Windy Tops

Tag: tramping

  • Trip: Powell, Totara Flats and Sayers

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    Saturday night sunset
    on Totara Flats.

    This is meant to be a tramping club trip, though really it’s just Éamonn and me. We’re the “social” trip, but I think people bailed on the social idea when it became clearer that we’d be pack-horses for everyone else who’s converging on Totara Flats from various directions. Between us we’ve decided the most “social” way of getting to Totara Flats will be up to Powell and over High Ridge. I’ve decided my hobby on this trip will be collecting Department of Conservation Asset Numbers. Asset number bagging is set to be the next big thing once everyone’s gotten bored of hut bagging, and I figure I’m getting a head-start on the crowd.

    Dates: 10th – 12th December, 2010
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth Road End.
    People: Éamonn and me.
    Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights), Mountain House Shelter (0 nights), Powell Hut (1 night), Totara Flats Hut (1 night), Sayers Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Walk to Powell Hut on Friday night, then over High Ridge to Totara Flats for Saturday night, then back out to Holdsworth Road.
    Actual route: Powell Hut on Friday night, but to Totara Flats via the more direct route. Over the Waiohine to Sayers Hut on Sunday, the up to spot-height 772 and along ridge to the north past 768, and eventually back to the track above Totara Creek. Then out to Holdsworth Road via Pig Flat, and down to the Atiwhakatu Track.
    [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.
    5267715733_b325f6bb97_m-5830903
    The Atiwhakatu Valley
    from near Rocky Lookout.

    Friday, 8pm: We’ve arrived at the Holdsworth road-end, the weather’s not too flash. Best to get going.

    8.55pm: It’s not quite raining yet, but a strong nor-westerly is blowing. I’ve just been nearly blown off my feet near the Rocky Lookout. Not at the lookout, but on the track below it. The wind just came screaming alongside the ridge out of nowhere. It’s eerie and discomforting.

    This’ll be bad for Steve and Richard, who were planning to walk and swim down the Waiohine Gorge. We’ve checked the book and they signed in at Holdsworth Lodge earlier today, headed straight for Waiohine Forks. We’ll be okay for ourselves, by comparison. I have the rain all sussed since I bought myself a brand new tramping umbrella earlier today. It’s in my pack, and may just prove to be the best $14.99 I’ve ever spent.

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  • Trip: Stanfield, Cattle Creek, and Mid Pohangina

    I’ve not been to the Tamaki West Road entrance to the Ruahines for a few years, but recently we went back with an intent to cross to the other side, following what seemed to be the most obvious route along rivers. There’s a nice campsite, with a shelter and toilet blocks, about 200 metres in from the gate at the road, and we slid into here to camp on Friday night.

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    Near dusk outside Mid Pohangina Hut.

    Dates: 26th – 28th November, 2010
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, from Tamaki West Road to Pohangina Valley East Road.
    People: Tim, Richard, Éamonn and me.
    Huts visited: Stanfield Hut (0 nights), Cattle Creek Hut (0 nights), Mid Pohangina Hut (1 night).
    Route: Starting from Tamaki West Road, follow the Holmes Ridge Track to Stanfield Hut, then to Cattle Creek Hut via spot-height 908. Continue along the river route to Mid Pohangina Hut for Saturday night. Out to Pohangina Valley East Road via sidle track on Sunday.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/20101128-cattle-creek-mid-pohangina.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.

    The four of us left at about 7.45am on Saturday morning, at first aiming for Stanfield Hut. There are at least three routes to Stanfield, one heading straight up past Travers Hut, along the tops on the true right of the West Branch of the Tamaki River, and straight down. If a 700 metre climb feels pointless, it’s also possible to walk straight up the West Branch of the Tamaki River, or otherwise do what we did, which is to follow Holmes Ridge along the true left of the river. The weekend’s forecast was to involve lots of sunshine, but things stayed very muted for us during most of the morning—I think if we’d gone via the highest route, we’d have simply been walking in clouds all morning.
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  • Trip: Pouakai Circuit (slightly modified)

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    It wouldn’t be right to visit Egmont National Park in an uncommon state. That’s why I was thrilled to see that after three continuous weeks of dreadful looming sunshine, our planned weekend would be smothered with buckets of welcoming hydration. With a five hour drive from Wellington behind us, rampant precipitation began to gravitate at the approximate time we arrived at the Mangaoraka Campsite, about half way into the park up North Egmont Road. We duly set up our giant tent fly, perfectly designed to channel the all-important drops of moisture into one end and out the other.

    Dates: 19th – 21st November, 2010
    Location: Egmont National Park, from Mangaoraka Campsite below North Egmont.
    People: John, Bevan, Frank, Ian, Brian and me.
    Huts visited: Kaiauai Shelter (0 nights), Pouakai Hut (1 night), Holly Hut (0 nights).
    Route: Starting from Mangaoraka Campsite, follow marked traks over Henry Peak to Pouakai Hut (for Saturday night), then to Holly Hut, and continue along various tracks down to Mangaoraka Campsite.
    [Photos]
    [map:https://93a12629bf06.ngrok-free.app/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/20101121-pouakai-circuit.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.

    Frank, Bevan and myself had this wonderful aquatic shelter to ourselves, thanks to considerate sacrifices by the other three. Ian had brought his enclosed tent, obviously inferior to the open fly. John set up a smaller fly nearby, tailered to allow some outside air to enter, but not having such a widened gap. Brian made the greatest sacrifice, offering to spend the night in the back seat of our van.

    And so we spent the night. With a prized place on the end, I made sure to leave my feet out in the open to allow the dampness from the ever-increasing drizzle to seep into my sleeping bag.

