Sunday 29 May 2016

Leadership session - Catchpool

What:    Leadership scenario session
When:   Sunday 29 May 2016
Who:     Wellington Tramping Group Meet-Up Leaders: Josh (leader), Rodger, Scott, Russell, Rachel, Vignesh and me.
Why:    Run some incident scenarios in the bush, but not too in the bush
Where: Rimutaka Forest Park in the walking tracks around the Catchpool car park.

So ... Mike and Josh have been developing leadership sessions for the Wellington Tramping Meet-up 
Group. For those who don't know, the group is like Tinder for trampers (but a little more controlled and, as far as I know, without the sex).  Still confused? Well, tramping clubs don't suit everyone - you have to be organised and join, then sign up for tramps sometimes weeks in advance. If you're new to town, not around for long, not sure about tramping or just don't want to be part of a club, then Meetup allows you to get a taste without the commitment and often sign up for events less than a week out.

But the flexibility has a downside - who would lead a trip of web-sourced riffraff and who would trust someone advertising tramps over the internet? Surprisingly, there are a few people around prepared to do just that, but until now the Wellington-based group hasn't had any way to support development and share learning. Mike and Josh decided to fill the gap in the market, in conjunction with one of the other walking Meetup groups. When I heard about it, I loaned Mike my Mountain Safety Council Outdoor Safety book and watched with interest as they set it all up.

They plumped on a three session format - two evening sessions (I sat in on the second at the Thistle Inn) followed by an outdoor session to run through a few scenarios. I decided to come along as a punter. 

The morning of the outdoor session hadn't even dawned when my cell phone rings. "Hi, it's Mike here um, .... unfortunately I've got a migraine ... do you mind covering with Josh?" He sounds surprisingly chipper for this hour and for someone about to descend into a Dante-esque inferno of head-splitting pain. However, the warning signs can't be ignored so arrangements are quickly made and in due course Josh turns up and we head over the hill.

Starting with a recap
Vignesh, Rodger, Scott, Rachel, Russel, Josh
The day kicks off with a sit down and talk about what sort of risk assessment you might do for a trip over the Papatahi Crossing. I've dragged along a few maps of the area and the team quickly identify the steepness, isolation, river crossings, exposure, need for tent flys etc. Josh does a quick refresher of some of the things to keep in mind when doing risk assessments, and responding to incidents (people, resources and environment; leader, team and victim; take charge, assess the situation, stabilise the group, first aid, plan, implement, review ... etc).


A few maps

It's a lovely sunny morning as we wander up the Five Mile Loop Track - I have a scrawled note instructing me to lapse into a hypoglycemic attack at some point. This I do with all the acting skills I can muster, walking into a tree and falling dramatically in the track before lapsing into semi-consciousness: mumbling and slurring and completely confused in what must be the most rapid onset ever. The team rallies around, tasks are assigned and within minutes my pack has been ransacked - they have clearly remembered the lesson about using the victim's gear first.

A few slightly confused day trippers are assured that the drunken wreck is part of an exercise, as they delicately pick past the twitching body wrapped in tin foil in the middle of the track.  Eventually someone gives me a one square meal which I figure has enough sugar in it to improve my state somewhat. By now I'm festooned with sleeping bag, jackets and survival blanket and members of the team have been dispatched to get help.

There's a bit of a debrief to share observations, suggestions as to how things might have been done differently etc. Then it's straight on to exercise two - Josh hands out roles and we set off up the track again.

This time it's Rachel who is the victim. The scenario is slightly more complicated with Vignesh doing his best to be difficult, and Rodger going a bit loopy with hypothermia. This neatly divides the leader's attention but once again tasks are assigned, first aid is applied and Vignesh is taken off up the track by an insistent Russell.


'See - it says here I had to be a dickhead!'
Vignesh explains his instructions to Russell while Rachel does an impression of a rotisserie chicken

Another debrief chat with suggestions from the group, consideration of what different environmental conditions would have meant and discussion about delegating roles so that the leader can keep across the whole situation.


Post match analysis
Rodger, Russell, Rachel, Josh, Vignesh, Scott
We continue on around the Loop and start heading back to the car park with a brief stop to chat to one of the stalwart volunteers doing a stoat trap line. The final scenario requires a bit of a rethink when we discover that Russell, as leader, is keeping a tight rein on the group. A slight change in plan and we soon have a lost punter to find - one of the reasons I avoid tramping in groups!

The result is uncertainty with lots of possibilities and options and some contrary views in the group about which is best. In the end a few options are explored and eventually the errant Scott is found sunning himself around a corner. Without the urgency of an injury it is quite a different exercise.

The last scenario is run as a 'desk top.' It involves an injured party in another group and requires decisions about going for help, sending rescue parties, heading up hills for cell phone reception, deciding whether to pull the PLB before getting to the injured party so that help is on the way or waiting until the party has been located, and lots more.

