Windy Tops

Tag: bagged:heritage hut

  • Trip: Heritage to Tunupo (and back)

    We had an impressive weekend planned, more or less the reverse of my previous attempt at a similar trip several years ago. Sadly, it failed in a similar way, except this time the method of failure was a pressing sou-easterly that made tops travel extremely uncomfortable. It was another victim of the Ruahine winter. Maybe if I were smarter I’d take a hint, but I know from experience that it’s still possible to get great winter trips in the Ruahine.

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    Dates: 30th August – 1st September, 2013
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Petersons Road (Heritage).
    People: Craig, Alistair, Sarah and me.
    Huts visited: Heritage Hut (1 night) — aka Alice Nash Memorial Heritage Lodge.
    Intended route: In via Heritage Lodge, head up to Tunupo (.1568), north-east almost to Otumore (.1519), then south-east through the Pohangina Saddle to Longview Hut. South-south-west past Rocky Knob (.1226) and Te Pohatu (.1132), and down to Leon Kinvig Hut for Saturday evening. Up to Toka (.1519) on Sunday, north-north-east to Tunupo (.1568), and back down and out via Heritage Lodge.
    Actual route: To the top of Tunupo, then we turned back rather than risk a very cold and strong snow-heavy southerly.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20130901-heritage-to-tunupo.gpx%5D

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    Our weekend’s forecast wasn’t entirely promising, but a strong southerly was predicted to blow through, with luck, by early Saturday, which should enable some good, calm weather for tops travel.

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  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Te Hekenga, Howletts and Heritage

    We finally managed to get around this scenic loop in the Ruahines, which is almost entirely made up of tops travel. It was a weekend of very nice weather, even though a light easterly in the Ruahines meant walking through some clag. For me personally, it was the first time I’ve connected the dots between two different sides in the Ruahines, having reached the same place from two different sides, and this felt quite rewarding.

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    Alistair collects water from one of the
    tarns on the way up Te Hekenga.

    Dates: 5th – 7th December, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia road-end to Heritage road-end.
    People: Alistair, Dirk, Paul, Amanda, Harry, Steve, Roger, Bernie and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Howletts Hut (1 night), Heritage Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Up to Rangiwahia on Friday night. On Saturday, walk past Maungamahue, around the back of Te Hekenga, then to Taumataomekura and Tiraha, and down Daphne Ridge to Howletts Hut for Saturday night. On Sunday, continue to Taumatataua, Otumore, and Tunupo, then descend to Heritage Lodge and out at the Heritage road-end.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    Levin is a good place to stop for dinner when driving north of Wellington up SH1 on Friday night. People often want to stop at Bulls because it has a kebab shop which some people like, but this time everyone agreed on Levin, and that suits me because I think there’s a wider variety of choices. There’s also a supermarket, which suited Alistair who was last back to the van, carting a 12-pack of toilet paper after he’d realised he never packed any.

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  • Trip: Rangiwahia to Heritage via Triangle and Iron Gates

    Honestly, who would have thought it’d be rainy fogged-in weather on Labour Weekend? Apparently not us, because we had a fairly intensive tramp planned that would have gone from Rangiwahia over to Howletts, then back via Iron Gates. Unfortunately it rained and it snowed and it didn’t really work so well, but it was still worthwhile and from a personal perspective, I was still able to see places I hadn’t seen before.

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    Steve, Amanda and Paul
    north-west of Mangahuia.

    Dates: 24th – 26th October, 2008 (one day shorter than intended)
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia to Heritage Road-end.
    People: Steve, Amanda, Paul and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Triangle Hut (0 nights), Iron Gates Hut (1 night), Heritage Hut (0 nights).
    Intended Route: Walk to Rangiwahia, then around Maungamahue and the back of Te Hekenga , over to Taumataomekura, Teraha and to Howletts Hut for Saturday night. Then via Daphne Ridge, Otumore and down to Iron Gates Hut (or possibly Triangle Hut) for Sunday night, before heading back up to Rangiwahia Hut and out again on Monday.
    Actual Route: Due to weather issues we went straight down to Triangle Hut and Iron Gates Hut on Saturday, before continuing to the Heritage road-end on Sunday and getting out a day early.
    [Photos and movies]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

    After dinner from that Kebab shop at Bulls, we reached the Rangiwahia road-end at around 9.30’ish, I guess. At the very least, after the walk up the hill (which from past experience seems to take about 90 minutes), we were settling down at around 11pm on Friday night. The weather forecast was already dismal, without much suggestion that things would clear up until about Monday. Although we’d made plans to sleep in, Steve was still up and about at 6.30, and everyone followed.

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