Pukeatua day trip

The Wellington Arts Festival only comes once in two years, so it would be curmudgeonly in the extreme to begrudge a Saturday night of culture when I could be tramping. Consequently, the plan for this weekend has revolved around fitting in a couple of day walks with attendance at the Barbershop Chronicles scheduled for Saturday night.

The choice of Saturday walk may have been influenced by the presence of the last three unvisited spot-heights in the south western corner of the park. In the end a bit of a knee twinge curtails activities on Sunday - so it's a somewhat truncated trip report this time.

What:     Day nav trip
Where:   Pukeatua - behind Waikanae
Who:      Solo
When:    3 March 2018
Map:

I leave the express way and head for the Akatarawa Hill Road to turn left at Reikorangi. The road end is empty when I arrive but a gentleman turns up shortly and we get chatting. He's organising a walk for a senior group along the Mangaone walkway which follows up the Waikanae River and pops out in the hills behind Otaki. Apparently some of the members don't like getting their feet wet so he's checking some logs he dropped over a stream a week back weren't washed away in cyclone Gita.

The Pukeatua track is part of the Te Araroa trail popping along a ridge from Otaki Forks. At 0830 I start along an old forestry track which turns into single track before pt 422. One (presumably) TA walker comes through a little before 422 - he must have got up reasonably early to get here from the Forks.

At the saddle just after 422 I pick a spot and drop east towards the stream. It rapidly turns into a tangle of supplejack but is not too steep.

The way down

Near the bottom I come across what looks like an apparently healthy supplejack vine growing out of a decidedly not supplejack tree. Weird.

 The other side is a little clearer and after following animal trails that avoid the worst of the supplejack, I find a bit of a foot pad on the top of the spur - it's 9.40 and there's even the odd piece of old tape.

Nice open bush on the spur

This leads up to the target - pt 535. The spur is a bit messy here and I'm having a bit of trouble with direction finding when I notice that my compass is a bit sluggish. I generally give it a bit of a wiggle when taking a bearing to check it is level and moving freely, this time the needle response is odd. I check my pockets and around my chest but can't find anything metallic and can't recall having a pacemaker fitted recently. It's still behaving a bit weirdly and on a second check I discover a plastic clip on my chest strap that used to belong with a previous water bladder - it has a strong wee magnet in it. I haven't used this day pack for a while and had completely forgotten it was there.

With navigational confidence (competence?) restored I find the way across a couple of bumps and to the climb back to the marked track. The ground trail is pretty good.

At 1050 I'm on the Pukeatua track again and, after a short break, head up towards the named high point - Pukeatua 812, meeting another TA walker on the way. There are a series of clearings around the top and views up to Kapakapanui with its head in the clouds and the side spurs to Judd Ridge - also disappearing into cloud. The Kapiti Coast is also visible. It's a little after 1120.

The name strikes me as a little odd - the hill of the gods (or a god?) - yet it isn't exactly commanding in the landscape. Kapakapanui to the SSW and the peaks of the southern crossing to the east look down on it.

Kapakapanui on left - target saddle low on right 

This is the furthest along the track for  today as I have previously visited the next spot height along. Heading back to where I rejoined the track my right knee starts playing up and continues to give me gyp for the rest of the day.

The next section is to follow a long saddle to the Kapakapanui track south of here. It is such an obvious link between two navigable ridges that it's no surprise to see old venetian markers visible from the track - you'd have to be blind to miss them. In fact, to make sure people don't wander off, DOC has put some large orange triangles to mark the Pukeatua track. At 1150 I'm good for time so reckon I can go a bit easy on my knee.

A subtle sign

The foot trail comes and goes but the ridge is narrow enough and it's clear people come through periodically. The climb out of the saddle gets a bit messy with undergrowth and lots of windfall. I'm also getting a bit whiny about my knee so slowing down somewhat.

Part way up I find some iron sheets and possibly timbers rotting into the forest floor - clearly there was something here a long time ago. Later, I find Henderson's Shelter marked on a 1979 map of the area - I assume I stumbled over its mouldering remains.

