Another delayed trip write up - this time it's the annual post-Xmas adventure - 2021-22. (Finally written-up 16 Feb '23)
The Red Hills in the Richmond Range are a fascinating geological anomaly - the ultramafic rock (same stuff as further north in the range at Dun Mountain behind Nelson) is a bit toxic so there are limited species compared to the surrounding hills and what grows tends to be stunted. On the map, it stands out as a large island of white in the south of the range - normally this signifies alpine tops - and that's pretty much what it looks like, but the bushline is 900m or lower - far below the 1400m or so in the rest of the range.
I vaguely remember a university field trip to the area looking at the soils and vegetation but have little recollection of how we got there and even less of what we learnt.
The plan is an off-track trip up Red Hills Ridge to Maungakura, through Wards Pass to join the track over Mt Rintoul and see how much further north up the range I can get (not that far as it transpires).
What: Exploration trip
Where: Richmond Ranges
When: 29 Dec - 2 Jan 2021-22
Who: Solo
It's a bit of a whirlwind end of year with COVID driving the agenda. However, things at work are set up so that I can take a bit of a break. So, once family Christmas is over, I chuck the gear together and jump on the first available flight to Blenheim.
It's cool, overcast and late afternoon when I'm tipped out of the car on the side of SH 63 a couple of K shy of the Rainbow Road turnoff. The map shows two possible entries to the Red Hills track - I take the first which is marked next to a memorial. It turns out to be a pretty much non-existent farm track requiring crossing a small swamp - so I suggest not using this one. However, at the marked (ramshackle) buildings I join a solid 4WD track.
The track climbs slowly through manuka and beech before crossing the last stream and suddenly breaking into browner, scrappier scrub. I assume this is where the rock type changes. It's after 9pm and dim with the low cloud but there's a bit of a view across the Wairau and into the Rainbow Valley.
The track swings north to climb the last 100m and, just as a few fat drops of rain start, Red Hills Hut appears around the corner. It's about 9.20pm and there are a couple of tents outside so I suspect I'll be under the fly tonight.
Opening the door, I'm greeted by a polite but firm enquiry about vaccination status - up to date of course. It turns out there is a spare bunk so I settle quickly in working out in the process that we have a mix of Te Araroa walkers and locals in for the night.
The rain passes during the night and I'm first up to broken clouds and blue sky. The hut sits in a saddle with a bit of a wetland marking the headwaters of Maitland Creek. Te Araroa trail comes through this way having skirted the western edge of the Red Hills, but I'll be taking a different route up Red Hills Ridge to the east and north. I pack-up outside to avoid disturbing anyone and slip off a little after 7.
An old 4WD track skirts behind the hut and up the hill but it's quickly lost in the climb through scrub - I follow something resembling a foot trail to an old rain gauge but it's easy enough going to find my own way as the scrub gives way to tussock. There's the odd cairn but I don't find an obvious foot trail as the slope eases onto "The Plateau."
The Plateau is a wide, flat, tussock expanse with scattered tarns. At this altitude I should be in beech forest but it's all tussock, herbs and stunted shrubs. Oh, and the occasional wilding pine. I try to rip these out but above a certain size they are virtually impossible to kill with the resources available. I take to using the sharp instep of my boot to ring bark them just above ground level.
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| From edge of the Plateau looking SW towards the Rainbow Valley, the hut is in the near saddle to the right |
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| Looking up Red Hills Ridge |
I suspect the smart route across the Plateau is more to the south edge where a couple of trigs are marked but I pick a way through the middle without problems or wet feet. The ridge slowly narrows and climbs gently - it's easy walking.
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| Looking back down the ridge |
To the north, Porter Ridge rises with the long headwaters of the Motueka River Right Branch in the intervening valley. Te Araroa Trail skirts the foothills somewhere on the far side of that ridge. About 2.15hr after leaving the hut I come across the remains of an old fence crossing the ridge. Otherwise the route remains steady with increasing amounts of rock.
