The weather forecast is wet and cold but not badly wet and cold so a good time to be fossicking around below the tops and (mostly) out of the rivers. Rather than a random wander, the idea is to chart an efficient route and navigate to each of six spot heights marked on the Topo map.
What: Navigation trip
Who: Solo
Where: SE side of Marchant Ridge
When: Weekend 2 September 2017
Why: Nav practice - pick up some spot heights in interesting looking territory
Map:
There's one van in the Kaitoke road end carpark, and one set of footprints in the mud heading up hill. It's 0710, grey and drizzly - not likely that many others will be venturing out.
On the way up to Marchant ridge I pop off the track a couple of times to investigate some spot heights. 529 is hidden amidst pines, regenerating natives and some long overgrown vehicle tracks. 539 proves to be in a scrubby clearing with a broad flat top and probably reasonable access down to Dobson stream below, for those of a mind.
The track is muddy and slippery and the owner of the foot prints hasn't come this way. Climbing up to Marchant Ridge there is a lot of tree fall. It gets colder with altitude but fortunately not windy. There are no views to be had in the clag.
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| 539 - moving on, nothing to see |
Marchant Ridge is generally not talked about fondly - 'uphill in both directions' being the commonest reference. It's nice bush though and on a good day there are views spots. Today I'm paying more attention to the map as I need to find the right point to drop off and find my spur.
I get to the general area with a bit of reliance on the altimeter and take a bearing off track. This leads over lumpy mossy forest floor on the shoulders of 1060 and eventually safely down to where my spur forms - a little below the top necessitating some faith in the compass bearing.
It's a nicely turned spur that shadows the true right of the Omega Stream. There are a couple of slightly tricky navigating moments on the way down but generally travel is good. There's a bit of ground trail but, judging by the amount of sign, probably more from deer than people.
The top of the spur is beautiful and mossy with occasional open patches. On a long flattish section approaching 853 a harsh screech and chatter announces a kaka in a nearby tree - it's my closest brush with them so far in the Tararuas. There's a reply from another tree and a bit of interchange before they both fly SE down valley.
The rest of the trip down is good apart from the steep lower slopes where the spur shape is less obvious. At the bottom I find myself at the top of a scarp on the edge of an old terrace. There's a goat track down but a stumble at an inopportune time is a reminder to pay better attention to my footing - I reach the bottom safely but with some bruises as a memento.
So far so good. The next part of the plan is to head up valley then follow a spur up to pt 614 and return to the valley floor further up river via another spur. There is precisely very little to be seen at 614, but time for a pause and a bite while I work the compass to pick up the slightly unformed spur down. The bush here is more mature then in some recent trips to the western part of the range - much nicer.
Back beside the river I can't find a track but the flats are easy travel and I pick up spot height 332 - or at least as near as makes no difference as it was pretty nondescript territory.
With the tree fall and slightly slow navigation it's taken a little longer than expected but all according to plan. The next stop is the foot of the Bull Mound track to see if my tree from a previous trip is still spanning the river. Much to my delight it is, and as stable as ever - the river is a little high for my liking and this means I can walk (gingerly) across and stay the night in a comfortable hut rather than in a very small tent (aka the 'body bag') in the rain.
I pop up to Cone hut to make a note in the log book then head down river to Tutuwai hut for the night. The going on the formed track is a lot quicker albeit very muddy.
It's about half past four and around 9 hours in the wet and cold so I'm thinking it's wishful thinking when I catch the tang of woodsmoke in the air some distance from the hut. It turns out to be real - Quaid is already in residence with a good fire going. He's the owner of the foot prints this morning having come over the Puffer saddle with his dog and rifle. He's been ensconced for a good couple of hours. With dry clothes I'm soon warming up by the fire.
We sit and chat for a bit - he's interested in where I've seen animal sign in my travels and I'm reminded how little I know about the behaviour of game animals. A thump from the varandah heralds two more trampers arrived from Kaitoke. A couple of Lower Hutt lads - proudly from NaeNae College (some years ago). They've brought in plenty of wine which they are happy to share while Quaid is content to polish off the tail end of a bottle of bourbon that some hunters had left him when they left by helicopter earlier in the day.
We sit around by candlelight (also left by the hunters) and yarn until after 10 - very late for a tramping night.
The next day is more of the same weatherwise. I'm first out and head down valley - popping off the track regularly to see if there are any fordable sections of river. I have a go at one point with the aid of a cut manuka pole someone has left, but get half way across and decide that at thigh deep and getting deeper the river is stronger than it looks and a strategic retreat is indicated.
I resign myself to travelling all the way down to the swing bridge and returning up river along the marked track on the true right. It's pretty rough in places with some slips to work around and somewhat sporadic marking. There are a lot of boggy sections and in one place I wander off track and find an old clearing with an ancient kettle and enamel pot. There's plenty of fresh pig sign on the flats.
I'm counting the streams to work out which ones are marked and which ones are just trickles swollen by rain. I'm pretty confident that I've reached Blue Rock Stream and cross to take a spur which rises sharply and steeply. Spot height 546, is also nondescript so I take a bearing and head off to follow another spur down - again mostly on animal trails. This deposits me on target near the mouth of Kotukutuku Stream.
There's still time left in the day so I head down river with the intention of reaching one last spot height for the day. Crossing Boulder stream I miss the bottom of the spur so end up scrambling up a precipitous face to get onto the more gently shelving spur. This climbs to a point where a very old cairn indicates people have been through before, although you wouldn't guess from the lack of ground trail. The spur drops to a saddle then climbs to a broad flat top. It's cathedral like with magnificent old trees and a wide flat forest floor. It's also tricky to navigate - as I return from pt 586 I have to retrace my steps and start again when I'm a little too casual with my bearings and miss the saddle.
Back at the cairn I take a different spur down again. I'm not too fussed about sticking to it so just follow my nose and end up dropping down a very steep side spur to a bog among regrowth. A meandering course to avoid the supple jack eventually sees me back on the track.
The trip out is uneventful - foot prints on the track indicate that my hut companions are ahead and I meet one other tramper coming in. It's another 9 hour day when I get to the car park a bit after 4. A couple of cars are there including someone waiting for some runners coming through from Holdsworth. Good on them - I'm off home for a good feed and a well earned sleep.
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