Windy Tops

Tag: tararuas

  • Te Araroa to avoid Oriwa Ridge in the Tararuas

    New Zealand’s Department of Conservation has decided not to establish a track along Oriwa Ridge in the Tararuas as part of Te Araroa — The Long Pathway. Instead, DOC is recommending that Te Araroa go via the exposed tops in the Tararuas, via places like Te Matawai, Dracophyllum, Nichols.

    The full published results are available on DOC’s website.

    The original proposal of the Te Araroa Trust was to go more or less via this route, but the Trust put together the alternative proposal to build a track along Oriwa Ridge, below the bush-line, after the DOC Wellington Hawkes Bay conservancy expressed concern that the earlier route could be too dangerous for the often less experienced trampers that Te Araroa might be expected to attract. This has been brewing for about a year now, and has unveiled much controversy over balancing the seclusion of dedicated wilderness areas and the promotion of recreation, and all that.

    Having gone through the submission process with 218 submissions, DOC has decided that its initial concerns are no longer relevant. It’s decided that for various reasons Oriwa Ridge probably isn’t that much safer anyway, that the reasons against the Oriwa Ridge proposal out-weigh the reasons in favour, and ultimately that there will be no track built through Oriwa Ridge. Reasoning that the Te Araroa Trust has since included rugged exposed alpine routes in other regions of the track, DOC has now also come out in favour of the original Te Araroa proposal that it initially had concerns about, to follow the existing and more exposed route through the Tararuas at higher altitude. As long as everyone who walks this section of the Te Araroa Trail takes standard precautions (ie. doesn’t take undue risks), this should be a win for everyone.

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  • Trip: Cattle Ridge, Dundas and Herepai

    On Friday night we sit in Istanbul, Carterton’s wonderful answer to good cuisine, twiddling thumbs as Illona, Amanda, Richard and I consider alternatives. It’ll be raining soon, and more importantly it’ll be very windy. Our first plan isn’t exactly likely to work. We’d planned to walk up over Herepai onto the Tararuas Main Range, south to Dundas Hut and then come back over to Cattle Ridge Hut for Saturday night. It’s a nice loop, but it would have us above the bush-line in a very exposed place on Saturday, during which time the met-service tells us will probably be hopelessly exposed to gale-force southerlies. There certainly could be better things to do than spend time on the Tararuas’ Main Range. I munch away on a large mixed kebab; very filling, slightly messy but I get away with it.

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    Dundas Hut at sunset.

    By now, we’re narrowing down some ideas. Over Holdsworth to Neill Forks might be worth doing in dodgy weather, and it’s near the top of the list. Looking more closely at the forecast though, it seems as if things may become more bearable late on Saturday. From somewhere an idea dawns that we could do what we originally planned in reverse, and it seems better and better the more we think about it. Getting over Cattle Ridge on Saturday with its reputation of exposure to wind could be a problem, but maybe it’s worth a try all the same. There are really only a few hundred metres to cross over the top before heading down the other side. Mmmm, sleep would be nice.

    Dates: 18th – 20th September, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Putara road-end.
    People: Illona, Amanda, Richard and me.
    Huts visited: Herepai Hut (1 night), Roaring Stag Lodge (0 nights), Cattle Ridge Hut (0 nights), Dundas Hut (1 night).
    Route: From the Putara Road End to Herepai Hut for Friday night. Then past Roaring Stag, up and over Cattle Ridge, down to cross the Ruamahanga River, then up to Dundas Hut for Saturday night. Over Pukemoremore to West Peak, East Peak, Ruapae and Herepai, then down past Herepai Hut back to the Putara 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.

    Sometimes I wonder what I’m getting myself in for, but it usually pays off. One way or another, I’ll enjoy it or enjoy the end of it. Besides, as long as good decisions are made between points of safety, bad weather tramping lets you see places in a way that’s often missed.
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  • Trip: Ruamahanga, Blue Range, Te Mara and Kiriwhakapapa

    Last weekend we had a nice navigation trip in the Tararuas, along part of Blue Range, organised by Marie and Alistair. It was largely a navigation trip, and was well worthwhile despite persistent rain. Apart from an overnight stop at Blue Range Hut (or camping outside), we managed to spend nearly the entire weekend off-track.

