Lost on Mount Cone

When brother number one inquires about being a volunteer victim for a Search and Rescue exercise he's going to be on, it sounds like a great excuse to get out in the hills for a good cause. Josh needs no convincing, so we provide our details to Tony the organiser (Police) and receive our instructions.

It's been a good wee while since I've been tramping rather than biking, but boots and other essential kit are soon turfed out of forgotten corners.

The scenario: a party of six Forest and Birders on a Kaka counting trip get split up on their way from Cone Saddle to Totara Flats Hut via Cone Ridge with some suffering various mishaps. The volunteers are to start with a Friday evening briefing and walk into Cone Saddle, for an early start up to Cone Ridge in the morning.

We arrive at the Masterton Police station at 6pm for an exercise and radio briefing and are issued with ration packs, radios, PLBs, spare batteries, GPSs, and snacks. My small, light pack is bulging and some kilos heavier by the time we head off for the SAR base and, after a bit of farfing, we are finally in the van to Walls Whare. The fading light draws a veil over some unpleasant looking clouds, but the forecast only suggests a few light showers and fading wind.

The evening start is necessary as some of the SAR teams are helping with the Tararua Mountain Race (Holdsworth to Kaitoke) that is coming through the area in the morning. The teams will join the exercise as they are freed up from the race and Tony is keen that our paths don't cross.

At Waiohine Shelter two buses are blocking the road.  These turn out to be dropping off 90 odd trampers from Victoria Uni who are heading into Totara Flats in the morning - woe betide anyone that wants to sleep there this weekend. We determine that they won't be getting in the way of the race, and should be outside the search area, which is a relief.

Tony drops us off in pitch black, to head across the swing bridge and turn left. It's a nice cruise up the hill under lights, with occasional spits of rain.  We pretty quickly find out that Claire (SAR volunteer from DoC and mountain runner) is the greyhound in the group. At Cone Saddle we completely fail to find the bench and water source that Tony had given directions to, but there's plenty of space to set tents on the track and we turn in after 12. Also after a bottle of port that Iain (ex Police and well versed on matters SAR) has kindly carted up the hill. It's quiet apart from Moreporks exchanging calls through the night.

In the morning we're up in the dark and off up the ridge track by 6.45am to avoid being spotted.  We leave Jordan (young butcher and keen hunter) behind to head up Clem Creek to break his leg. He is to play the part of the last party member to leave the Saddle, who heads off to find a short cut instead of up the ridge track. Next, we drop Paul a few hundred meters before spot height 812 to get stung by a wasp and start wandering, with anaphylactic shock, down an old track (block 19?).  He is to be unresponsive so it will be interesting to see how they find him. If treated, or able to write, he will tell rescuers that he was the fifth to leave up the Ridge Track.

I'm loving the climb through the familiar bush in the cool morning, heading up into the beech forest with moss underfoot and the profusion of plants that cram around the track whenever it breaks out of the forest. There's no pressure and the four of us chat our way up to Cone where we leave Iain to wander up the Neill Ridge track a short way. He will be the grumpy team leader who left first in the morning, took a wrong turn, and returned to see Josh and I in the distance heading North along Cone Ridge shouting for help. He will be feigning severe cramps and will make the phone call that will kick the event off. He shows every indication of relishing the opportunity to be a royal pain for the search party.

It's cloudy on the tops and nippy, so the remaining three keep moving, pausing briefly to mark a perfect camp spot just inside the bushline and the location of flowing water from the tarns at the north end of the clearing. We're in no hurry as the search teams will not be deploying for hours.  The clearing is home for the usual mix of tussocks, shrubs and herbs with perfect wee white flowers underfoot.



Cone Ridge from Cone
(On Sunday)

Tony has identified a flat area on the ridge, 400m or so before Neill Forks turn off, where people often get lost.  Josh will be having an asthma attack and we will wander east off the track. When asked we will recall leaving Cone Saddle after Claire and we haven't seen anyone since then.  Claire meantime heads further along the track to spot height 957 to be (hopefully) found waiting on the track. She will recall leaving the saddle after Iain and report that no-one has come past her.

Josh and I have a bit of fun trying to find our spot as the GPS is a bit confused under the canopy but eventually (after thrashing around in leather wood and swamp) we find a suitable location in some gnarly, mossy goblin forest, radio in our co-ordinates, and settle in for the wait. It's chilly and damp so we set up a fly and (eventually) a small fire.  The need for these is short lived as the weather soon clears into a beautiful and unusually still Tararua day, giving us a tiny slice of vista of the Tararua Peaks and Maungahuka between the mossy trunks.

Home for the afternoon
East side of Cone Ridge

The radio keeps us entertained. The missing persons' radios link to Tony at HQ, and are scrambled so we can switch and follow the SAR base coms as events unfold.

The event kicks off around 11 with Iain's phone call.  Team 4 is dispatched by helicopter to Mt Cone to locate and extract the requisite information from him.  They are a bit under utilised during the day but are eventually tasked with checking and confirming that no-one else has been up the Neill Ridge Track. Team 2 (with dog) is quickly dispatched from Totara Flats Hut up the Cone Ridge Track.  It looks like it's all on, but it turns out that team 2 are slow to come up the Ridge, and team 4 are not tasked to come along our way, so we have a lot longer to wait.

