Mt Reeves Navigation trip

The first winter storms arrived late this year. After an uncharacteristically mild start to autumn, this week provided Wellington with a sharp reminder of what wet and windy is like. The forecast for the weekend is equally unpleasant but suits a short trip into the Tararua foothills to practice navigation, knock off a section of route I'd been anticipating, and get a bit of bad weather experience without river crossings and staying off the tops. As you will see, two out of three ain't bad.

The plan is: to enter at Walls Whare and ascend to follow the ridge line south from the Cone Saddle track towards Mt Reeves, find an unnamed spur and descend to the Tauherenikau, stop in at Tutuwai Hut and maybe stay the night, then exit over Mt Reeves via Coal Stream.  And as you will see, five out of four ain't bad (click to see map of area).

I'm packed on Friday night so in the morning it's short work to get out the door at 05.15 and head-off over the Rimutaka Hill in the dark.  It's light  at 07.15 as I leave an empty car park at the Waiohine road end (not surprising given the forecast).

The bush is damp but not wet - the rain over the last week has softened the ground but it has been so dry that it is still just soaking in. A work colleague had remarked on this being the first week for a long time when the forest floor hasn't been dusty. Like him, I note that the undergrowth has perked up appreciably.

The track to Cone Saddle is very familiar territory now but I pay more attention knowing that I will shortly be leaving it to find my way along the ridge south.  Overhead the sky is clear and the sun starts filtering through the canopy from about halfway up. The wind also picks up, and the amount of dead fall on the track has me keeping a weather eye (and ear) out for falling branches.

It's dead easy to find my point of departure about an hour later near spot height 682: the track runs straight and suddenly turns right, someone has also put a marker on a tree indicating Cone Saddle (or Cone Hut?).

Near the turnoff to the Reeves Stream spur

The route turns out to be easy to follow, with a reasonably obvious ground trail: not too much overgrowth and sporadic markers (orange tape). Although not marked on the topo map, this route is clearly used often.  I practice taking bearings anyway, to make sure I will know when I reach my intended spur  - which I reach in about 35 minutes, a lot quicker than estimated. I had intended to keep going up to Mt Reeve and then return to the spur but decide that it's not providing much practice and if I get to Tutuwai early, I can reassess and maybe make this a day trip.

Again there are markers on trees indicating Mt Reeves in one direction and Cone Saddle/Walls Whare in the other - they don't point to the spur itself, but seeing as it diverges from the ridge exactly between the markers it is pretty obvious why they are there.


The spur travels down the true right of the Reeves Stream catchment and is pretty easy to follow. There aren't any markers that I can see, but enough ground trail to keep going with some compass and altimeter assistance. Near the top, the bush is a bit mossy with undergrowth and the route skirts off to the left of the spur, but it opens up pretty soon for very easy travel with little undergrowth.  A more authoritative account of a Tararua Tramping Club trip around this catchment is available here.

Easy going down the spur

I happily potter down bearing right at around 600m but lose the trail around 460m amidst game trails and a much busier under-story. I think I hit the edge of the clearing marked on the map at that point, as there is a lot of young Rimu and a break in the canopy. I don't try to regain the track as it's pretty straight forward to pick a way down to eventually reach the flats (mind the swampy bits) and eventually the main track. The Tauherenikau River is rushing along under sunny blue skies but doesn't seem overly swollen and it's easy going to lope along the track down to Tutuwai Hut to arrive at 10:00. The hut is empty and the last log entry is a week old.

Tutuwai picking up the morning sun

I had been thinking I would be thrashing around in untracked undergrowth for hours longer than this and might even stay the night at the hut, so this is just embarrassing.  After a look at the map I come up with a suitable plan B involving a sortie further south along the ridge from Mt Reeves. But for now it's back into the bush and a steep 600m climb back on to the ridge I've just left (Tutuwai is at about 300m).

Looking down track to where route to
spur diverges, to right of center tree 

The ground is soft but not slippery, some sections of track look like someone has bum-slid down, piling leaves up in large drifts; a result of enough rain to turn the spur-line track into a stream so it must have been a bit wild during the week. The wind is rocking the tops of the trees and occasionally attains that solid roar that is associated with the wildest days. There's plenty of windfall on this track also, so I'm inclined to be a little jumpy.

A steady pace sees me break into scrub at the 800m contour, 45 minutes later. There's clearly been an old burn or storm because the altitude is too low for this to be the bushline.  On the way up I see that before spot height 646 there is an obvious ground trail leading towards a spur that hits the valley floor near the mouth of Reeves Stream. Noted for another day.

The scrub provides views west showing a bit of cloud above the western Tararuas. It's not looking too bad at present but that's where the foul weather will be coming from.

Looking across to Marchant Ridge. Quoin ridge behind on the horizon at left, dropping right into a notch then climbing to Alpha in the cloud. Spot height 1060 on Marchant in front of Alpha, Omega is the next lump up ridge to right of 1060, the indistinct knob to left of 1060 is 953; the top of the Block XVI track.