Hopefully the group got something out of the day. At least a bit of food for thought about the sorts of things that can happen and some of the considerations in planning and responding. It's good to have a mix of people at these things as there is always some useful experience in the group that can be shared. A bit of a review and I think we have the makings of something quite useful!

Saturday 21 May 2016

Tapokopoko - Orongonrongo Nav trip

What: Nav trip
Where: Ridge around Tapokpoko in the Orongorongos
When: Saturday night and Sunday 21-22 May 2016
Who: Solo
Why: Practice navigation in poor weather, explore new area (for me) in the Orongorongos

My last wet weather nav trip ended up in disappointingly good weather so this weekend, with a foul forecast and miserable week in Wellington, looks promising. The target is the Rimutaka Range south of Mt Matthews. There are a number of trip reports on the web that provide an idea of the terrain and it certainly looks like a more formidable test than last week (links to a few reports: trip 1trip 2, trip 3).

It's 5.45 on a Saturday night and dark already as I leave the car at the entrance to the Catchpool road - the automatic gate locks at 6pm but I'm not sure I will be out on time, so better to walk the extra few km and know that I can get home afterwards. Provided the car doesn't get burnt down by some of the interesting nightlife that frequent the Wainuiomata Coast Road, of course.

There's another chap heading in without pack - he has ferried his car out and is on the way back in to pick up the rest of his party, who have made heavy weather over McKerrow - I don't seem him again so hope he got them out alright.

It's about 15 minutes to the car park and then another hour to Waerenga Hut. It's a mild evening with no rain but I'm conscious that there has been plenty of rain and the river gauge is on the way down from a significant spike. The regional council has some useful river gauges available - virtually real time on-line (link to Orongorongo river gauge).

Unsurprisingly there is no-one else on the track and I potter along with the river crossing very much top of mind. Descending to the river a grey shape swoops silently through my headlight providing a momentary distraction - probably a Morepork. At the bottom, the moon is peeping through clouds so there is a good bit of light about as I wander out on to the river bed to see what the crossing looks like. No worries - barely calf deep albeit somewhat wider than last time I'd been here.

Waerenga Hut is empty at 7pm so I lay out my kit on the verandah, sort gear for the morning, make a cuppa, then hit the sack.  There's a bit of rain during the night but the moon comes through now and then and the skies are clear by morning.

It's pitch black at 6am when the alarm goes. Porridge for breakfast, then pack up and stash unneeded kit for collection later. This leaves a lighter pack for lugging up hills and thrashing about in the scrub (with bivvy bag and sleeping bag I can sleep out if it comes to that).

Death by fungi - fungicide?


The head torch is necessary at 7am but there is soon enough light to follow up past a couple of huts and onto the spur. There's some marking and ground trail - quickly found and lost again. But it's pretty good going - straight up. I'm taking a pause with my hand on a punga when I notice that there is a weta on the trunk - it has been overtaken by a fungus, seemingly in mid stride with white fungal mass emerging from every joint in its armour. After a few attempts to capture it on the phone camera, the photo here is the best I can manage.

Periodically there are ancient markers to be seen, and someone has made an effort near the top to mark the way with blue tape, but I lose it as the spur levels out on to a broad, flat, and completely overgrown ridge at spot height 797. It's 8.30 and there's no view for the trees but it seems to be a nice day.







Another old rain-gauge(?)




It appears pretty much untracked but various animal trails are apparent and I come across the first of many remains of rain gauges [or leaf collectors?] rotting into the landscape.

I take a bearing and head in the direction of the ridge south. It's a real mix of trees, scrub and grass initially with the reward of a view east into Palliser Bay.

It's good going where there are trees but open spaces are covered in scrub and deep grass which is slow. I'm soon covered in nicks and scraps from the bush lawyer, hidden logs and the rough grass.











Palliser Bay - the beach by Lake Ferry on the left.


Off to the left of the ridge I find a deer superhighway - the ground is churned up with the number of hooves that have been through. It makes going a breeze, until they decide to head off somewhere else, or through dense undergrowth. Occasionally there are windows where you can pop up to the ridge and look west towards Wellington.  At one point I startle a large deer about 30m away - judging by the ground there are plenty more around here somewhere. When the bush clears it is frequently to give way to areas where large trees have fallen and the remaining trunks are dead. There's a bit of clambering required.


Wellington in the distance - Orongorongo River with Cattle Ridge behind below. 





Dead trees and root plates - slow going.

Emerging from the trees I find that the weather has clagged in and that's the last of the views for the day. Navigation has also just got a bit harder.


