Mangahao / Ngapuketurua

Another visit to Mangahao is on the cards. There's quite a few spots that require investigation and from past experience they will be challenging.

Based on the map I reckon I can pick up a couple off the side of the Ngapuketurua ridge and three more heading down to the valley floor via a spur I know is not often traveled. All going well this will see me in the Mangahao Hut for the night. The next day a large loop up towards the main range above the hut will explore two large spurs that may have old routes up to the tops (knocking off four spots on the way).  Finally, if either day goes better than expected there are another couple of spots on the ridge to the east of the river.

So, somewhere between 9 and 11 spots and a chunk of new territory.

What:     Navigation trip and spot heighting
Where:   Ngapuketurua - Mangahao
When:    29-30 September 2018
Who:      Solo

Map:

The weekend route

The trip has an inauspicious start - the Waikanae beach bakery isn't open. Mildly out of sorts I continue to Shannon.

The drive is very familiar now ... long gravel road ... park by the dam - this time the top one. I'm away by 7.50am under low cloud.

Feel obliged to take this shot - sometimes it works ok

Up reservoir to the foot of Island Ridge

Lots of water spilling today

Half an hour later I'm at Baber forks and it's time to depart the marked route. Most people head up College Creek towards Burn Hut - the more adventurous head straight ahead up the spur and the old Ngapuketurua track for the ridge. I take the true left branch and follow Baber Creek into tiger country.

Baber Forks

I expect it to be a bit gorgy but it's easy going up the creek. There's been rain so the rocks are slippery but the water is only a little up. I'm looking for the first sizable stream entering from my left (true right). It turns out to be unmistakable; about 25 minutes from the forks.

I'm slightly reluctant to leave Baber Stream as the catchment looks interesting and I don't think I will be back. However, there are spot heights above that require attention.

At this point I can take to the bush and climb the spur, but I'm sort of liking the stream travel today so follow the side stream up to the next marked junction - it takes about 40 minutes. A short way up the true left branch I climb onto the spur aiming for what looks like easy access to a wee saddle.

And that's probably the last thing that goes as expected for the day.

Second junction - but it could be anywhere really

On the spur the forest pretty quickly turns into scrub which, although providing some views when the clag momentarily lifts, shows little sign of being much traveled.

Looking back to the dam 

At the top the familiar (unmarked) ridge track is starting to get overgrown and is sometimes easy to miss in the the tussocks. It still provides an easier route through the leatherwood if you keep your eyes peeled though. I'm pretty much at the cloud ceiling so visibility comes and goes.

12.10 and I'm standing at Ngapuketurua for the third time. The view is very similar to last time.

Ngapuketurua

Visibility ....

Last time through I failed to find the top of the spur I'm aiming for and ran out of time. This time I figure I know where I went wrong. I get near the right spot and the clag clears slightly - the good news is I'm on target, the bad news is that the target looks less than inviting.

 It's a tough bash down through dense, old leatherwood. The top section is steep and I see no evidence of any route. It's apparent that the original plan of bagging spot 900 and returning to the ridge is not a goer. I consult the map and devise an escape route involving dropping to a stream and sidling due west to a saddle I have visited previously.

Out of the scrub and with the cloud lifting it's a different day. It's a steep clamber down to the stream arriving at 2.10pm - care is needed in the bed but nothing out of the ordinary.

Unnamed stream below pt 900
pt 870 on Island Ridge in the distance

A little above the junction, I cut across the spur to the next stream (startling a couple of deer in the process - I imagine even hunters would be rare up here). This is where the sidle starts.

I'm always a bit leary about sidles - the theory may be good but they generally take a lot longer than expected as there is an awful lot of terrain and vegetation variation that doesn't feature on the map.

Eventually I get to the saddle and cross the route I took last time through. I have a choice of following that route back to the ridge through a healthy band of scrub then scrub bashing south west along the ridge to the next spot, or (optimism bias alert) continuing the sidle through more open bush to pop up through the scrub near the next spot height.

I continue the sidle but overestimate my rate of progress. As a result I can't tally the glimpses of surrounding hills with what my compass is telling me. In the end, conscious of daylight I head up to the ridge as the only way to completely confirm location. As soon as there is better visibility my heart sinks - I've rejoined the spur to 959. Lesson 1 - sidles take longer than you think, lesson 2 - sometimes you need to make sure you have traversed enough terrain before you can be sure your compass bearing isn't just reflecting a small local variation (this particularly applies to streams).