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    Alistair and Patricia navigating
    down Te Mara.

    Dates: 11th – 13th September, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ruamahanga and Kiriwhakapapa road-ends.
    People: Marie, Alistair, Patrisha, Richard, Tim and me.
    Huts visited: Blue Range Hut (1 night).
    Route: From Ruamahanga Road End up a south-east spur to Blue Range, heading south-west along the ridge to Blue Range Hut for Saturday night. Then up to Te Mara, and down to the South East. Out at Kiriwhakapapa.
    [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.

    We spent Friday night in Kiriwhakapapa Shelter, sharing it with another club group, even though we weren’t intending to start from there. It’s not quite as exposed as the Ruamahanga road-end further north, though. The rain was coming down persistently by the time we drove up, and one way or another anyone on the edges migrated further inwards overnight. Eventually the bellbirds began to wake, and some kind of bird that I couldn’t identify began making a lot of noise as it started fluttering around with its nest in the ceiling.
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  • Trip: Ohau, Deception Spur and Mangahao

    Deception Spur has an ominous name, but it’s really just another spur in the Tararuas. I’ve been up the spur before, and from what I remembered of it, I didn’t have any hesitation in agreeing to walk up it again. This is what we did last weekend.

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    Morning at Mangahao Flats.

    Dates: 21st – 23rd August, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ohau and Mangahao region.
    People: Amanda, Dirk, Illona, Richard, Duncan and me.
    Huts visited: Mangahao Flats Hut (1 night).
    Route: From Poads Road to the Ohau River (camping a couple of minutes before it), up the Ohau River to Deception Spur (where the North and South Ohau split), up Deception Spur, down into the Mangahao River on the other side, and to Mangahao Flats Hut for Saturday night. Out at the Mangahao Dams on Sunday.
    [Photos and Movie]

    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.

    We began having made some vehicle relocation arrangements that dropped us at the end of Poads Road, east of Levin, at around 9pm, and from there we walked about an hour in the darkness to what’s a very nice camp-site about 2 minutes before the track meets the actual Ohau river, almost exactly at the point that a dry weather track heads up the Gable End Ridge. There’s a walk through some often muddy farm-land at first, past the moo-cows and electric fences, but after that it’s all under trees. The campsite has an open clearing with a fire pit, but the best camping spots are under the nearby trees, and there are lots of them.

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  • Tragedy near Kime Hut

    Also see Tragedy near Kime Hut, part 2 and Tragedy near Kime Hut, part 3.

    It’s always sad to hear about tragedies in the outdoors, but it hits home more than usual when it’s nearby. The recent occasion in which the bodies of two trampers were found in the Tararuas will no doubt be remembered for some time not because two people died, but because one of them was particularly well known. Even now, most media reports focus their attention on obiturising one of the trampers who is presumed to be of most interest to their readers and about whom there is probably more readily available information, mentioning his companion almost as an afterthought. I can fully understand why this happens from the media perspective and its audience, but I think it’s important to remember that irrespective of the profiles of both people, two people were equally unfortunate.
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  • Dreaming of Moonlight Southern Crossings in the Tararuas

    It’s been an interesting last few days, watching the weather. Several days ago, Craig invited me to head into the Tararuas tonight and attempt a Moonlight Southern Crossing. We’ve just decided to cancel the attempt within the past hour or so, and might try again in another month if the conditions fit. For me, thoughts about a Moonlight Southern Crossing go as far back as the first ever tramp I went on with the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club.

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  • Evolution of the new Atiwhakatu Hut

    Through some strange set of circumstances I’ve found myself walking past Atiwhakatu Hut in the Tararuas on 5 separate days of 3 weekends in the past 6 weeks. None of it was very planned in advance, but it happened to correlate with the hut’s replacement, giving me an opportunity to take some photos of its evolution, and the eventual destruction of the old hut. The new Atiwhakatu Hut is the same design as Roaring Stag, and although I haven’t had an opportunity to see inside, it looks great from the outside.

