Another trip report that has been languishing in the ether while I spend far too much time working on COVID ... Finished off two years after the fact so I've glossed over a few details.
This weekend I'm taking an extra day with a view to a bit of historic speculation.
You will likely have heard about the 1933 Sutch trip where a party of four completed an epic 17 day Tararua crossing. I won't go into the details - if you want a good account of it look up Windy Hill Tops who has done his home work.
What: Navigation trip
Where: Dorset Creek and Broken Axe Pinnacles
When: 22 - 23 August 2020
Who: Solo
This weekend I'm interested in one decision the party made and its consequences. The party had left Te Matawai hut early in the morning and by mid-afternoon were at the Broken Axe Pinnacles...
"On the last Broken Axe Pinnacle O'Keefe and Hill slipped and fell a distance of about 30 feet. O'Keefe sustained several cuts on face. Delay of two hours as a result. At 5pm regained ridge - rain fell and heavy mist descended, winds to gale force."
As they stood on the ridge in atrocious conditions they would have had three options - continue along the tops and risk getting caught by the dark without shelter, or drop off one or other side of the ridge to reach the bushline. Going back over the Pinnacles probably wouldn't have featured as an option in those conditions and after the fall.
"Off ridge and down to bushline at night fall on a very steep face - entered bush and camped beside a stream ..."
They decided to drop right (North West) off the ridge. Had they dropped off the other side they would have been in the navigable headwaters of the Atiwhakatu stream and likely have been out in a few days. But I suspect it would have been the weather and daylight that drove the decision rather than the route the party might take afterwards.
The account does not specify whether they continued along the ridge before dropping off and is not entirely clear on the route they took to the Waiohine River. A map, hand drawn shortly after the adventure identifies two possible stream routes but is slightly inaccurate.
I'm inclined to think they did not continue, as that would have required climbing over McGregor - not difficult, but surely something they would see fit to mention. Also, the timing would have been tight - at that time of year sundown would have been around 5.20pm and the end of twilight about 6pm. I suspect you would need all of those 40 minutes to descend about 300 vertical metres of steep face in poor conditions.
In the morning it's still miserable and they decide to drop to the Waiohine River and try to climb to Holdsworth from near the mouth of Francis Creek. They take 2 hours to drop an estimated 800 feet (240m) to what they think is Dorset Creek.
This trip I'm interested to visit the north west face below the Pinnacles to explore where they might have come down. Also to check out the stream below McGregor Biv to see whether that may have been an option.
There's a few cars in the park and a couple of chaps pull up as I prepare to leave. About 7.15 I head up valley beside a somewhat swollen Atiwhakatu River. There's a bit of sun but patchy cloud towards the tops suggests conditions will be a bit different up there.
By 8.30 I'm at Atiwhakatu hut and have decided that the original plan of following the river to the catchment ain't a goer. While I pause to fill in the log, a runner drifts past and heads up the rain gauge track towards Jumbo Hut. Out of casual interest I pop half an hour further up valley to take the other track.
It's not as well travelled with a bit of windfall but easy to follow. The old maps mark a sidle track to the site of Angle Knob Hut - I keep an eye out for signs in the most obvious place but don't see it. I hear later that there is an old hut site on this part of the ridge - where it broadens and a wee stream crosses the track.
The temperature drops and the odd glimpse across the valley shows Baldy shrouded in dark gray.
Mossy goblin forest gives way to leather wood and the track pops out in to a cold wind with drifts of drizzle. The hut should be nearby so I hunch up and scoot along rather than stop and rug up. East and south there is sun, cloud and a rainbow. Uphill and west it's looking a bit grim.
The hut is cold but gets me out of the wind. It's 10.50 and I decide to wait a few hours as it should only be a few hours to McGregor Biv which will be a bit more restricted for spending the afternoon. The two chaps from the carpark thump onto the varendah and have the same idea as they settle in for a game of cards and boil the billy.
Despite donning a few layers I cool down as I sit reading an old FMC bulletin. Another chap comes in, all three are heading for Powell. He stops a short while to get a jacket on. He is lightly equipped and has found the track up a bit tough, I suggest delicately that it's looking to be pretty cold and windy on the tops and note that there is the bail out route down East Holdsworth track - although a fair way across. It's one of those tricky things - it's possible that he is underestimating the weather you can get on the tops here, but he's young and looks fit enough, plus there will be two others following him along a marked route.
It's almost 1.30 by the time I drag layers on and leave the hut just ahead of the two chaps. There's a bit of a stream coming down the track and the wind brings cold rain down from the ridges above. I'm soon climbing into cloud. Nearby hollows hold snow.
At the intersection with the Holdsworth Ridge it's well clagged in with a bit of wind but nothing dramatic. I follow a good foot trail towards Angle knob. Just past the tarns is point 1397 - I had been intending to come up this way had the river been amenable - it's the site of the old Angle Knob Hut which got lifted off it's foundations by the wind and dumped further down the hill.
The clag starts to reveal more patches of snow on the slopes. The intermittent rain is still just liquid though.
It's a bit windier in the saddle past Angle Knob. I recall some rocks in the saddle and an old sign but remember that the slope that leads to the spur is wide and open so start angling down well short of the sign.
Below the saddle the wind quickly drops away and I'm soon out of the clag looking down spur to the gray dot of the tarn and orange dot of McGregor biv.
It's taken a little under two hours from Jumbo so I still have a bit of afternoon to kill - I set about getting out of soggy gear and settling in.
