Panatawaewae

The lack of daylight at this time of year makes ambitious day trips somewhat fraught - with a high likelihood of finishing in a thrash down a strange spur or stream in the pitch black. So the trick is to find something where this is possible - but avoidable with a bit of application.

The weather forecast indicates tops and rivers are not a great prospect this weekend so the options rapidly dwindle to the area around Panatewaewae which, although not high on my bucket list, is one of the larger areas of real-estate in the Tararua's I haven't blundered around at some point.

The idea is to try to get around the edge of the Panatewaewae and Waikawa catchments in a day and pick up a couple of bits of business left unfinished the last (and first) time I was in that neck of the woods - namely, find the plane crash site I didn't find and not find the wrong spur off Waitewaewae I did find.

I reluctantly give up the idea of traveling anticlockwise which, although a more interesting proposition, would be just a little rash given available daylight and ability. 

What:    Circumnavigation of Panatewaewae and Waikawa catchments

Where:  Tararuas behind Manakau (north of Otaki)

Why:     See if it's doable - new ridgeline and hopefully find plane crash site

Who:     Solo

When:   24 June 2017

Map:     Map

The Mighty Red Gallant by dint of still being within its warrant period has survived to see another road end. This time I hang a right across the railway line just north of Manakau and follow a narrowing road south east into the Tararua foothills. It's raining and so claggy that it is still dark at 7.30am.

The road turns to a potholed track with a grassy mid-strip after the first gate. The car handles it ok but after the second gate it gets a bit hairy - at one point a wee uphill rocky patch sees the tyres spinning and scrapes the mudflaps - I hope there's somewhere to turn around on the other side. About 1.5km after the second gate there's a small slip over the road and no way through - after reversing half a K or so there's a spot wide enough to do a multi point turn and park the car off the track.  Lesson - park at the second gate.

At 7.50am and wrapped up against the rain I head along the road and past the first slip (missing the bottom end of the ridge track on the way as I find out later). The road drops down a bit and very shortly comes to a massive slip that has taken the entire road and chunk of hillside with it - DOC won't be repairing this one anytime soon (ever).

A sort of track scrambles up across and back down to the road on the other side for a short walk to the original road end. The toilet is still there and both ends of a loop track.  My map is a bit vague on the details so I follow the loop up the hill figuring that there will be a way to get on to the Panatawaewae ridge track. There is, but it isn't that pleasant.

The loop track veers left, climbs, veers right and flattens - shortly after flattening a pink ribbon promises access upwards. What it delivers is a scramble up a crumbling slope through rotten vegetation and supplejack.  Still, after a bit I'm standing on an old logging track which wends upwards in a most civilised fashion.

The rain rains and the cloud obscures everything at the occasional open spots. The track is wide and solid though so it's quick work to get to the ridgeline and some open areas under old pines. Someone has been up here on a quad a good wee while ago and there's a few foot prints showing the way.

There's one junction where the track continues downwards to the right but otherwise the route is obvious and the logging track continues well after it is marked on the map - in fact it's a bit below Pt 635 (around 550m and 09.30am) that plastic tape indicates a foot track on the right leaving the logging track to keep heading left to goodness knows where.

The markers disappear as far as I can see apart from some old spray paint on Panatewaewae (10.10am). The slope up to Pt 635 would be easy to get lost on on the way down and there are a couple of moments dropping into the saddle past Panatewaewae where the trail is not so obvious. The 'peak' itself is thoroughly unremarkable.

I have had no success finding where the name comes from - waewae is foot or leg, pana could be to evict ... but the most likely association seems to be with Te Waewae Kapiti o Tara rāua ko Rangitāne - the boundary between Ngai Tara and Rangitāne to which the name 'Kapiti' refers.  The nearby Waitewaewae hill and river system are surely related to the same roots.

Progress is satisfactory despite another bit of uncertainty finding the way off Pt 775 - I'm guessing that most people turn back at Panatewaewae.

After Pt 890 the ridge flattens and I start looking to follow around to my right - a single white plastic marker on a tree below the ridgeline indicates I'm in the right place (12.00). In theory this is familiar territory as I have been through once before. More to the point I am close to Pt 955 and the location of the plane crash - this time I am armed with a better idea of where to find it.

There are regular white plastic markers now and, on the way up to Pt 955 (at about 915m) I note a yellow one, and then a white one off the ridge to the north west. I follow these into a dip where a trickle forms and starts heading steeply down - sure enough there are a few more markers and pretty soon bits of plane start turning up.