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    An artist’s impression of what was probably happening on Mt Taranaki as seen from Henry Peak on Saturday 20th November 2010, as carefully extrapolated from a genuine photograph and various other references.

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  • Tararua Adventure Guide, by Jonathan Kennett (a few thoughts)

    Cover picture of Tararua Adventure Guide, by Jonathan Kennett

    The Tararua Adventure Guide, by Jonathan Kennett, was recently published in August 2010 by the Kennett Brothers. It’s available in a bunch of places such as outdoor shops, probably some bike shops given who’s publishing it, a few online bookstores if you search around, and allegedly good book shops. (I couldn’t find it in the likes of Whitcoulls or Borders, but no surprises there.) It cost me about $21.25 after an FMC affiliation discount, and for that I got a 152 page paperback handbook, including a 3 page index. The price was right!

    Bivouac in Wellington was sold out when I first visited to snap up a copy during September, but they had another shipment coming in the next day, and sure enough about 10 copies were displayed on the counter a day later. I guess it’s been a popular book. This should be expected because the Tararuas are on Wellington’s doorstep, and there’s not been much of an attempt at a decent route guidebook for ages, possibly not since Merv Rodgers’ Tararua Footprints of 1996. Please post a comment below if you think I’ve missed a recent good one in the past 15 years. I’ve not been on the scene long enough to be sure.

    An unlikely twist to my purchase was that I’d only just managed to track down my own copy of the 1996 Tararua Footprints about a week earlier, after several years of trying. The reason for this lack of guides that specifically target the Tararuas is probably the relatively localised market that is the greater Wellington region combined with the small proportion of people who often get into the outdoors to the extent of being able to benefit from such a guide. Few people beyond the lower North Island would buy such a book, and it’s a risk for a publishing company to run off the thousands of copies likely to be needed just to break even. The initial print run is 2000 copies, which is probably on the low side for most publishers. The Kennett Brothers have a recent history of publishing books to similar localised and niche markets, especially around mountain biking, so my guess would be that they’re probably in a better position to understand the audience and distribution channels, and could manage the risk better than less specialised publishers.

    About the book

    The Tararua Adventure Guide is a description of all the main things to do in the Tararua Range. It’s not restricted to tramping, and is more of an adventure guide as the title suggests. The author has filled about a third of the book with “classic tramps” of the Tararuas, and another quarter towards the end with additional popular tramps and less common routes. The rest is filled with ideas for short walks and daytrips, several good river explorations, a single canyoning adventure (Chamberlain Creak), a few pages on mountain runs and mountain bike rides, and two pages about hunting and fishing opportunities. That last one is more as an explanation than a guide for hunters, and only a paragraph of the section is actually about fishing. The book has photographs scattered throughout, as well as brief history notes here and there, helping to give a better feel for the areas being described.
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  • Tragedy near Kime Hut, part 3

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

    Amelia recently pointed me at a lengthy feature article in last Saturday’s Dominion Post, which expresses a detailed investigation of what happened when two people died in a blizzard near Bridge Peak in the Tararuas, prior to reaching Kime Hut in July 2009. The article is online, courtesy of Stuff:

    Lost: how tramp turned to tragedy

    The article uses sources such as the Police inquest file, witness statements and various SAR resources. The author’s also filled in some gaps with likely presumptions. It’s more detailed than regular news articles, and worth a read.

    This incident has been covered a lot in various places on this blog, beginning with:

    Discussions that relate to the incident also exist under:

  • Staying in Taihape

    I went through an anticlimatic experience on the weekend. Richard, Amanda and I were meaning to get to Wakelings Hut in the Ruahines, starting from the end of Makino Road on the western side, which is about the next road north of Kawhatau Base. I found myself not feeling too well. After being up for much of the night between Friday and Saturday as we stayed (by arrangement) on one of the nearby farms, I decided I wasn’t exactly fit to go.

    In some ways this worked out for the better. With oncoming weather it was uncertain if Amanda and Richard could get all the way around to Wakelings Hut and back over the Mokai Patea as planned, so with the new arrangements I was able to drive the car around to Kawhatau Base and collect them the following day. As I waited, I spent two exciting days in Taihape, which is a nice little town and I saw three steam trains drive through it, two of which were the Overlander and one of which was a special excursion by Mainline Steam. Unfortunately it was one of the few weekends in Taihape without a gumboot throwing competition, and for most of the time I did still wish I’d brought a book to read.
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  • 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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  • The Next Three Hours

    Last weekend, when four of us bailed out of our trip through Leon Kinvig Hut in the Ruahines, part of the reasoning was the weather forecast. All things considered I think we made a good decision, and it started me thinking about the role of weather forecasts in outdoor recreation, especially tramping.

    Something I’ve heard about New Zealand is that for the next three hours, a good judgement on the weather from looking out the window is likely to be more accurate than a forecast issued by the MetService. After three hours, probabilities switch around and the forecast becomes more accurate than what you can typically judge on your own. Coming from me this is just an out-of-context statement taken from anecdotal rumours of random research, but I find the essence believable. Obviously it depends on how you interpret statistics and the “correctness” of forecasts, not to mention how good you are at judging the weather. A more important point to draw from this is that there’s a lot of information available from observing what’s around you, especially regarding what’s about to happen during the next few hours.

    Forecasts in New Zealand are also fallible thanks to limited data, proximity to the sea, endless micro-climates, and the need to simplify the colossal amount of information and expertise into a way that can be conveyed to people not trained in meteorology. A sunny forecast doesn’t guarantee sunny weather, and vice-versa. Even the isobar charts, which I think can convey some of the most useful information if applied well with local knowledge (something for which I’d like to improve my skills), are a gross simplification of all the information considered by forecasters who draw them.
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