The tramping club runs trapping lines in the Ruahines as part of the Whio protection programme - I'd always been meaning to go along on a trip or two but keep missing the trip schedule. This time there's space in the van heading north with a trapping trip and an easy trip sharing transport.
It starts with the usual Friday afternoon rendezvous at platform 9 and the inevitable 10 minute late punter holding everyone up. Still, the traffic up the coast is pretty good and, with dinner in Levin under our belts, we are soon in the rural hinterland north and east of Fielding.
After Apiti we head east to the hills and start seeing broken branches in the headlights. Trees on the road banks have been flattened by the snow in the previous week. A few clumps of snow remain.
It's dark and wet when we arrive at Janet and Graeme's bach near the road end and decamp to their floor. They are members of the Palmerston North Tramping Club and Janet seems to do a fair proportion of the organisation behind the Ruahine Whio Protectors. There's a bit of uncertainty about what we are in for tomorrow - DOC has spent a couple of days clearing fallen branches on the 45 minutes of track to Alice Nash Memorial hut so it is anyone's bet what the next four hours up to Irongate hut will be like.
We hatch a plan for the morning and hit our pits after a cuppa tea and a natter. Bruce the dog is in heaven as he potters around sequentially snuggling up next to the comatose bodies. Outside it's wet and windy - the occasional sortie may, if you're lucky, give a glimpse through shredded mist of lights on the plain below. Probably Apiti.
It's a short walk in the morning to the Alice Nash hut on a well cleared track with plenty of snow about. Overcast and trying to rain but not too bad.
Illona gives us a run down on how to check and re-bait a trap - surprisingly easy - and the five of us divide into a trap checker and a track clearer team. I'm starting on the clearing and have my saw so rip into the fallen branches.
We have three saws but one soon becomes dead weight when a critical nut is lost on the track - still, one person just clearing branches is useful.
It's slow and hard work but we make reasonable progress and soon decide that it is a goer to carry through to the hut before dark, but unlikely that we will have time to pickup any traps past the hut.
At some point we regroup for lunch and swap roles. We regroup again at Tunupo creek which is sufficiently up to require a linked up crossing. After that, Gareth and I have our technique sorted and rip ahead with the traps - the down side is that we have to find our own way through the tree falls - mostly no problem but the river flats towards Irongate have a lot of damage to navigate. The snow is a foot deep in places.
The track clearers give up as dark approaches and head straight for the hut arriving about half an hour later. The snow is deep amidst the trees and around the hut.
The hut fire pretty much defeats us - there's not much in the way of dry wood and even when it gets going it soon goes out without constant attention. I give it away in favour of Sharron who announces she has some firelighters - she manages to get something going after awhile but it makes little more difference than the 5 bodies in the small space.
Dinner is a good solid tramping club recipe - filling and followed by fruit cake. A lot flasher than I'm used to. Illona collects the trap stats for entering on the website later - all up 16 rats and no mustelids. We're in bed with lights out by 8.30pm with a plan hatched for a first light start. No-one is game to find out where the loo is in the cold.
After breakfast Ilona heads out with Gareth for a rapid return to Alice hut and hopefully enroll a few of the easy trip in clearing more traps. Paul, Sharron and I tidy the hut and turn to clearing the track on the way back - starting with the buried track down to the hut.
We discover that the night before we had been wandering on and off the track because of the amount of branches down. This time we pretty much clear the track with the exception of some big trees that defeat our small hand saws. We deal to a number of falls that we had just bypassed yesterday and by the time we get to Alice Nash around 12 - the whole route is navigable with just a few areas where large falls have to be bypassed.
Approaching Alice Nash hut a glint catches my eye and there's the nut that fell of the saw yesterday. Unbelievable.
At Alice hut the fire is going and a couple from the other trip are there, the rest having headed out to do some trap clearing. We get a hot cuppa and a muffin while we find out that they drove to the nearby glow worm cave which had a veritable galaxy on display - otherwise they seem to be having a very relaxed weekend. Soon the others are back having cleared a few more traps, we tidy up and head out.
It's worth mentioning that Alice Nash memorial hut is run by the local deer stalkers and is in immaculate condition. It takes cash or DOC tickets and it appears that the hut is checked pretty regularly.
Back at the van wet gear is stowed and we head off for a snack in Fielding and a long drive home - in daylight which is pleasant.
Illona gives us a run down on how to check and re-bait a trap - surprisingly easy - and the five of us divide into a trap checker and a track clearer team. I'm starting on the clearing and have my saw so rip into the fallen branches.
We have three saws but one soon becomes dead weight when a critical nut is lost on the track - still, one person just clearing branches is useful.
It's slow and hard work but we make reasonable progress and soon decide that it is a goer to carry through to the hut before dark, but unlikely that we will have time to pickup any traps past the hut.
At some point we regroup for lunch and swap roles. We regroup again at Tunupo creek which is sufficiently up to require a linked up crossing. After that, Gareth and I have our technique sorted and rip ahead with the traps - the down side is that we have to find our own way through the tree falls - mostly no problem but the river flats towards Irongate have a lot of damage to navigate. The snow is a foot deep in places.
The track clearers give up as dark approaches and head straight for the hut arriving about half an hour later. The snow is deep amidst the trees and around the hut.
The hut fire pretty much defeats us - there's not much in the way of dry wood and even when it gets going it soon goes out without constant attention. I give it away in favour of Sharron who announces she has some firelighters - she manages to get something going after awhile but it makes little more difference than the 5 bodies in the small space.
Dinner is a good solid tramping club recipe - filling and followed by fruit cake. A lot flasher than I'm used to. Illona collects the trap stats for entering on the website later - all up 16 rats and no mustelids. We're in bed with lights out by 8.30pm with a plan hatched for a first light start. No-one is game to find out where the loo is in the cold.
After breakfast Ilona heads out with Gareth for a rapid return to Alice hut and hopefully enroll a few of the easy trip in clearing more traps. Paul, Sharron and I tidy the hut and turn to clearing the track on the way back - starting with the buried track down to the hut.
We discover that the night before we had been wandering on and off the track because of the amount of branches down. This time we pretty much clear the track with the exception of some big trees that defeat our small hand saws. We deal to a number of falls that we had just bypassed yesterday and by the time we get to Alice Nash around 12 - the whole route is navigable with just a few areas where large falls have to be bypassed.
Approaching Alice Nash hut a glint catches my eye and there's the nut that fell of the saw yesterday. Unbelievable.
At Alice hut the fire is going and a couple from the other trip are there, the rest having headed out to do some trap clearing. We get a hot cuppa and a muffin while we find out that they drove to the nearby glow worm cave which had a veritable galaxy on display - otherwise they seem to be having a very relaxed weekend. Soon the others are back having cleared a few more traps, we tidy up and head out.
It's worth mentioning that Alice Nash memorial hut is run by the local deer stalkers and is in immaculate condition. It takes cash or DOC tickets and it appears that the hut is checked pretty regularly.
Back at the van wet gear is stowed and we head off for a snack in Fielding and a long drive home - in daylight which is pleasant.
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