There's a few reports on line about the final ridge approach to the high point (Maungakura) being a bit of a scramble and identifying an alternate route dropping to a basin to the west of the ridge between pt 1770 and Maungakura. Surveying the landscape from pt 1770 I decide to take the conservative route and take the hit of a 200m descent and climb. It's around 2pm and I'm feeling every one of the 7 hours on the move.
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| Looking north into the basin below Maungakura |
It's a rubbly, rocky descent requiring care and knees of iron - about 25 minutes. I'm hoping there's water in the basin seeping out of the ridge but at first glance it's a bit of a moonscape.
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| From the basin looking east at the ridge approach to Maungakura |
Heading up into the basin I'm relieved to find water flowing before disappearing into the ground and take the opportunity to top up. I'm not sure that this is a source that could be relied on though.
Inspecting the southern face of the basin for a route up, there's a wee shoulder that curls in from the west but it looks a bit steep and rocky so I aim for the centre of the ridge to the west of Maungakura. It's a long hot climb with a bit of scrambling, finally getting to the ridge around 3.20pm. Even in this arid, rocky landscape it is oddly encouraging to find wee nooks and seeps where hardy little plants seem to be able to cling on.
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| South across basin to pt 1770 on right |
Although it's only a couple of hundred metres along to the top, the ridge requires a bit of care and 20 minutes to scramble over and around the last few knobs.
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| Not the top |
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| At last |
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| South from the top - Motueka River Right Branch on right |
The view is panoramic and fantastic. Mt Ellis to the north marks where Te Araroa swings south before sidling across the ridge in the middle distance and dropping to Top Wairoa Hut out of sight down to my right. Red Hills Ridge lives up to its name and I can just see a bit of the Motueka River below the basin. East and north, the edge of the ultramafic rock is marked by beech covered hills and ridges.
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| North to Mt Ellis |
I pick my way down and east; aiming to follow the ridge past 1712 to Ward Pass. Normally it would be reasonably straight forward but I make heavy weather of it with some poor route choices. The worst of which is thinking to pick a line diagonally down the northern face of the ridge to the saddle before pt 1195. By the time I realise my mistake I'm picking over rocks hidden in low scrub and burning energy and time. Adding insult to injury is the sight of Top Wairoa Hut 600m or so below and it is tempting just to head down slope to a bunk and a formed track.
Coming this way again I would stick to the ridge top and then drop to the obvious spur leading into the saddle to pt 1195. By the time I get to the saddle I'm exhausted, but there's a couple of bumps to get over before finally reaching the bushline just before 7pm.
Just before 2pm I drop into the Tarn Hut clearing. The hut is in a large open area with a short walk down to the edge of the Tarn.
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| Bushline past pt 1195 - looking north eastish |
Originally, I had planned to get to Wards Pass and drop south to camp beside the stream. I have water though and can't face the descent so find the first flat piece of ground and pitch the fly. Although this is pretty close to plan, the tail of the day has completely smashed me. I can't bring myself to eat and just crawl straight into my bag to drop into a fitful sleep. Fortunately the night is calm and my casual fly pitching efforts are not put to the test.
Regrouping in the morning I find I'm parked pretty much at the top of the descent to Wards Pass. I can't find any markings and any ground trail could just as well be animals. It's a bit surprising, as this is a named pass and on the line of the Richmond Range (i.e. the watershed between the Wairau and the Wairoa) so you'd expect a few people to come through.
The drop to the saddle is steep arriving about 8.20am but the ridge on the other side is more gentle - mostly through reasonably open forest although with plenty of windfall to slow things down. I'm taking it very gingerly after yesterday and a couple of steep climbs to pt 1089 and then to a scrubby top before the Bushy Top track have me puffing.