At 959 I turn southwest down the ridge and start a long battle with the scrub. The route has been traveled before (I find an abandoned water bottle), but infrequently and not enough to form any useful trail. It's getting into evening now and although I make pt 851, darkness catches up as I descend into the bush.

Under torchlight I follow the compass and the terrain as best I can and - probably more by good luck than anything, make it to the saddle before the next two spot heights. Taking another bearing I make the short climb to the next spot and head along the flat top until it runs out - at which point I know I've passed the last spot for the day. There may have been a bit of trail here but just about impossible to follow in the dark.

Around about now I give up any pretense of having a clue where I am. The path of least resistance takes me down the hillside (with a slight right bias in order to reach the riverside track rather than Harris Stream).

This is the point where you could curl up in a ball in your bivvy bag and spend a mildly uncomfortable night out, but I'm not about to chuck it in yet. I scramble down until the slope eases, a couple of old tape markers indicate something but no discernible track - than some old corrugated iron, a patch of bushlawyer and finally the track.

It's the familiar plod mode now - I'm feeling every inch of the battle through scrub the day has entailed and rising nausea. The track is relatively easy to follow by torchlight although the odd treefall and some points on the slip bypass track have me casting about.

At 10:50 I clomp wearily onto the veranda of the empty hut. I'm not really fit enough for 15 hour days like that. With dry clothes on I manage to force a bit of dinner down before crawling into pit. As tired limbs relax into quivering jelly plans A and B start formulating for tomorrow.

Saturday - the long way 'round

It's light when I wake. A good sign - I've slept well. Then comes the roll call - neurons explore the signals being fired in from stirring limbs. Result: tired but not broken - plan A is go.

Plan A is to climb the spur above the hut returning further down valley via another spur. Simple. It's a leisurely 9.05am that I pick up my still soaking pack and wander behind the hut to start climbing.

As expected it's easy travel through mature bush. There is surprisingly little trail for a major spur behind a hut.

The canopy lowers, then the scrub starts appearing around 800m - the going gets tough. A little higher the scrub opens and there are animal trails (and just possibly some human) and eventually more open tussock dominated terrain.

Like yesterday, t's cold on the tops with low visibility. The occasional showers are icy and I'm wearing everything accept my hut clothes. I keep my eyes peeled for where my down spur peels off as I will be returning to that point.

It's getting less and less hospitable and there are occasional patches of snow. At 12.30 I reach the target knob (1250m) - slower than anticipated.

After the obligatory selfie I turn tail. Shortly after successfully finding the spur down I drop below the cloud.  The tussock and low scrub is ok at the start but inevitably the scrub gets higher and the going gets harder - any hope that there might be a worn route quickly evaporate.

Starting to clear

Clear enough

On the map the spur looks like a sitter for an old route to the tops. If it ever was, the trail has long since faded meaning 2 odd kilometres of scrub travel.

The battle down to spot height 830m is long - the canopy then starts to lift and I can scoot along underneath more easily. But navigation get's more tricky.  I drift off line and by the time I detect it I am faced with the choice of climbing back or a long messy sidle. I try this for a bit and after some tricky waterfall gullies decide that I've had enough of that for this weekend. The third option wins - follow a creek to the track and climb to the last spot from the foot of the spur. .

The fatigue and nausea from yesterday are back. I'm not about to leave the next spot though so I drop my pack and scramble up and back.

Back on the track the sums tell me it will be dark before I get out . I make sure the head torch is handy and set off down valley. I force down some scroggin and water but it's not until my brain catches up and I start nibbling on a bumper slice that I get the much needed lift and nausea recedes (hurrah for sugar).





Sunday - the long way 'round

The support crew will be calling SAR if I'm not out by 10pm but I figure I have a comfortable margin.

Darkness catches up soon after the swing bridge over the Mangahao river. As usual I keep going as long as possible without a light - balancing the risk of tripping with the usefulness of peripheral vision for track finding. Under torchlight the world narrows to the familiar beam ahead showing pale trunks and the dark tunnel of the path.

The night is mild and as the food kicks in the nausea disappears. The track hits the flats and there are a few moments where I have to cast around to find it. Eventually the trees on the right give way to a sense of darkness and distance. The lake might be visible in daylight. From here the water is never far away - mostly apparent from the outraged squawks of the odd duck taking offence and flight at my presence.

Finally, the fence on the dam looms out of the dark and at 8.35pm I'm digging out the car keys. Well within the SAR margin but I do need to get down the road to cell phone reception.