    No doubt people involved have their own much more complete sets of photos, but I’m quite chuffed to have my own. This is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to watch a hut being built in this way.
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  • Trip: Snowy walk from Holdsworth to Mitre Flats

    Queen’s Birthday Weekend in the Tararuas didn’t quite work out. There was snow back home in central Wellington, nearly to sea-level for the first time since about 1995, and there was easily snow down to 200 metres in the Tararuas. None of this began until Sunday morning, however. As we set out late on Friday afternoon, we were still planning for the possibility of our original intent.

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    Dave getting snowed on.

    Dates: 29th – 31st May, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth Road-end.
    People: Dave, Marie S, Marie H and me.
    Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights), Atiwhakatu Hut (0 nights), Mitre Flats Hut (1 night).
    Route: From Holdsworth road-end to somewhere past Atiwhakatu to camp on Friday night, Mitre Flats and up then down Mitre on Saturday, back to Holdsworth road-end on Sunday.
    [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 starting out at Holdsworth Lodge, plan A would be to climb up Baldy, then get over Three Kings and Girdlestone to spend a night at Tarn Ridge Hut, drop down over Mitre to Mitre Flats on the following day (possibly with a very early start if we had to fit into a weather window), and walk back to Holdsworth on the Monday.
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  • Trip: Kiriwhakapapa to Cow Creek, Mitre Flats and Holdsworth Lodge

    There’s a certain feeling one can sometimes get when looking at a weather forecast the day before going tramping, to realise the entire country is be converged on by unavoidable freezing heavy rainfall from all directions. It’s a feeling that corresponds with thoughts of wanting to avoid river travel, and thus I was very surprised last Saturday to be happily wading down the Waingawa River in the Tararuas. But then, you can’t really beat the Tararuas on a rainy weekend. As is generally known, the Tararuas and rain are like two magnets with poles reversed. Yep, the Tararuas are awesome.

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    Crossing the Waingawa under Cow Creek.

    It seems weird going back to somewhere where I’ve been as recently as a week earlier, but that’s what I did last weekend. This time it was with the trampey club, and it wasn’t quite the same place. Instead of just walking from Holdsworth to Mitre Flats and back, we began further north at Kiriwhakapapa, then walked back to Mitre Flats before coming out at Holdsworth.

    Dates: 8th – 10th May, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Kiriwhakapapa to Holdsworth Road-ends.
    People: Steve, Daniel, Andrew, Justin and me.
    Huts visited: Blue Range Hut (1 night), Cow Creek Hut (0 nights), Mitre Flats Hut (1 night), Atiwhakatu Hut (0 nights), Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights).
    Route: Kiriwhakapapa to Blue Range Hut (Friday night), down to Cow Creek Hut via an old track to Cow Saddle, then to Mitre Flats Hut for Saturday night. Out to Holdsworth road-end on Sunday.
    [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: Holdsworth Lodge to Mitre Flats and back

    I had a free weekend and I realised that I hadn’t been to the Tararuas for about six months! Don’t ask me how this happened because it’s my favourite mountain range. Since I had the time, I made up my mind to get back and visit them again. The weather forecast was changing every hour leading up to my leaving home on Saturday morning, which was probably because the Met service forecasters weren’t very certain about exactly where a particular system was going to hit. It looked as if it might get very rainy, but I guess you can’t really beat the Tararuas when it’s raining. They’re fantastic.

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    Between Atiwhakatu Hut
    and Mitre Flats.

    Dates: 2nd – 3rd May, 2009
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth road-end.
    People: Just me.
    Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights), Atiwhakatu Hut (0 nights), Mitre Flats Hut (1 night).
    Route: Start at Holdsworth Lodge, walk straight to Mitre Flats (via the track), then walk back.
    [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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