You can read about the crash here. The short version is that an Air Oxford crashed in 1941 and was found by hunters in 1980 (the same type of plane crashed at Kaiparoro). Bits were removed and are in the Wigram museum but there's still a fair amount here, including the pilot; Selwyn Sinclair, aged 20. A bronze plaque was apparently set up but I couldn't find it.

The first substantive thing I find is a yellow aileron and a wooden cross - this must be where the pilot is buried. The cross was painted white once but the stainless steel plaque, once wiped clean is still neatly etched and easily read.  Nearby is a wheel assembly and northwards around the slope is a wee gully with a trickle and more bits of plane, including the remains of a radial engine. Other bits are scattered about, moldering into the landscape.

After 20 or so minutes I've seen enough and leave the wreckage to continue its slow dissolution into the headwaters of the Panatewaewae stream.

Pt 955

Back on the ridge I follow up to Pt 955 and the marker for the plane crash that I had briefly searched near to no avail last time (now 12.45pm). The route from here is reasonably easy to follow east along the ridge line with a brief moment of confusion near Pt 969 when I misread the compass and head off in the opposite to correct direction. This is quickly identified and rectified but is a reminder to be wary of confirmation bias and to check twice.

Waitewaewae

Waitewaewae is a welcome sight (2.05pm) with some canopy openings where the cloud can be viewed and an opportunity to take the correct route this time.

There are plenty of white plastic markers - one set looks to indicate a route south down a spur (I assume to Island Forks - noted for future reference).  Another indicates the 'Road End' can be reached by heading straight ahead and northish via Pt 708 (another candidate for exploration), whilst another indicates my route dropping down the ridge to Pt 739.

My direction is a bit overgrown with little in the way of markers until a section with splendid reflectors  adorning every second tree - the last marker from both directions announcing that fact in a very useful fashion (I think these mark a route from the spur up from Pt 490 along the ridge to the saddle either before or after Pt 673 - before, I think - but I wasn't really paying attention).

With the markers drying up again and the ridge being fairly broad there is a bit more casting about but it's fairly open so travel is good. The light however is starting to wane.

At Pt 730 I stumble suddenly onto a wide and solid 4WD track. Hopefully the going now will be open and quick. I turn right and trot the down hills.

4WD track and getting a bit dim

A bit dim?

Judging by the puddles and tracks the area is infested with 4WDs. There are also more roads than marked on the map but there's only one point (before the right turn near Pt 595) where I follow a dead end briefly - a gorse patch convinces me that my turn off is a little further along. Sure enough the correct turn has old signs in the bush pointing towards the road end.

There are more clearings and less canopy so I am treated to the sun setting fire to the clag in the west. The vehicle tracks are left behind and my route follows large grassy clearings down the spur (with the occasional side excursion before finding the correct route again). In the open, the track is largely grassed over and can be missed - it has had some traffic though.

Last of the light

Near the bottom the track enters the bush again and sidles down hill and up valley to drop into the stream. Standing knee deep I'm relieved that it is not too high despite all the rain but I can't see any indication of whether to turn left or right. For various reasons which seem sensible at the time I head down river looking for an opportunity to climb the opposite bank.

This doesn't eventuate until I reach what I suspect is the bottom of the big slip crossed in the morning. Getting out of the river and through the shattered trees to the toe of the slip then scrambling up the steep loose surface is tricky in the gloom but not being able to see the drop below helps. Eventually I grovel on my belly over a lip and roll onto the road.

At 5.40pm the car is still where I left it and it even starts. There's a bit of a graunch from underneath navigating the rocky bit but otherwise the trip out is uneventful. The speedo says 0.9km from where I parked to the second gate so it's really not worth the hassle driving in.

Just about time for the head torch

Postscript

The trip was an interesting challenge and it is somehow satisfying to have skirted the entire circumference of the headwaters of the Waikawa Stream with (in theory at least) dry feet. There is a fair amount of old logging tracks and a lot of ridge travel so navigation is not overly taxing. Just a few spots where you can wander off but I would think somewhat trickier in the opposite direction. I would pick a day with a few more hours of light though.

The roads and the age of the tree's provide evidence of the logging history, and I suspect for those with the eye, there will be signs of the impact of the 1936 storm. I can't say much about the views given the weather, but the highest you get is Pt 969 so there is no open tops. On a good day though I suspect you will get some vistas across the coast and of the surrounding hills.