In retrospect I should probably have remembered about daylight saving. The text went out at 9.15pm, somewhat closer to the time than anticipated. (Note that the instructions are to inform SARS that a well equipped tramper is late, and not to activate a search - so this is not quite so flagrantly irresponsible as it might first appear).

Postscript

Driving down the road I realise my wright wrist is in a pretty poor shape. I can't remember a specific incident but it takes over a week to recover. I don't think a bone was broken but it certainly felt like it.

The warts and all descriptions above may give the impression that the experience was miserable. The challenge of navigating at night and through seemingly impenetrable scrub is perhaps more enjoyable in retrospect than in the moment, but if it were truly miserable I wouldn't be back for more.

As well as the body, the scrub was pretty rough on kit. There are holes in the new scrub trousers, more bits ripped off  the gaiters and the mesh pockets on the pack are shredded.

And what about the unfinished business? There's still a few spots to visit up the Mangahao valley but the weekend has put a serious dent in them with nine knocked off.

Winzenberg hill and a few other spots

My Tararua spot-height collection has reached a point where there are large areas with just a few scattered points that remain unvisited. These are left overs from trips predating this unhealthy obsession. The density has become low enough that the other day I bothered to do a count - 107 remaining give or take.

This weekend, I have two days available so look for a trip that will knock enough off that it might even be worth starting some form of a count down. There are eight near Holdsworth which, with a bit of creativity, I string together into an interesting looking excursion.

What:     Weekend navigation trip and spot-heighting
Where:   Holdsworth / High Ridge
When:    15-16 September 2018
Who:      Solo
Map:

Large scale view

It's promising to be a fine day as I leave the car at dawn (6.50am) to head up past the recycling center.  I blundered onto a formed track one night around here and am hoping that it leads up Winzenberg Hill. I'm confident that a hill of modest proportions with such a distinctive name located above a busy camp ground will have a well beaten track to the summit. I carefully don't think about my last excursion in the area or a diverting trip report I read some time ago from SWTC.

The hill they call Winzenberg

I assume the name is from an early family - a half-hearted search unearths references to an old building of that name in Masterton and a local photographer from early last century; Albert Winzenberg.

Winzenberg and 535

The access road stops at a shed and the cut path continues to follow the stream. It's all as I remember, up until the water intake where the track runs out. My recollection of it disappearing up the hill has proven to be unreliable. The forest looks pretty open so I happily potter up the spur on the true left of the side stream. The forest rapidly turns into scrub. I struggle up an old fence line telling myself that where my spur meets the main spur there will surely be a track. Wrong.

It's mixed going up to a saddle and clearing at 670m where it's a little more open and there are some signs of old trails, but nothing you would call a track.  At the top (729m and 8.45am) there are clearings among the scrub but again nothing obvious in the way of tracks. It seems that the summer crowds have little curiosity. Almost 2 hours to get to the top - definitely not easy going.

Looking back down the spur - note the absence of tracks
535 in middle distance

From the top looking up the Waingawa - Mitre with snow on horizon

Selfy balanced in gorse bush at top of Winzenberg

The chances of finding a better route down are high (on the grounds that it would be hard to find anything much worse). My theory is that there will be higher canopy in the stream gully, so I drop north west along the ridge into a saddle before striking down slope. It's much easier going, quickly dropping out of the scrub.

The view from the top confirmed that my next hill (535) has a scrubby east face so I follow further up the main stream to what looks like better forest up valley. The stream is pretty enough and easy going. And sure enough, the route up, whilst steep is open. I leave the creek a little before 10am.

At the top there is a pest control trail with A24 traps which takes me tidily to the top (no view) then all the way back down to the camp ground.  As I emerge from the bush a handful of kamikaze tui barrel past at head height oblivious to all but their fierce competition. It's 10.50am as I potter back to the car.

The day is well hot now. I exchange my day pack for an overnighter and head for the foot bridge. A sharp left off track - over a high bank with the Gentle Annie Creek beyond, cut deeply between its banks. I join a track that runs above it - follow it down and across then strike straight up hill and soon have to lose my shirt with the heat.

Holdsworth to Gentle Annie, Carrington Creek and over to 496

There is an old track around here somewhere but I miss it and can't really swear to being on a track again until about 600m. From here there is a strongly worn path with even an occasional orange triangle.  It's used for trapping but is so strong I would have expected to see it on the old maps (it isn't).

Over 670 and I expect to have to do some navigation but the trail is obvious and there are even little signs in places that take me unerringly to Gentle Annie Saddle at 12.45pm.