The saddle route joins the Kapakapanui track at 1240 and it's a short step down to the hut. It's tidy and I top up my water before taking a long lie down. The sun is hidden but it's warm and there's cell phone coverage. But not that great as I discover by chewing through half my battery life checking a few websites.

Kapakapanui track

Kapakapanui Hut

Blame it on the warmth or resting that gamy knee, either way it is a lot longer than I normally stop before mustering enough enthusiasm to overcome inertia, departing about 1315.

The map shows a bit of a flat section then a bump in the ridge where I am planning to take a spur back to the carpark. I keep my eyes peeled but in the end, as the photo shows, the subtle signs were there for the observant (1335).

Another subtle sign

A good ground trail heads firmly off down the spur with old markers in evidence. A few times it became a little indistinct with long gaps between markers but it was pretty easy. The old track drops to a low saddle with the sounds of the stream on the right drifting up, then climbs to an abrupt transition into pines.

Forward

And back

The old maps website shows no track down this spur in 1979, a marked track in 1989, a note that it is overgrown in 1999, a dotted route in 2009 and nothing now. Funny how things change.

I join a somewhat winding logging road which is mostly pretty easy to follow although I wander onto a side track at one point and end up sidling through second growth pine to find the main road again.

The sun is out now and it's hot. What with the trees and the winding road I'm not 100% sure how far I've traveled until a pylon comes into sight indicating the start of the descent to the carpark.

I know I'm outside the Forest Park now and am not sure who owns the land. However, there does not appear to be any current logging activity and I figure that the odd lone tramper limping out of the hills is not going to create risk or cause damage. There's one house high above the carpark but I keep away from their drive and follow the logging road down. At the bottom there is an old sign that says 'private' but as there is also access to houses it's not entirely clear what it is referring to.

I note that I'm parked next to an old boiler - a relic of logging technology and a reminder that the hills will bear the scars of today's forestry well after the trucks and pines have gone.

It's just before 3pm so everything has pretty much gone to plan. I silently thank the support crew who has slipped two bottles of ginger beer into my change bag, and head back over the entertaining Akatarawa hill road.  Next stop a bath then some barbershop.

Tent

Tent - not a night under canvas but a nondescript knob in a neglected corner of the Tararua Forest Park.

A day skiing last weekend and beervana yesterday - no matter the forecast a day trip was always going to be on the cards.  A casual glance at the map has identified the intriguingly labelled 'Tent' just off the edge of the forest park in an area that gives all the appearances of having pretty much nothing going for it. Surely worth a visit.

What:     Day navigation trip
Who:      Solo
Where:   West of Otaki Forks
Why:      Because it's called Tent
When:    13 August 2017
Map:

It's a dull, very wet and somewhat late morning as I drive up the Otaki gorge. A brief pause on the bridge over Pukeatua Stream identifies that it is not particularly up despite the rain so I'm pretty comfortable that the headwaters will be ok in the next few hours.

My expectations for the trip are not very high. The area west of Otaki Forks towards the back of Waikanae was probably logged, and possibly some of it farmed before being allowed to drift into the slow process of reverting to bush.  I'm expecting some pretty difficult vegetation, a myriad of unmarked old logging trails, no views and challenging navigation.

It's an 8.15am departure in heavy rain from the carpark. The route starts up the nicely formed Fenceline Track to the turn-off to the Pukeatua track (part of Te Araroa) which climbs to the ridge. There's a bit of a view at the start across a soggy Otaki forks but there's little in the views to be seen for the rest of the day.

Across the terraces around Otaki forks towards Waitatapia

I figure out where to leave the ridge to Pt 476 and find a bit of a foot trail and eventually some very old detritus from a hunting camp. So far so good - I have a vague idea of following a spur down but the terrain looks pretty benign so I'm not perturbed when the spur fades out for a scramble down to the top of a wee waterfall. A bit more scrambling is required but pretty soon there are animal tracks and it's easy enough to get down to Pukeatua Stream arriving around 9.30.