The main problem with the day is that the area suggests plenty more interesting trips to be had.

Some links

TTC trip 
Start of ridge track
MTB ride down ridge track
TTC Footprints - Waikawa Valley

Ohau River

Ohau river - Te Araroa track skirts part of the catchment and it is a traditional gateway from the west into the heart of the northern Tararuas.  There are a couple of huts in the headwaters that I want to visit but have tended to steer clear as solo river travel doesn't strike me as the smartest survival strategy.

This time however, Rodger has posted a Meet-up trip to Te Matawai hut via Gable End. The weather is uncharacteristically settled (in a good way) and I figure we can share transport. My plan is to meet him at the hut in the evening having found my way there via North Ohau hut and the ridge to Girdlestone saddle.

What:    Meet-up trip to Te Matawai hut
Where:  North Western Tararuas behind Levin
Why:     Explore Ohau River, huts in the catchment and Girdlestone saddle
Who:     Rodger, Scott and me
When:   Weekend 17-18 June 2017
Map:     Map

Scott has also signed up for the trip so I pick him up Saturday morning and we hook up with Rodger in Tawa to travel to the (now very familiar) Poads Road end.  With three to organise it is a bit after 10 when we finally kick off on a sunny morning.  We head across cattle churned river terrace paddocks to the gorge.

The pace is fairly leisurely so it's about 11.20 when we reach the bottom of the Gable End track. Scott is keen to see North Ohau hut so we agree that I'll visit South Ohau today and we'll all exit via North Ohau tomorrow.

Route to the river is unmissable - bottom of Gable End

Rivers are generally best avoided - what with drowning, slippery boulders and the a generally slower pace of travel. However, today I have a walking pole and fear nothing.

The river is at normal flow and clear apart from the deeper pools which have that cool blue/green tint. The sun catches the wider flats and progress is pretty good, seeing me at the junction between the north and south branches in a bit over half an hour. Apparently trampers have missed the branch in the dark and ended up at the north instead of south hut - in daylight however navigation is pretty straight forward and I don't note any side streams that might cause confusion.

North Ohau to left, South to right - foot of Deception Spur between

The flow is much lower above the forks and the river bed a bit tighter in places, but it's still good travel and very pretty. At one point a pink ribbon looks like it marks a short cut across a terrace but turns out to lead to a polythene bivvy - complete with a couple of plastic garden chairs.




Old timer biv

It looks like two someones have been in before me - a pair of foot prints precede me up river and look to be fairly fresh.  On some of the straight stretches of river the winter sun on my back is as strong as you get it at this time of year.

About 1.10 I'm at South Ohau hut for a bite to eat. It's getting the sun but I suspect for not much longer - in summer it would have a very pleasant aspect for a comfortable evening on the deck.

South Ohau hut - Butchers Creek enters from right,
South Ohau comes from left (route to Girdlestone saddle) 

The hut is clean and tidy and, with the sum streaming in, exceedingly pleasant. A couple of chaps have signed through the log book last night - it looks like they have come in by torchlight and headed up to Te Matawai for the night before embarking on the northern crossing.

After a quarter hour break and a deep breath I gird my loins for the steep grunt upwards. Yeates track leaves from behind the hut and climbs straight up the spur for about 300m before leveling. Along the top there's a fair amount of wind thrown trees giving a few views across to the ridge that Rodger and Scottt are sweating up.

In about 45 minutes I reach the junction with Dora Track (Te Araroa) and turn left to reach Te Matawai hut in 20 minutes. All up about 4 hours 20 from the car (and I reckon you could trim a bit off that).

Pt 810 

At Te Matawai you can see up to the main range, or at least the bits not covered in cloud. Pukematawai is hidden and there's not much sun to be had for the rest of the day. The inside of the hut is decidedly cool.

Te Matawai in its normal attire

The experience of being at a hut in the mid-afternoon with no more tramping for the day is weird. I potter around and get myself thoroughly cold before finally having the sense to get out of river sodden boots and into dry clothes and sleeping bag for a snooze. This keeps boredom at bay for a while, and a hot drink for a little while longer.

There's a good stack of fire wood so I undertake another unusual activity and get a fire going. I wouldn't bother on my own but figure Scott and Rodger might be late and cold.