"Towards Gentle Annie Saddle"

Markers dissuading you from heading down spur to 637

As soon as I hit the saddle I hang a left and wade down through ground ferns as trickles join to become a large stream. It's a relatively gentle stream valley with a few terraces and generally on the wide side. A couple of times I find old sawn branches in a log jam and the odd bit of tape. Lower down a path develops and follows the true right. Fresh boot prints indicate recent use.

I sidle around the ridge into Carrington Creek and follow it up until it turns north and a stream on an old shingle fan joins from the true right. This marks my point to start climbing. There's no trail to follow and the lower slopes are steep with some areas of kiekie and supplejack. Eventually it opens for a solid climb to 550m (about 3.20pm), then a gentler climb to 728m.

550 - still hot

728 is one of those points which is just off a ridge top so, on an earlier trip I blithely wandered past without even thinking to pop across to it. There's no view so I bag it and head on to the ridge where I know there is an informal track.

Solid track on the ridge top

It's five to four so I'm not pressed for daylight but I need to find just the right spot to drop onto the misshapen spur leading down to 496. I overshoot deliberately and come back - but don't see any obvious markings. The ridge top rolls gently off and I can't see far enough to detect any spur forming. It will be very easy to end up in the wrong place. In the end I 'aim off' - dropping deliberately early and angling down slope to climb onto the spur from the side when it starts forming. It works a treat and I potter down rather chuffed with myself.

496 is spot number six for the day - I don't bask long though as I want to be on the valley floor with plenty of daylight to find a spot to camp. A bearing takes me to the strongest looking spur down (NWish from 496). This drops to the track (5.10pm) near the bridge for a scramble down beside the stream (definitely not in it - too steep) to Totara Creek.

Totara Creek is sizable and, given the debris I've seen in it, I generally give it some respect. Today it is at moderate flow but I find a suitable spot and just manage to get across with dry feet (it would be aggravating to end up with wet boots right at the end before the climb in the morning).

The old track on the true right is still marked and well trodden. I wander up valley a short way and find a flat spot near the track to pitch the fly. As the light fades I sit at the stream edge munching on time expired Backcountry dehy and feeling every metre of climb from the day past.

It's mild with no rain forecast so I should have a solid sleep. But aching muscles mean I sleep like a rotisserie chicken - waking regularly to turn and find a more comfortable position. Still - 10 hours later I feel well rested. The stream is loud in the valley so I don't hear the sounds of the bush bar a nearby ruru in the early morning.

After porridge I strike camp and am heading down stream by 6.30am. I had thought to potter up Red Rock Creek a ways but on studying the map decide the valley sides are the sort of steep I can do without today. I drop down the steep bank to Red Rock Creek to fill my camelback then start climbing.

High Ridge

The climb is steep and again there is little trail. It's relentless and I have soon lost the shirt again. The wind starts getting up.

Pt 834 at 8.10am is cause for celebration - in theory this is my 100th-to-last spot height. Really, it is a welcome flat spot for a long breather.

834 - lots down and 100 to go

The wind is decidedly cool now and the shirt is back on as I roll up and on to the wide flat ridge top. It's proper goblin forest up here - it looks like everything is wearing 1980's leg warmers; including the ground. It's quite a way across the top before I see what I am expecting to see - a piece of orange tape. At about 8.45am it has taken about 2 and a quarter hours to get here from my camp.

High Ridge - top

There's no reason to stop so I turn left and try to follow the trail and the tape. Both come and go a bit but I'm relaxed so potter along til I find my way back onto the trail again.  The norwester is barreling into the other side of the ridge and surging through the tree tops making a few creak and groan. The odd trunk moves a little more than you think would be healthy for a tree with an eye on longevity.

In a few spots there are some wonderful old-school markers attesting to the long standing use of this route.

From when trampers ate beans from really big tins

There's a spot where the ridge turns south and it's not immediately apparent where the trail runs due to some tree fall - I remember it from last time so work around and quickly pick up the way again.  Another piece of tape here would be helpful.