Sharp knob on horizon to right of center Winchcombe(?), cloud over Hector to left of it.  Bull mound on ridge in front rising gently to Omega to the left. Rounded top of Cone on right of photo. Tauherenikau River below seen through mouth of Reeves Stream catchment. 

The catchment down to the left is Reeves Stream, the spur in the middle distance (just above the top of the shrub) is the route down from the ridge to the right.

The first requirement of Plan B is cellphone coverage. There's plenty so I call in my changed intentions and turn my attention to finding a route south along the ridge. It's a little after 11, so lots of day left.

I miss the spot and flail about in the Draccaphylum before finally working my around to the correct line. The ground trail is obvious in places but much less so than earlier in the morning.  There is also a lot more undergrowth and I find it's a little tricky picking your way through teenage Totara.  Because it's the main ridge line it would be pretty hard to get really lost but it's quite wide in a couple of spots so it's good compass practice. I successfully navigate to and over three spot heights before reaching Tauherenikau, the highest point on the ridge at a not so startling 899m. It is also, like the rest of this section, under the canopy so there is little view apart from the odd window across to the Marchant Ridge. Still, it's 12:50 so time for lunch tucked into the lee below the modest cairn that marks the 'summit'.

Cairn at top of Tauherenikau - not much to see here.

The trip back along the ridge is a little easier as I have a better feel for the route although still wander on and off it.  The last hundred meters to the Mt Reeves track is not so obvious but I struggle onto the track and sure enough there is a nondescript marker on a tree that I had missed at the start. It's 2:40 - about 3 and a half hours  after I left this track. I figure it will be getting dim around 5pm so turn east for the short climb onto Reeves. After a few photos I take my wobbly knees and descend the wide track to spot height 745 arriving at 3.25.

Nondescript turn off south to Tauherenikau just before leaving bush

Same shrub in foreground as earlier photo - bad weather spilling in from the west

South from Reeves; spur on left horizon runs up to Tauherenikau,
 the ridge between here and there provided the entertainment for the last few hours

From top of Reeves looking north; nice day to the east, rubbish coming in from the west

My topo map does not show the route from spot height 745 to the Waioine Road end swing bridge where I started, but it is on the newer online map, suggesting that DoC might be reinstating it as a recognised track. It's an old route following a definite spur and I've heard it's not so hard to follow. However, any delay route finding or struggling through undergrowth will mean it's dark on the steeper lower section meaning an uncomfortable night in a bivvy bag under a tree (I'm not so keen on night time nav through a slippery gully).

Turn-off to Coal Stream track

The online and printed maps differ as to how the track starts in relation to spot height 745. On the ground there is a large DoC sign on the Mt Reeves side of the spot height. The main track down skirts to the south of the knob and the Coal Stream track climbs onto the knob from behind the sign. There are also some old markers on the trees and all the way down the track.  The sign warns that the three wire bridge over Coal Stream has been removed - I figure the catchment is small and there's been no rain today so this is not likely to be an issue.

Navigational concerns disappear as there are lovely new yellow triangles marking the way and an obvious track. I'm thinking it's not far to go now but there is a small matter of 600m to lose. There's a bit of undergrowth to work through at the top but it's mostly under open beech providing good going. Towards the bottom it steepens and drops into lush bush with a rich, slippery humus so it gets a little treacherous. The stream is as expected - requiring wet feet but not large flows (although it could be).  It's dimming in the bottom of the gully but there's still plenty of light. There's a short scramble up to the terrace where my track diverged this morning - the turn off to Coal Stream is not marked but it is obvious, and just where the Cone Saddle track heads right and starts climbing.

Cone Saddle to the right, Coal Stream to the left

I drag my protesting knees back across the swing bridge to arrive at the carpark at 4:20. There's three other cars in the park and a camper van in the camping area, so people are clearly heeding the forecasts. The trip home is a little slow as the car starts overheating on the Rimutaka Hill but with a little nursing I get home in the early evening. A soak in a hot bath then a warm bed is somewhat more pleasant than a bivvy bag in the rain.

Coda

This was a great day trip achieving everything I had set out to do and more (apart from the lack of the forecast foul weather, but no complaints on that score). Although I always keep an eye on the map I have generally been hoofing along marked tracks entailing paying attention in a completely different way. The ridge was perfect: the canopy forcing a reliance on map, compass and watch, rather than observation of visible landmarks. The morning provided a gentle introduction and the afternoon a little more challenge. It is also relatively forgiving in that marked tracks are generally not too far away and many spurs look navigable (although I wouldn't recommend dropping into Tait's Stream).

The Coal Stream track is a really good option to and from the main carpark (much better than the grovely bottom section of the Reeves track and providing a good loop trip option). The trip to Tauherenikau which had been in the far recesses of my mind was the icing on the cake.

For future reference I need to get better at estimating travel times through various types of terrain and remembering exactly when I left the last point. At present I am using the altimeter to confirm location but would like to reduce reliance on this.