Reading the log book passes a bit more time - some pages are 80% Te Araroa walkers south bound (SOBO) or north (NOBO) - not so much during winter though.

It's just on dark around 5pm that Scott and Rodger wander in. The grunt up Gable was not so bad but the ridge was fairly muddy and the route from there a bit up and down. They settle in and we prepare our respective meals - Rodger takes over the fire and keeps it going all evening - maybe something to do with everyone having three season sleeping bags.

I'm first up in the morning and reasonably keen to get going as I anticipate that we might be pushing light by the end of the day. At this point the down side of using the fire kicks in in the shape of the two chores; dousing and disposing of the ashes, and getting more wood. I get on with this while the others break their respective fasts.

The day is grey but the cloud is about 1000m so there are views to be had. A helicopter buzzes over the ridge to Pukematawai just below the cloud ceiling and shadows the main range before nipping through a saddle into Park Valley.

It's about 8.40 when we leave the hut and, after about about 3 minutes walking, Scott wipes out in a bog - leggings and gloves are thick with the noisome stuff. The track through here is somewhat soft in a few patches.

Mangahao valley ahead - Girdlestone Saddle to Ohau on left

The scrub gives way to forest as we drop into the saddle, arriving about 0930. The route to South Ohau is well marked but I'm surprised how little ground trail there is leading out of the saddle in the direction we're going (northish along the ridge). There's a bit of casting about required to find the best way through old logs (possibly from the 1936 storm) but it's pretty easy going over a lump in the saddle and then the gradual start to the climb up to Pt 865. Somewhere around here we start seeing markers and the ground trail becomes more pronounced - I suspect there is an old route down to the Mangahao river about 100m below (this would make sense as it would come out opposite Pt 630 at the base of Triangle Spur).

Rodger and Scott contemplate leaving the road most traveled 

Rodger applying walking poles to the defenseless flora

With a breather on the way up it's an easy climb to Pt 865 which marks where Deception Spur comes up from the Ohau forks. There's a cairn and lots of tape marking that route which I mentally add to my list for investigating at some point. We follow the sharp topped ridge north east through open forest for a short climb to find more orange tape marking the top of the spur down to North Ohau hut.

The track down is a bit overgrown but there's a reasonable amount of old markers - without them I suspect it would be easy to lose the way as the shape of the spur is not always obvious.

Scott stops part way down to do arcane things with cell phones and satellites - something to do with the game he was involved in when we went up Hector last year. Rodger and I listen to his explanation about defining a node at the hut and the complicated technology required to capture it because it has no cellphone reception - and understand about one concept in seven.  We leave him to it and head on down.

At the bottom of the spur we stumble on the toilet then the hut - it's about 1.30. The hut loses the sun as we arrive, although the loo is still basking. It's a wee four bunker with a fire - quite damp in the narrow, sunless valley (the deck is lethally slippery) but I imagine pretty cosy once the fire is cranked up.  The hut is on a terrace above the valley bottom with the sounds of the river drifting up.

I'm keen to get going as the map indicates that the river could be a bit gorgy - the more light available while we are traveling the better.

The flats can be followed for a while (albeit boggy) but soon enough we are in the river (well, large stream) slithering over boulders and skirting the deeper pools. It's a steeper and more gorgy river bed then the South Ohau so is slow although not bad going. I wouldn't like to be here if the flow was up.

The sun occasionally lights a hillside above or glances into one of the wider flats but we are mostly hemmed in, in cool, damp air and dim light.

Someone has been through ahead of us - there are wet foot prints on the some of the boulders but in these conditions it is difficult to tell how long they have been there. I am guessing not so long although the person didn't note their presence in the log book.

Scott's boot gives up the ghost and upper separates from lower but not so that we have to actually apply duct tape and he keeps the pace up. It's about an hour twenty to the forks and another hour down river to the large orange triangle that marks the exit near the foot of Gable End.

At 4pm it's getting dim in the bush so we keep a good pace up to hit the farmland as the last of the sun set warms the top of Square knob. On the way back through the paddocks we stop at a large boulder - there's a bronze plaque on it commemorating the Levin Waiopehu tramping club (1927 to 1977), no idea if they still exist - but the plaque will be around for a while.

There's plenty of light to see us across the flats and back to the car but it wouldn't have been long before we would have been cracking out head torches.