It's midday when I reach the Bushy Top track. Half an hour later is the first turn off to Mid Wairoa Hut and another 25 minutes to the junction with Te Araroa (which joins the other track to MW Hut). I potter along slowly already making my mind up that I will be stopping the night at Tarn Hut to make it a half day.
The track looks well beaten here which is not surprising with the numbers doing Te Araroa. Case in point; I round a corner and there's a girl examining a tree - her mother is a short way behind and a quick chat reveals they are on the trail and taking an interest in everything - I see an article on them a few days later in the paper - I think she was 8 and already had half the trail under her belt.
The hut is in good nick and will do me nicely for the night. I use the afternoon to rehydrate, wash and to clean and dry some more noisome wardrobe items.
I have the hut to myself and take an easy approach to the morning, first popping over to the Tarn. It was a bit windy when I arrived, but is still in the morning so I manage to get some reflections, before hitting the track around 8am.
The track is good and the forest beautiful as always in these ranges. No water to speak of between huts though - it looks like there may be some streams off the Bishops Cap but all are dry at the moment.
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| North to Bishop's Cap |
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| West possibly Ben Nevis on horizon with Red Hills to left |
A couple come through from Rintoul Hut - they note it was full last night so I'm pleased to have stayed where I did.
The track sidles below Bishop's Cap and turns east, to cross a few knobs then a short climb to purple top - about 10.45. The open tops are baking under the sun and it is a relief to slip back amongst the trees for the final approach to Rintoul Hut.
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| From Purple Top towards the Richmond Plains |
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| Purple Top - the track runs through the saddle to the left |
About 11.45 I'm cruising into Rintoul Hut for an early lunch. The hut looks north and west from about 1250m altitude; across the foothills and the Tasman plains towards Mt Arthur and the Tablelands. A couple arrive from the opposite direction, and he notes that they could see this hut from Starveall Hut two nights earlier on the trail. Rintoul Hut is ideally situated - northward bound you can stay and tackle Mt Rintoul in the morning; southward bound you can do likewise from Old Man Hut then have an early night at Rintoul or push on to Tarn.
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| Rintoul Hut |
My energy levels are not recovering as they should, and I have an uncharacteristically long break. Another chap turns up and I take the excuse to stay and listen to Te Araroa people share gossip about who is where and doing what. They are a little worried about a couple of women following them that they think will make heavy weather over the two peaks. You can see why some people enjoy the social aspects of the trail so much as easy banter is exchanged and connections are formed as people drift in and out of the circle of those moving along the trail at a similar pace to your own.
Mt Rintoul is a bit of a proposition as there are two peaks separated by a 300m descent into a saddle. From the west (northward bound) the track climbs from Rintoul Hut through bush then on loose gravels about 400m to a top, the trail drops briefly to sidle below bluffs then scramble back onto a gentle ridge that leads up to Mt Rintoul (1731m). From here the depths of the saddle and the steepness of the ascent on the other side are apparent. The trail down is relatively gentle and drops below the ridgeline in the saddle to sidle below some bluffy knobs, before a steep climb on often loose rock to the second peak at 1643m. After this there's a 500m descent to Old Man Hut.
There are stories of people getting lost in the saddle in cloud and not being able to find their way out. I can quite believe this as the trail doesn't follow the ridgeline.
This may go some way to explain my prevaricating and not getting away from Rintoul Hut until 1.20. It takes a slow hour ten to get to the first top where I bump into the two women who were the subject of discussion (who seem fine). I'm having a bit of a sit down, looking resplendent with a knotted hanky in place of my missing cap, when a voice drifts out of the void. Shortly after, a chap hoves into sight recording a video log on the go. I hear later that he has done this throughout his trails and has been cracking out 40km a day on average. I'm not sure what his South American audience thought of Mr Gumby appearing on a rock at the top of a mountain but I'm sure it's not the oddest thing they would have seen.