Pukeatua Stream bed

The stream is a little up, but by shimmying along a log I manage to get across with dry feet.  It's a pleasant spot, even in the rain - the valley is steep on the bend but the spur I want leads relatively gently north east. There are a few big logs scattered around so I suspect the trip down river might have its moments but here the fall is gentle.

The spur climbs for 200 odd meters then rounds off to climb gently the rest of the way to a flat top. I'm expecting to see old logging trails soon which is exactly what happens - these are covered in saplings which require pushing through and are very efficient at transferring water onto the person.

This is the tricky navigation bit - it's hard to gauge speed and distance so I head past my destination until I start dropping off the other side and back track. I scramble onto a knob that can only be Tent and am still unenlighted as to why it is so named.

I have to say that with no visibility I'm not entirely convinced I am where I think I am. This is where one starts thinking - if I'm here and head in this direction what should I not be seeing? If you ask what you should be seeing then you will probably see it - even when it's not there - such is confirmation bias.

Long story short - I find a trail running in the rightish direction, and don't see a drop off where I shouldn't. So far so good. I drop a bit far down the trail missing a turn-off, bash up slope to find the correct trail which turns out to be another wrong one, then bash up to the top of the ridge finding the correct trail en route to Pt 550.

The trail is well overgrown but provides a good line to follow along the spur before it peters out for the final drop to the Pukeatua Stream again - bang on where I was aiming. I think.




Pukeatua Stream

The bottom end of the spur plummets steeply on a knife edge - the footing is secure though so the drops on either side are not unnerving.

It's around 12.15 and the stream is weak-tea-without-milk coloured and up a little but still no concerns. I hatch a plan to head up-stream and check a few landmarks to confirm where I am before heading onto my chosen spur back to the Pukeatua Track.

The stream shelves gently up and there is only one or two waist deep spots - all well within comfort zones.  I find the side stream I'm after and head straight up the opposite valley side - if I'm right I will hit the spur just short of a knob - I am and I do, which is gratifying.

There's a bit of animal trail which strengthens further up until a couple of old pink ribbons indicate someone has used this route before.  After that it is a steady climb in steady rain through pretty good forest.

I'm keeping an eye on the altimeter and compass so am not surprised as the spur swings around, climbs to Pt 710 and emerges onto a wide muddy track.

There's plenty of day left so I figure I'll try to find my way to Pt 692.  There's little indication at the start to find the spur line, but as it becomes distinct a bit of a foot trail develops.  Part way along the camel back line gets tangled in a tree and a few minutes later I realise the end has ripped off. Bugger! Still - the line has some interesting algal growths so it is probably past time for a replacement.

It's a little tedious there and back trip with no view in heavy rain - but good navigation practice. I reach the location and turn to back track. On the way back I'm sort of managing to follow the same line when something blue catches my eye - the end of my camel back.  Bugger again - now I'll have to keep using it!

Despite being a little before 3pm it is very dim under the canopy, the track is muddy - the bush and ground sodden. I trot where I can to make good time back along the ridge to the clearings that signal I'm approaching the point I departed the track.

After that it is steady work back down the spur (trying not to go A over K), onto the Fenceline Track where I pike out, eschewing the 3.1km option to complete the loop in favour of the 800m to retrace my steps to the car park.

The two rubbish sacks in the boot receive water logged gear while I hop around trying to don dry clothes without getting them covered in car park grit.  It's around 3.30pm and a little over 7 hours after setting out.

Driving back down the gorge I pause again at Pukeatua Stream - this time it's a raging torrent bearing no resemblance to the stream I was wading up just a few hours earlier.

 

Post Script

A fairly short and soggy day that lived up to the expectations that Tent would be in an area having pretty much nothing going for it. Definitely worth a visit and a good navigation test. Pukeatua stream is pretty and would bear more exploration.