Postscript

The Ohau River is a good way to commute into Te Matawai. Probably tricky if the river is up at all but it's pretty and our non-scientific comparison indicates it's quicker. Not much in the way of markers (apart from the exit point on the way out I didn't see any).  A few deepish pools but nothing above mid thigh, and one or two rocky scrambles.

The forks are obvious - I didn't note any side streams that could be confusing. South Ohau hut is obvious above the river - North Ohau not, but I think there was an orange triangle marking the track which follows along and up to the terrace the hut is on.

Yeates track is a steep scramble up at the start but it's over and done with reasonably quickly. The ridge from Girdlestone north had a bit of ground trail but easy to miss and I didn't note any markers until the start of the slope up to Pt 865 where the trail was also more obvious. The spur down to North Ohau would be tricky in low light and is a bit overgrown but there are quite a few tape markers.

Northern main range - Ngapuketurua

A couple of recent trips into the northern Tararuas remind me how little I know the area and prompt a bit of map gazing. With no wish to go anywhere near the camel backs again, a possible trip quickly coalesces; explore the main range south from where I left it on a trip to Burn Hut, follow south to Dundas and drop down Triangle Spur to follow the valley down to Mangahao hut and out the next day. And that's pretty much what happened ... apart from a wee diversion.

What:   Navigation trip picking up some unvisited sections of the main range
Where: Loop from Mangahao Dam 1.
Who:    Solo
When:  10 June 2017
Map:    Map - see also route maps at bottom.

It's a 2 hour drive from home to the Dam and still dark when I start up the long gravel road behind Shannon. We've just brought a new old car so I'm thinking that this may well be the last time that the Mighty Red Gallant does road end duties. I sing a Blind Boys of Alabama song as we bump along beneath a howling wolf full moon.

It's light enough to travel without a torch but slow going as I head across the dam at 0720. Half an hour later Baber forks marks where I dive up the spur that we came down last time.

It starts with a steep scramble but it's pretty easy to follow the well defined spur with just the occasional spot where the trail wanders away from me. Towards the top the trail is quite overgrown so I'm soon pretty wet but happy enough to be standing on the ridge just before 0900.

This is now unknown territory. Someone, many years ago, has tunneled a way through the leatherwood and scrub leaving a swathe that is reasonably easy to find - often just off to the west of the ridge top. In many places though it is quite overgrown so you have to expend a bit of energy pushing through scrub.

To the west, Island ridge slowly drops behind and I'm looking out for a view of the camel backs behind. Ahead, cloud periodically shrouds Ngapuketurua and the weather all around looks like a bit of a mixed bag.

The scrub thins out on the way up to Ngapuketurua but if you keep your eyes peeled there are cut branches which mark where the trail trends left below the top. At the long flat top I finally get to see south and the peaks for the first half of the day. I'll be following the ridge line to the left around the top of the Harris Creek catchment.

From Ngapuketurua - East Peak, saddle and West Peak on horizon 

From Ngapuketurua to Massey knob is relatively straight forward - the scrub is mostly low and although the ground trail comes and goes it's pretty good. The day now becomes a succession of high points, many of which I don't even try to identify.

Off to the west it's looking like a good day and I can pick out the Camel Backs and the lumpy southern ridge leading up to Tawirikohukohu (won't be doing that one again). To the north however clag is gathering and it is starting to look ominous.

Travel is still reasonable to Kareti then there's a few bits where a trail is hard to find up to Hines (which I sidle to the west) and a slower scramble through the saddle and eventually up to Ruapae.

Looking West - Ngapuketurua off to right, 
Tawirikohukohu and Camel Backs on horizon between clouds near middle

Near Kareti - looking north to Massey Knob - Ngapuketurua to left

Emerging from the saddle onto Ruapai at 1210, I stumble onto the strong ground trail that marks the route of the main range traverse. And no more scrub ... for a while. The wind has switched to the south and it is cold although not too strong.

From Ruapae East Peak on left, saddle then West Peak on right

From East Peak - ridge to Ruapai and route dropping to Herepai to right, 
Hines behind to left and rounded top of Ngapuketurua just behind below horizon

The top of East Peak gives a reasonable view as the cloud ceiling lifts a little, including the saddle 200m below and the grind back up to West Peak. Oh well.

Saddle to West Peak - Walker next peak to left

At 1315 the clag has closed in around West Peak and that's pretty much it for views for a while. I hardly bother with the compass and just count the bumps until the rocky top of Pukemoremore and the turn off down to Dundas Hut.