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| From the first top to the actual top on the right |
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| From the top looking back - the trail skirts below the bluffs and into the notch near centre |
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| Looking back to Purple top |
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| Mr Gumby on top of the world |
It's 3pm and I'm having another sit down at the top and contemplating the saddle. Another couple of chaps and a single work their way up as I sit. The trip down is ok - a bit loose under foot in places but no worries. The other side is steeper and a bit scrambly in places but it's clear that many feet have passed this way. An hour fifty after arriving at the top of Rintoul I'm looking back at the saddle.
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| Looking down into the Saddle from Mt Rintoul |
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| Back across the Saddle to Mt Rintoul |
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| Looking north, probably Mt Richmond on horizon, tops around Slaty Peak in front, with Old Man to right |
It's a straightforward rocky slope down to the bushline then an interminable drop through forest to the turnoff and further down to the Old Man Hut clearing. It's 6.10pm so about three hours from the top of Rintoul.
There's a couple and dog on site already who had accompanied her parents to the top earlier in the day they give me the other side of some of Te Araroa gossip that I had heard at Rintoul. Fortunately they are tenting with their dog so a solo SOBO women is the only other person in the hut for the night.
In the morning I'm still feeling under the weather and decide to exit the range rather than tackle the unmarked ridge route from Ada Flats to Mt Richmond. It's disappointing as I am looking forward to exploring this part but have heard it is hard going and reluctantly decide that it will have to keep.
It takes the pressure off so I get away a little after 8 after wishing Te Araroa woman all the best. On the ridge it's shaping up to be another fine day. To the North is Mt Starveall with, I imagine, the next tranche of Te Araroa walkers starting the trek up toward Rintoul.
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| Looking West towards Rintoul on the right |
The ridge along to Old Man has plenty of open sections so there's good views and excuses to pause to check for cell phone reception. It takes about an hour forty from the hut to Old Man. The rain barrel and cluster of signs is familiar from last time.
About a K and a half to the NNE, Ada Flat marks where the ridge departs towards Mt Richmond. It looks a bit gnarly with sharp knobs, tight beech canopy and steep bluffs below the ridge. I study it for future reference but reluctantly leave it for today.
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| Ada Flat - Ridge to Mt Richmond starts on right |
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| Ridge route to Mt Richmond |
I get a message through for an early pick-up at the Forks on Top Valley Stream. I'd noted the track junction in the saddle below Old Man last time through and thought it would be an interesting route out as well as saving the support crew the long drive up Mt Partriach to the Lake Chalice car park.
At 10.25 I've reached the junction and start down the steep 'track.'
I quickly realise that it is marked as a route rather than a track as it appears to be unmaintained and little used. It's steep of course but you can see that on the map. Track marking can leave you casting about at times as the track is not always on an obvious spur, and of course under beech there is the inevitable deadfall to navigate. The surface is often loose and covered in a layer of slippery leaves. In short - it's a perfectly fine route but don't expect a maintained track.
It takes an hour 25 to negotiate the 500m descent and I'm hot and sweaty when I emerge next to a clear, bubbling stream. Kit off and I'm soon cooling down and cleaning up in the cold water.
I'm thinking I'm on the last leg now, but it is a long sidle track down the valley to the Forks and it appears to be little maintained - there is a lot of uncleared windfall and a couple of sizable washouts to navigate. A bit of track finding is also required in places. The track eventually joins an old, benched road beside the stream which gives good going, although even here there is the odd washout to contend with.
A little after 3.15 I arrive at the car park - it's taken 7 hours from Old Man Hut and almost 5 from the junction. A bit longer than anticipated and I find a note on a fence post saying the support crew headed off at 3pm to get cell phone reception to see if I've sent a message. Ah well, I settle down to wait in the shade of a tree.
It's disappointing to be cutting the trip short, but when you're not up to it there's little point in prolonging the pain. I'm really pleased to have got up the Red Hills Ridge - it's a pretty weird and special place. It's also good to have seen Tarn Hut and Mt Rintoul at their best.