Meantime, team 1 (with dog) heads up the Ridge Track from Cone Saddle, and the dog detects where Paul left the track.  They miss him at first but ironically find a wasps' nest.  Incident Control re-task them to head up to Mt Cone but have a change of heart (we suspect after a strong hint) and allow the dog to have another go.  They finally find Paul at 1620 and he's free to head out and home.  We spare a thought for team 3 which has been dispatched up the old track and thrash their way up the spur to no real purpose.

We listen as team 5 who has been choppered into Totara Flats (apparently by mistake) make rapid tracks down to Makaka Creek at the foot of the Cone Saddle Track. When they reach the spot we groan in sympathy as they are dispatched on a fruitless mission up Makaka Creek but Tony eventually takes pity and they are brought back to the main track.

Josh and I guess that Control will eventually dispatch team 4 in our direction; which they do, but despite a hurry up from base, team 2 is still nowhere in the offing (much to Claire's consternation who is running out of water). We pack up camp and, after a brief conflab with Tony, relocate closer to the track in the hope of a quicker find, and maybe even a chance to get out tonight.

At 1800 the final events of the day unfold in rapid succession. Team 2 finally reach Claire to ascertain that no-one has passed her, and a few minutes later we respond promptly to team 4's sound line. They appear out of the bush exchanging good nature banter and settle into their roles (interviewing the victim, radioing base, and standing around giving cheek to the others: 'How the hell did you get through school without being thumped!?' - 'Dunno - but have you ever seen a nose this straight on someone this cheeky?'). They treat Josh's imaginary 9 hour long asthma attack with an imaginary inhaler and we leave them to head back to Mt Cone, a km or so ahead of Claire.



Team 4 waiting extraction on Sunday

The SAR team's are instructed to camp and stand by for a night exercise, whilst we are left to our own devices, apart from the still unlocated Jordan who has been incommunicado apart from occasional texts with Tony.

The sun is setting behind Mt Hector as we reach Mt Cone and Iain, who has elected to stay there for the night.  Claire arrives shortly after and we decide to camp, finding a perfect spot just inside the bush line.  It's a clear evening but decidedly nippy so after setting camp and dinner we pop out to look at Wairarapa lights then quickly turn in.  The wind comes up in the night but we are well tucked in and, apart from Josh resetting his fly, we have a good sleep. It's about time to switch to the winter weight sleeping bag though.

Josh near the top of Cone
Neill Ridge in the background

Tararua Peaks and Maungahuka from Cone

We wake up with the light in no particular hurry and head off down the ridge listening on the radio as the SAR teams set about their tasks.

Mt Cone campsite
My Macpac biv in the foreground - Josh has broken his fly down already

Team 3 quickly locates Jordan, who is undoubtedly quite keen to be found.  They administer first aid, make a pack stretcher, and carry him five minutes before being released.  Team 1 are ahead of us heading down the ridge while teams 2 and 4 are sent to Mt Cone for helicopter extraction.  We are half way down the Ridge Track when we are offered a trip out - if we climb 300m back to the top.  We elect to walk out and save SAR a few dollars.

Just enough money in the budget to save a few legs

It all wraps up quickly and neatly.  We catch team 1 with dog (who is having the absolute best time) on the way down to Walls Whare, teams 2 and 4 are lifted off Cone, arriving about the same time as us, and teams 3 and 5 are lifted out from Makaka Creek intersection shortly after.  This gets everyone back to the SAR base for an excellent BBQ and debrief around midday.

We exchange experiences with the team members and Iain continues to put the hard word on Josh and I to sign up as volunteers.  The debrief is direct and robust, pulling out all the issues we had noted and more, and giving an insight into the decision making in Incident Control. We also get an explanation for Jordan's radio silence - the channel had switched to the wrong DOC channel when he had changed batteries. Hmm, I might have detected a little bit of embarrassment on Tony's part for not working this out!  Bro number one confirms that Team 2's slow progress was due to diligent searching and not entirely to the amount of fresh deer scent the dog had to contend with.

All up, it was a great weekend in the bush. The tramping was low key but the weather was superb. Following the exercise by radio and attending the debrief was fascinating and informative. It was a great bunch of people involved; the volunteers were good to work with and we felt welcomed and appreciated by Police and SAR. It was also a good opportunity to support a service that trampers rely on being available when they need it.

Gear notes
The only new kit I was trialing was my Macpac bivvy tent (900g packed) which proved perfect for the conditions but didn't really get tested. The hoop over your head keeps the single skin sil-nylon off your face and condensation wasn't a problem either night. I don't look forward to using it in the rain; you can stash some kit by your head but there isn't really room for the pack and getting changed inside it is difficult. Far superior to a bivvy bag in my limited experience though. Once again the Exped air mattress proved its worth - it's so much better than my old Thermorest. The Penny Stove was fine outside in very little wind.

Josh had a number of bits of interesting kit.  He had a new lightweight pack (Cuban fibre?) with only what you need, minimal frills and good space, water proof and seemed comfy enough.  His MSR tent fly was beautifully crafted, a great size for one, or more at a pinch, and providing multiple pitching options.