At Flaxy Knob (9.10am) someone has set the old sign up to point down the spur to Totara Flats.  I suspect I would find the navigation a lot easier now than last time. However, I head past and SW to follow the spur down to 814. There is an old marker near the top and what seems to be an old trail - I'm a bit surprised as the spur doesn't look to have a good entry to the Waiohine river (which would be the only destination from here). It could be that people used to drop down to Hector Forks though. Worth an explore perhaps?
[A few weeks later I found that the route is marked on old maps as a way to Hector Forks]

The signed has been moved since 2 years back but same route

The exertions from yesterday are taking their toll so I recline among the mossy roots of a tree and take stock - it's 0945 so there is plenty of day left but I am pretty knackered.  The original plan had me dropping down the spur south from 1134 then heading up Totara Creek to climb a spur to Mountain House Shelter - about 800m down then 300m up. Heading up High Ridge towards Holdsworth on the other hand would be 200m up and 600m down - a no brainer then.

I think it's important that I sit here for a bit

The main range to the west across the Waiohine has a dark cloud ceiling at about 1300m, to the east the Wairarapa is basking. Northwards the south faces of Isabella and Mt Holdsworth are snowy to below the bush line.

The trail remains good all the way up the ridge, just getting a little messy as it passes through a short scrubby band.  This is the moment to hunker down and gain a few layers, plus balaclava and gloves. I've slowed down a lot so take a long break and have a bite to eat, it's after 12.10 so not fast progress.

The wind is strong across the ridge but it's pretty easy going through the tussock with a bit of a foot trail coming and going. To the right are some steep erosion chutes into the Totara catchment and the roof of Powell Hut soon comes into sight.

Down High Ridge (from west side of ridge)

Isabella and Holdsworth

Up ridge - Holdsworth on left

Down ridge - Waiohine in distance

The final walk up to the intersection with the Powell-Holdsworth ridge sees me there a little before 1pm. Despite being much higher than the snow line on Isabella and Holdsworth, there are only a few drifts remaining behind tussocks on this exposed section. These continue all the way down to Powell Hut about 8 minutes later.

From Powell.  Pinnacle and Pinnacle Ridge in the mid-ground

The hut is empty so I sign in, take a few photos and 10 minutes later head off down hill. The day gets hotter as I head away from the range down the well groomed track, arriving at the car a little under 1 hour 25 later.
 

Postscript

8 down and 99 to go - definitely a milestone weekend. A bitsy tramp in some ways but it filled in a gap around Gentle Annie Saddle and Carrington Creek - quite navigable and I suspect frequented by hunters and trappers. And a weekend cannot be regarded as wasted when it involves a mild night fly camping by a creek.

Winzenberg Hill I wouldn't get too excited about - nice enough views but easier and better to be had elsewhere. If I had to do it again I would go up the way I came down although there could be an easier route up the ridge from the east (with some marked farm tracks to get most of the climbing out of the way).

814 was pretty much a waste of time in that it was just a there and back - but it would be an interesting route to or from Hector Forks or even a hairy scramble to cross the river higher up to get to Middle Spur.

Tawhero

Tawhero is a tree (similar to kamahi).  And also a minor hill (981m) between the Ruamahanga and Makakahi catchments to the south of Kaipororo (near Mt Bruce on the east side of the Tararua range) - it's not the objective of the exercise today but is the only named point for this trip. 

This will be my third (and probably last) visit to the catchment. This first time ended with a salient lesson in navigation and a little too exciting exit down the swollen Makakahi river. The second time was just a few weeks back.  This time I'm aiming to explore some spots on the south side above the Ruamahanga, and pick up the spur I missed first time around.

What:    Navigation and spot-heighting daytrip
Where:  Kaipororo area - north eastern Tararuas
When:   1 September 2018
Who:     Solo
Map:

Tawhero in the scheme of things

A day in the bush - purple line is a previous, somewhat eventful trip

A van is already at the road end and a ute pulls up as I'm getting ready - first time I've seen anyone here. A pack of dogs leap out and set about being dogs - investigating all things sniffable and generally larking about. I quickly work out he is heading across the river whereas I have designs up river - so we won't get in each other's way.

I haven't put my boots on for a good month and am somewhat put out to discover that a dead mouse has taken up residence. This explains the whiff in the car and interest from one of the dogs. It's cloudy and cool but not looking like rain.

At 7.25am I head up the well-formed road and past the gate.  It's quick work to get to the end of the trails marked on the map. I took some photos and noted timing on the way back so here's some gratuitous pictures to prove it.

Gate at end of public road 

5 minutes later, turn right to cross a wee stream in a culvert

2 minutes later - beehives. Cross the turn-around
area and keep heading up track

After a parking area with beehives the track soon turns sharp left and dives up hill.  I want to go up river not uphill, so smash down through regrowth.  It's mixed going with some old forestry tracks which come and go and the odd overgrown fence.  (On the way out I note that an old trail runs off before the beehives - this would be the smart pick if you are going up river).