Amongst the usual reading and cards to while away a wet arvo, I study the map and the diary entry for this part of the Sutch trip. I had been planning to explore a possible route down off the Pinnacles but am becoming uneasy about getting bluffed. I decide to explore from the bottom up.
The morning brings high cloud and clear tops. I study the slopes of McGregor - it's possible a party could have descended here but there would be some tricky bits. I don't really think it's likely but figure it's worth checking the creek out anyway.
Scrambling past the loo into the leatherwood I discover that I'm quite quickly in reasonably open forest with long grass. It's a bit rotty and scrambly in places but within 20 minutes I've reached the creek. It's narrow and slippery with a few cascades but no waterfalls for a start.
As it widens there are some big old log jambs requiring a bit of scrambling and a slot with a ledge on the right. There's only one waterfall where I have to do a bit of a hairy true left sidle.
The weather is dreary with a bit of drizzle to keep things nice and slippery but at least it's not cold down here. I potter on keeping half an eye out for the spot where I crossed this creek a few years back while picking up a nearby spot height.
Just over an hour and a half from the bottom of the hut spur, the creek opens into the Dorset Stream Valley. There's a bit of a terrace opposite where I regroup.
The stream is a good size here but the flow isn't a concern. I have to say that the location doesn't match the description in the diary of where the party joined the Dorset (they describe a deep gorge with precipitous sides and a steep descent over huge boulders).
About 30 minutes up stream I reach the mouth of the stream from the pinnacles. Again, the location doesn't match the description in the diary. This is a bit problematic for the two main stream options they may have taken. However, I decide to continue to see what the catchment below the pinnacles is like.
The stream is in a surprisingly wide valley. There's a lot of rock on the valley floor that has made it's way down from the heights above over the years - along with plenty of big old trees.
The valley narrows and steepens until one of the pinnacles is visible coming and going in the clag above. I figure that the most likely route down would not be the headwater stream on the true right which would have required the party to return across some of the pinnacles or make a long crossing of the face. I choose the stream that points towards the ridge between pt 1425 and McGregor.
I just about miss one junction but find may way up an increasingly steep gully, eventually leaving the trees behind.
Reaching a waterfall there's a messy scramble around on the true left and a short way further up stream another series of waterfalls - the party would not have been able to down climb these and I'm not about to climb up them.
The stream is in a bit of a slot with steep sides - I climb up the true right and into a hell tangle of leatherwood scrub. Persevering for a while I make excruciatingly slow progress up the steep slope but soon realise it is hopeless. It's galling to have to give it a way but there's no way I'm going to get through. Back in the creek I study the face on the other side which is less scrubby but completely exposed.
It's around 2pm - I reluctantly accept that I won't be climbing to the ridge from this position and retrace my route down valley.
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| Not a sensible way up |
I don't think it is likely they came down this stream - it is possible they followed the spur further west which has a marked bushline reaching almost 1200m but there's still the problem of the description of their entry to Dorset Creek to deal with. It's a bit of a dispirited trudge back down the valley.
For some reason I have a photo from the trip down of my watch showing an altitude of 1040m - I dimly recall there might have been a wee side stream joining from the true left and some trees - I may have wondered if this was a spot where you could have joined the stream from above ... or not.
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| Junction with Dorset Creek |
It's about 4.10 when I rejoin Dorset Creek (still no high sided gorge to be seen). I head down stream intending to see how I go for daylight. The day has cleared somewhat and there is afternoon sun on the tops. There are a few magic moments when the sun is shining directly into the valley and catches steam drifting in the still air. Beautiful, but a reminder that sundown is approaching and I'm a long way from the Biv.
It's about 4.40pm when I get to the wee stream below McGregor. I decide that heading down river into a bit of a gorgy section as it gets dark may not be the smartest - or climbing the creek again for that matter. I decide to bash up a spur to join the ridge to McGregor Biv so head a short way down stream to find a route.
I didn't take any notes of this section but recall that it was already getting dim as I scramble up the mucky lower slopes. I'm feeling utterly drained from the days exertions - it is a very slow and painful trip up and it's well dark before I'm anywhere near the ridge. The other thing I recall is getting to the flat top of the ridge and having inordinate trouble following the informal track - there are markers but in my tired state I manage to stumble on and off the route and make it altogether more difficult than it needs to be. I'm determined to get to the biv though and persevere rather than crack out the fly.
Eventually open sky and cold air herald the bushline and it's not too far to stumble up the slope to the crest then down the rutted track to the biv. Luckily empty at 8.30pm - it has taken a ridiculous length of time to get here from the creek but such a relief to stop and get dinner underway before falling into a sound sleep.
My photos indicate a bit of a sleep in to get away shortly after 9am. I don't recall anything of the trip back to Jumbo apart from hail on the tops. Not pleasant. It takes about 2 hours to get to Jumbo Hut at which point the weather starts to break.
An hour later Atiwhakatu is in a completely different climate and by 1.50 I'm back at the carpark on a pleasant sunny afternoon. It's slightly weird to be soggy from wading through snow and hail with your fingers still tingling from the cold while the sun warms your back.
Postscript
I won't pretend to be an expert on the Sutch trip but from the snippets of information I have seen it seems unlikely to me that they came down the face below the Broken Axe Pinnacles. The description of joining Dorset Creek doesn't match either the creek off the Pinnacles or the creek below McGregor Biv. I wonder if they actually came over McGregor and dropped into Angle Creek which from the map might be as gorgy as described. However I suspect there are other problems with this theory (like the time from the accident to descending to the bushline).
Someone else will no doubt have a better idea on all this - for me I had a good weekend out with a bit of new territory and some unanticipated night navigation practice.
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