Windy Tops

Tag: leatherwood

  • Trip: Arete Forks via Cow Saddle and Waingawa

    Last weekend we ventured out to reach Arete Forks, which lies near the upper reaches of the Waingawa River in the Tararua Range. Rather than take the most direct route, a fairly boring sidling track, the four of us intended to climb up over Waingawa Peak from Cow Saddle, before dropping into Arete Forks Hut on the far side.

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    Megan S following the south-west spur off Waingawa (1423).
    Pinnacle Spur and Tarn Ridge in the background.

    Dates: 24th – 26th September, 2010
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Kiriwhakapapa Road End.
    People: Amanda, Megan S, Megan B and me.
    Huts visited: Blue Range Hut (1 night), Arete Forks Hut (1 night), Cow Creek Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Up to Blue Range Hut from Kiriwhakapapa on Friday night, then down the track and veer onto an old track to Cow Saddle. Up to spot-height 1360 via the track onto Cattle Ridge, then a few hundred metres past Waingawa (1423) and down an overgrown spur direct to Arete Forks Hut for Saturday night. Out via the horrid sidling track (with the river being too high) to Cow Creek Hut, and back to the Kiriwhakapapa Road End.
    [Photos]

    [Download GPX file] [View GPX on NZTopoMap]
    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.

    Coming after an unusual week of strong, persistent nor-westerly wind, things didn’t exactly let up, and we were concerned that the continuing conditions might prevent us from getting onto the tops. Having been dropped at the Kiriwhakapapa road end at 8.30pm, we took a little under 2 hours to climb up to Blue Range Hut, our passage being accompanied at the higher elevations by a roaring jet-plane kind of wind. For me personally this is the third time I’ve climbed to Blue Range Hut in the dark, and I was a little surprised when the surroundings appeared unfamiliar for what I’d been expecting. All that had happened was that we’d walked straight past the turn-off sign without noticing, and at that time I’d not been expecting to see the comparably open section of track with violently waving head-high trees.
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  • Trip: Penn Creek Hut on a rainy day

    Last weekend we went to Penn Creek Hut in the western Tararuas.

    Dates: 1st – 3rd August, 2008
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Otaki Forks region.
    People: Craig, Fraser, Peter and me.
    Huts visited: Field Hut (1 night), Penn Creek Hut (1 night), Parawai Lodge (0 nights).
    Intended Route: Otaki Forks to Field for Friday night, then up to Vosseler and navigate down spur to Penn Creek Hut for Saturday night. Out to Otaki Forks via Table Top on Sunday.
    Actual Route: Straight to Penn Creek Hut via Table Top on Saturday (due to heavy rain), then back up to Table Top on Sunday via spur starting at S26 025307, due to a flooded side-creek blocking the usual track.
    Related bits: Craig also wrote about this weekend.
    [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.

    Saturday night, prior to which we didn’t do much at all: There’s a little mould on the Penn Creek Hut mattress that I’m sitting on as I write these notes. We’ve been here for 5 hours now, since a bit after mid-day. Water drips from the skylight into a bucket. There’s also water dripping into the fireplace, thwarting efforts to get a fire going. We even tried to burn some of Peter’s marshmallows, but that didn’t work either. Did I mention that the trees are dripping? And so is the sky. The bucket was nearly full when we arrived and we’ll need to empty it before we leave.

    There were supposed to be six people in our group, but two bailed on Thursday, citing correlations between the reputation of the Tararua Range and the weekend’s forecast. This meant that before we arrived, we only had Craig’s small billy in which to cook. Fortunately there’s some quite good cooking and cleaning gear at the hut. Craig organised the trip. He looked impressive earlier today, sporting his Oringi Jacket — “the jacket that keeps you and your shorts dry” — just like that guy inside the back cover of every FMC bulletin. Peter’s on his first ever club trip, having arrived a few weeks ago from Scotland. Fraser’s also on his first club trip although he’s been tramping in New Zealand before, particularly in the Orongorongo Valley, and has some interesting stories. Last night I asked Fraser about his pack, which looks about as old as he is and far more worn down. He told me he found it in a dumpster and had to argue with his friend about who’d get to keep it.

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  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Sawtooth and Pourangaki

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    Distant silhouettes after Sawtooth.

    Dates: 11th – 13th April, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia road-end.
    People: Alistair, Sarah, Illona, Jane, Amanda, Dirk, Paul, Harry, Craig and meeeee.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Pourangaki Hut (1 night).
    Route: Past Rangiwahia Hut to Maungamahue, over to Te Hekenga and around to Taumataomekura and Tiraha. Over Sawtooth Ridge to Ohuinga, then along to point 1632 and down the official track to Pourangaki Hut for Saturday night. Straight up to point 1614 on Sunday, then back along to Maungamahue, and out via Rangiwahia Hut.
    [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.

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  • Trip: Rangiwahia, Maungamahue, Te Hekenga, Triangle

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    12 people in a 6 bunk hut.

    The weather report for the weekend indicated what looked to be quite a violent deluge of a front smothering the entire country all at once, from north to south. The met service was issuing weather warning’s galore. Forecast chart visualisations available through Jim McGregor’s metvuw.com website might have implied that all of New Zealand would be bathed under a combination of beautiful sky blues and majestic sunset reds during the weekend, but unfortunately the colouring on those charts was artificial, and in fact indicated quite the opposite. Our party was affected too, with two members pulling out late on Friday afternoon, having decided they were too frightened at the prospect of spending a whole weekend playing cards against the rest of us at Rangiwahia Hut.

    Dates: 29th February-2nd March, 2008
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Rangiwahia Road End.
    People: Alistair, Sarah, Marie, Jeremy, Dirk and me.
    Huts visited: Rangiwahia Hut (1 night), Triangle Hut (1 night).
    Huts seen: Pourangaki Hut.
    Intended route: Up to Rangiwahia Hut on Friday night, then past point 1635 to Maungamahue. West to Te Hekenga, around to Taumataomekura, along Sawtooth Ridge to Ohuinga, then down to Pourangaki Hut for Saturday night. Up to Pourangaki on Sunday morning, then back along to Maungamahue, and out again via Rangiwahia Hut.
    Actual route: Shortened a lot due to weather and injuries, we reached Te Hekenga then followed the spur down to Triangle Hut for the night. Back up to Rangiwahia Hut via the main DOC track, and out.
    [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.

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  • Trip: Ohau, Dundas, Ruapae, Puketurua

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    Craig emerging from
    Ngapuketurua (with a slight
    vegetation problem).

    We were supposed to be walking through rivers all weekend according to the original plan, but the weather was so good that we just couldn’t help ourselves, and ended up on the tops. Eventually, we found ourselves moving very slowly thanks to some very overgrown ridges.

    Dates: 30th November – 2nd December, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Poads Road to Mangahao Dam.
    People: John, Paul, Craig and me.
    Huts visited: Te Matawai Hut (0 nights), Arete Biv (0 nights), Dundas Hut (1 night).
    Huts seen: Herepai Hut.
    Initial intended route: Begin at Poads Road, wander up the South Ohau River to the old site of South Ohau Hut, wander up past Te Matawai, then down the Mangahao River to Mangahao Flats Hut, and out via the Dam.
    Actual route: With some really good weather, we went from Te Matawai Hut up to Arete, over to Dundas, from West Peak to East Peak, then around the ridge to Ngapuketurua, north-east along the ridge, and down the Puketurua Track to the dam.
    [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.

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