2 minutes later - track heads left, steeply up hill

25 minutes from the car I've crossed the creek I struggled down last time and started up the spur.  It took a lot longer to get to the carpark from here last time in the dark with the river up.

The bottom of the spur has some clearings and is a bit scrubby but I have no problems working my way up.  At about 530m (8.10am) saplings give way to large trees and a decent canopy. There's a few signs of foot traffic other than animals, and every now and again an odd bit of pink tape.

Bottom of spur

530m (looking down spur)

The going is so good that I'm on Tawhero (981) by 0930. This is where I overshot last time (coming along the ridge from the west) and ended up dropping into a creek. This time I'm a little more practiced and have no troubles working along the ridge to spot-height 957 (9.55am).

Despite what the map says, this is where the scrub starts. There's a lot more view than last time - the ridge line around the Makakahi catchment is clear, and occasional streaks of snow mark the peaks on the ranges to the west - what's visible of them as a norwester is pushing a mound of cloud onto the range. South, I'm looking straight up the stream below Blue Range Hut to Te Mara with the invisible Ruamahanga somewhere in between.

I can also clearly see my next spur departing due south from the ridge towards the river, 600m or so  below.  It would be pretty tricky to find in clag but there is a little knoll to the east of 962 that marks where to turn. The scrub is one of the more benign forms with odd trails meandering through.

From 957 

There's a short bit of scrub to break through but I am soon on a well shaped spur heading down. The forest is beautiful with tall mature trees. It's generally easy to follow with a good ground trail. Much better than the spur through to the west via 811. A couple of deer keep ahead of me for a short distance before drifting off the side of the spur.

After the second long flat section I reach 640 and take a bearing to dive off the side of the spur eastwards. This bit could be tricky - the map shows a steepish drop into a narrow stream. It turns out to be okay; through reasonably open bush and I hit the stream 15 minutes later pretty much bang on where I was aiming. It's about 11.25am.










It's a good sized wee creek, clear but mossy and slippery in the narrow valley. I pick may way carefully pausing for a spot of lunch.

There's little to choose from in terms of routes up to 865. For the sake of aesthetics I take what looks to be a shapely wee spur. Again - easy, open bush and arriving at 12.40.

865 - or it could be pretty much anywhere else really

After a breather at 865 the ridge line has a nice trail most of the time.  Just past 865 (10 minutes or so) there's a perfect wee rocky outcrop looking south and west - it demands another stop to admire the view.  There's plenty of time and the day has cleared.

The second to last spot-height (783) is a bit scrubby - you get a view if you stand on tip toes.  From here I want to pop down to 670 - there isn't a well defined spur and a promising ground trail disappears. I drop too far right and have to regain height.  650 is a pleasant spot for a final breather with some lovely big trees, I rest with my back against a massive rimu and suck down some of my carefully hoarded water. At 2.05pm it's nice to be relaxed about time.

650 and rimu

You would expect to see signs of people as there are old logging trails marked on the map further down the spur and this is an obvious way to the ridge. The trail back up slope to 783 isn't that clear though. Still, up is not a hard direction to follow.

With the spot-heights for the day all safely in the bag I have my sights set on the car now.  The spur down from 783 has a strong trail and is easy going with long flat sections.  I follow the compass and eventually when it starts to drop again pick a spot to angle down and join a marked forestry trail at 2.55pm.  This proves to be a tunnel through spindly regrowth but reasonably clear and quick.

Forestry track

The trail eventually reaches an area with pines and drops rapidly. Some parts are overgrown but in general it is pretty easy to find your way.  At the bottom I am quietly pleased to pop out exactly where I thought I'd be - at the end of the trail from the beehives and it's just before 3.10pm. Wandering along the road there's no sign that anyone else has been along today - a quail explodes from a tree as I approach, a kereru labours into the air and the odd tui flits by.

At a little past 3.15pm it is an unprecedentedly early time to be finishing - and so much more comfortable than sploshing along the road in the dark and the rain.

Postscript

This was a surprisingly pleasant trip.  A nice distance to bite off in a day and you don't need to do the silly bits to pick up the spot-heights to the south of the ridge.  There is a bit of manky pine and regrowth in the opening and closing sections, but the bush is delightful with some large trees and cathedral like sections.  The scrub is a bit miserable in bad weather but no real challenge today.

I suspect few people wander around the south slopes above the Ruamahanga because you have the gorges to contend with. All up - well worth an explore and good navigation practice.