10 minutes there, 15 minutes back - I'll keep going thanks

This is now new territory or me. However, it looks pretty much like the familiar clagged in territory I have just been across, so I fail to get excited.

Logan is next at 1500m and is the highest point for the day. Then another saddle and up to Dundas which must feel slightly aggrieved at coming in at only 1499m. It does however have a suitably atmospheric marker at the top.

Dundas - and a brief glimpse of horizon 

Now for the compass. I have to find the spur that leaves the main range just below Dundas and drops to a saddle rather than any false leads that bluff out. Mercifully, despite the clag I have worked my way down the correct one and pop out of the cloud to see the climb up Triangle Knob ahead. At the top the around 1630, the cloud is left behind on the tops and the last of the sun is trying to break through banks of clouds in the west.

Looking south - Arete hard left, down to Pukematawai in mist

While I'm standing on Triangle Knob the sun breaks through and despite the approaching dark I stop to watch as the landscape changes completely.

Dundas - my spur on right; a steepish scramble down

I am almost treated to the Spectre of the Brocken but the cloud doesn't quite get close enough.

Spectre of the almost-but-not-quite

South - Main range running from left to Arete and Pukematawai on right

A wrong spur - Pt 1378 to north of Dundas

The moment of golden light fades and I follow a bit of a foot trail to Little Triangle, then Pt 1153. Based on the map I would follow the spur north-northwest but previous reports indicate a trail on the spur that runs west. The ground trail confirms this.

Dark is falling fast but I can see a slot in the scrub and follow it to the tree line. Then the torch is required.

A couple of bits of pink tape and a reasonable ground trail keep me on the right line for a while but eventually I blunder off in the dark and pick up the wrong spur. This deposits me into the creek to the north of my spur. Gritting my teeth I grovel through tree falls and down waterfalls in the pitch black.

Eventually the slope eases and the wider bed means fewer tree falls to scramble through. And finally an orange triangle marks the track and much easier progress.

There's a slip to navigate but otherwise just a walk in the dark compared to the last few hours. A full moon peeps over the ridge above and occasionally filters through the trees. At 2035 the hut is very welcome.

Empty - I peel of sodden kit and settle in - i.e a billy of vitafresh, slices of raisin bed for dinner then crawl into my pit wearing all available dry layers. It takes a good long while to thaw out and it's a pretty disturbed sleep with sore twitching muscles.

A peek outside in the early hours reveals moonlight washed, frosty flats. In the morning it's 4 degrees in the hut so I'm a little slow to get up.

The trip down valley is a lot quicker than my last trip up. Sun spills through the canopy, the river is clear with deep green pools and the mud isn't too deep. This time I take the river short cut rather than navigate over the slip - much quicker albeit wet to the middle. Then it's a question of milestones: first bridge, second bridge (Harris Creek), slot waterfall, bridge (Mangahao), the stream I stumbled down last trip, last bridge, view of lake and, 2:45 after leaving the hut - the dam.

Mangahao Dam 1 - Far horizon is the ridge up to Ngapuketurua

Once again the car hasn't been set fire to - she's a little reluctant to start in the cold but we're soon bucketing down the gorge - next stop - Shannon for bacon and egg pie, iced coffee and ginger beer.

This may be the last time ...

Post script

The trip is achievable in a day, but best in summer when daylight will make Triangle Spur hard to miss. But water is scarce on the tops.

I was pretty sore after the first day - a shorter option would be to spend a night at Dundas hut. And there are various possible spurs to drop down to the Mangahao valley - plenty of scope for more exploring.

The ridge to Ngapuketurua is not too bad, it's a little trickier from Kareti to Ruapae. The main range is well traversed. Getting to Triangle Knob was OK in clag although the ground trail is not always easy to see. Triangle to Little Triangle is steep in places then a reasonably good trail to the bush line to Triangle Spur. I suspect the Triangle Spur itself will be easy in daylight. The upper reaches of the stream are blocked with fallen trees and short waterfalls so is not recommended. Lower reaches are fine.

Route Maps

 
 


Some other trips and references in the area:
http://www.ttc.org.nz/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TararuaFootprints/MangahaoValley
https://tramper.nz/1617/tararua-main-ridge/
http://www.pntmc.org.nz/Tonys_Tararuas/Mangahao.pdf