdayMitre Flats Hut – Mitre Peak – Dorset Ridge Hut12 km5-7 hours on Topo10 hrs
SundayDorset Ridge Hut – Adkin –  Middle King – A bridge close to Mitre Flats Hut – The Pines18 km12 hours by Julian13 hrs 30 mins

The walk to Mitre Flats Hut was easy, we had a couple of detours as it was dark, but generally, it was smooth.

Saturday was the hardest day for me as my stomach burns all the time due to bad sleep at night. Also, we had many long breaks which slowed us a lot down.

I did better on Sunday, we only had 3 5-10 mins breaks as I could remember. I could do better if I haven’t twisted my ankle.

Glad to be with the best trampers as there are always new adventures and I always have a lot new to learn and experience.

This is not a Great Walk

I always beat the DOC estimated times for NZ Great Walks and some other walks but not this time.

First thing I learn from this trip is: as we go deeper/higher into the forest park, the estimated times will be harder to be defeated, which somehow makes sense because only people with reasonable fitness can make it, but most travellers can do Great Walks.

Wish I could know that earlier and make this trip easier. I mistakenly defined this trip as a trip which could be slightly harder than my recent ones so I didn’t optimize my packing: as usual, I brought a 400ml bottle of sun cream, a container of sake, many snacks and a huge power bank etc.

It surprised me when I noticed that no one expect me brings alcohol for this trip, that barely happens on my other tramps with them.

Drink water wisely

I have a bigger fluid intake than most people and had never considered it as a problem except for a big belly.

On Saturday, my 3L hydration pack ran out quickly and I had to drink from a lake on Dorset Ridge while waiting for water supply from the others. I tried to reduce the drinking frequency, the amount of water taken each time on Sunday, but I ended up running out of water again. I’ll be trying to drink less next time.

Always apply sunscreen

UV rays here are intense, always have sunscreen on!

I only applied sun creams once as I didn’t want to slow the others down and I thought that would be ok and the sunburn will recover after a couple of days as usual. Wrong again as I still have them 10 days after the trip and it hurts.

First time to sleep outside the hut

It’s my first time to sleep on the deck outside instead of on the bunk bed in the hut. It’s breathtaking that the stars were filling my eyes, but I didn’t sleep well on Friday.

Special thanks to Laressa for carrying my pack and not giving up on me all the way, lucky to have a PM covering my ass.

Thanks to Julian for having me on board, you proved again that you could be a nice person and you did come back looking for us.

Thanks to Alex for carrying my stuffs too, btw you surely can cook.

Thanks to Yadgar, Katerina and Emma for the encouragement and good company, sorry for keeping you wait.

Three days midweek in the Tararuas

Tararuas,

With an unexpected week off work I found out a friend also had the week off. We headed in to the Tararuas on a Wednesday planning to leave on Friday, before the crowds of the weekend.

We set off to Alpha Hut stopping at various points along Marchant Ridge to take in the views. The weather was great and we had stunning views of the Hutt Valley and the peaks further north.

View from Marchant Ridge

After a day of straight up we arrived at the hut in just over 6 hours – the benefit of a small group! We were the only ones at Alpha Hut, which is large, so it was cold. After flicking through all the magazines and reading material in the hut and dinner we turned in for an early night.

Day two we rose early and left most of our gear behind to head up to Mount Alpha. It was snowing and we had a lot less visibility than the day before. After crossing a few mounds and being sure one of them was Alpha we checked a GPS to confirm. We had gone too far so headed back to the hut, round trip about 1.5 hours.

Day 2 – Adam heading towards Alpha

We collected the rest of our gear from Alpha Hut and headed back the way we came the day before till we came to the Bull Mound turn off. We had been in goblin forest for a long time and to our surprise emerged to alpine grasslands and stunning wide spanning views. Whenever I return to Alpha now I will ensure I take a small detour to barren Bull Mound for the views.

Between Alpha Hut and Bull Mound turn off

We carried on down, entering forest again. It was rather steep, and I couldn’t help thinking I’d rather go down than up, although some may disagree! Eventually we arrived at a river that we needed to cross. After observing the river and assessing all options we crossed and not long after came to Cone Hut.

We arrived really early (around lunchtime) but decided to stay at historic Cone Hut as neither of us had before. All I can say is tie your food bag tight and store out of your pack, and keep a head torch handy to scare away the rats! It was a cosy, pleasant hut to stay in.

The last day of our journey we headed out along Tauherenikau River. We stopped in briefly at Tutuwai Hut and Smith’s Creek Shelter. After the shelter we encountered our first person since entering the bush.

Tauherenikau River

Although a hot day the clay on the Puffer Saddle was very slippery (it had rained in the afternoon of the day prior) and we heard the sound of chainsaws as some DOC workers were doing track maintenance. After encountering our second and third person we arrived at the carpark to find a group of teens setting off for Holdsworth as part of the Duke of Ed.

Overall an excellent, leisurely 3 day trip which could be done in 2 long days. This trip highlighted to me how few people tramp midweek. Of the 3 huts we stopped at there had been no hut book entries since the weekend prior.

Note: trip took place late Septmber 2018

Logistics
Park at Kiwi Ranch Road
Day 1 walk to Alpha Hut, 6 hours (expect 7-9 hours with a larger group).
Day 2 walk to Cone Hut via Bull Mound, 3 hours
Day 3 Walk back to carpark along the lower part of Dobsons Loop and Puffer Saddle 4 hours.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/tararua-forest-park/things-to-do/huts/alpha-hut/

Best laid plans

Tararuas,

Some trips or events become part of a groups legend and come up again and again around the campfire. One of my trips forms part of this among some members.

The plan
The idea was a winter dinner at Parawai Lodge in Otaki Forks. A very simple plan, have a good feed and some mulled wine and with it being only 5 minutes from the road end we could take in a few luxuries and not worry about the weight of our packs.

A few days before the event there were 20 people signed up, this quickly changed as the forecast called for heavy rain. In the end there was just two people and myself down for the trip. After some discussion about cancelling the trip, it was decided that it would go ahead with the three of us. One of the deciding factors is the wine had been bought for the mulled wine and the person wanted to try mulled wine before heading back to Australia.

Things don’t go to plan
Come the day of heading away my washing decided to fail and flood my flat (becomes important later) so spend much of the day drying out stuff, dealing with the Property Manager and tradespersons. About two hours before I was due to leave I started sorting out my gear and pack. We had decided that instead of sorting out food we would stop in Otaki and do a shop on the way up.

So off we headed in Otaki Forks, at the road end we got our packs out and I realised that due to my fizzled brain from dealing with the flooding etc I had left my boots on the car pad back in Wellington. Thankfully it was a short walk to the hut in sneakers.

We killed some time by doing a couple of short walks and sat on the deck of the hut solving all the worlds problems.

Solving the worlds problems

Winter dinner
As we lost light we decided it was time for pre-dinner nibbles including hummus, pate, crackers and bread along with our mulled wine out on the deck as it was still warm and the weather hadn’t set in.

Pre-dinner nibbles

The can opener
It wasn’t till it came to dessert that things came unstuck again. Dessert was a can of fruit, peaches from memory and we didn’t have a can opener. Not having packed food when I sorted out my gear I hadn’t made sure I put one in my pack. After checking with the others no-one had one on them and there wasn’t any in the lodge. Never fear we sorted it………


A great weekend was had by all.

Postscript
I was asked for the mulled wine recipe a few days later so went and dug it out. On the bottom of the recipe it said “serves 6-8 people” and we doubled it between the three of us.

Note the two empty wine bottles