Half an hour later

I sidle around spot height 768 without noticing it and find frequent deep grassy clearings which are tough and slow going. Sometimes there is opportunity to drop off the east side of the ridge and travel through the taller trees on that side.  It gets colder and is raining by the time the top of Tapokopoko rolls around. It is distinctive, with an old DSIR sign marking their research area. There are also markings for the descent down Paua Ridge. It's 1020; a little under 2 hours from spot height 797 - slow going indeed.

Tapokopoko

The route south from Tapokopoko promises to be tricky and it is. The ridge top is broad and it's hard to judge distance and to keep a straight bearing. I manage to drop into both streams heading south off the ridge and waste a lot of time climbing out and getting back on track. Eventually I navigate to the grassy saddle at 700m but drop in a little low and have quite a struggle getting back to the ridge-line through the deep grass and tree trunks.

By the time I get to spot height 743 I'm soaked through, somewhat battered and cold. It's 12.45 and raining, so I abandon any thought of heading up to the Peak and back and follow some obvious markers onto the spur down to Peak Stream.  Things go well, although the ground trail is easy to lose and the markers sporadic. I manage to find some very old markers with no obvious ground trail around them but shortly after discover I am on the wrong side of an erosion gully (marked on the map). Oh well, I'm not about to climb around or across it so continue down then drop into the stream at the bottom, which soon drops into Peak Stream 200-300m above where I was supposed to emerge.

It's not getting any warmer so I make as good time as I can down the stream to join the four wheel drive track around 2.20 and head up valley to Waerenga Hut with a short detour when I should have stopped following the 4WD track which was heading to some private huts. The rain is intermittent but the river is lower than the previous day so it looks like I will get home tonight.

Back at the hut at 3.20 and the rain has set in again.


Cold and wet but back where I started this morning - Waerenga Hut

I pick up the kit stash and head off, arriving at the car park 45 minutes later and the car 15 minutes after that. A lone jogger is the only person I see on the track, giving me quite a start. To my relief the car hasn't been burnt down, so with the sleeping mat laid out to keep the worst of the wet clothes off the car seat it's a short trip over the hill and home.

I had pretty tired legs the next day and my knees look like I'd been fighting cats in the blender but all up - a good miserable trip that tested my nav skills and confirmed where they are wanting. About 7K on Saturday and 21K on Sunday

Saturday 14 May 2016

Mt Reeves Navigation trip

The first winter storms arrived late this year. After an uncharacteristically mild start to autumn, this week provided Wellington with a sharp reminder of what wet and windy is like. The forecast for the weekend is equally unpleasant but suits a short trip into the Tararua foothills to practice navigation, knock off a section of route I'd been anticipating, and get a bit of bad weather experience without river crossings and staying off the tops. As you will see, two out of three ain't bad.

The plan is: to enter at Walls Whare and ascend to follow the ridge line south from the Cone Saddle track towards Mt Reeves, find an unnamed spur and descend to the Tauherenikau, stop in at Tutuwai Hut and maybe stay the night, then exit over Mt Reeves via Coal Stream.  And as you will see, five out of four ain't bad (click to see map of area).

I'm packed on Friday night so in the morning it's short work to get out the door at 05.15 and head-off over the Rimutaka Hill in the dark.  It's light  at 07.15 as I leave an empty car park at the Waiohine road end (not surprising given the forecast).

The bush is damp but not wet - the rain over the last week has softened the ground but it has been so dry that it is still just soaking in. A work colleague had remarked on this being the first week for a long time when the forest floor hasn't been dusty. Like him, I note that the undergrowth has perked up appreciably.

The track to Cone Saddle is very familiar territory now but I pay more attention knowing that I will shortly be leaving it to find my way along the ridge south.  Overhead the sky is clear and the sun starts filtering through the canopy from about halfway up. The wind also picks up, and the amount of dead fall on the track has me keeping a weather eye (and ear) out for falling branches.

It's dead easy to find my point of departure about an hour later near spot height 682: the track runs straight and suddenly turns right, someone has also put a marker on a tree indicating Cone Saddle (or Cone Hut?).


Near the turnoff to the Reeves Stream spur

The route turns out to be easy to follow, with a reasonably obvious ground trail: not too much overgrowth and sporadic markers (orange tape). Although not marked on the topo map, this route is clearly used often.  I practice taking bearings anyway, to make sure I will know when I reach my intended spur  - which I reach in about 35 minutes, a lot quicker than estimated. I had intended to keep going up to Mt Reeve and then return to the spur but decide that it's not providing much practice and if I get to Tutuwai early, I can reassess and maybe make this a day trip.

Again there are markers on trees indicating Mt Reeves in one direction and Cone Saddle/Walls Whare in the other - they don't point to the spur itself, but seeing as it diverges from the ridge exactly between the markers it is pretty obvious why they are there.


The spur travels down the true right of the Reeves Stream catchment and is pretty easy to follow. There aren't any markers that I can see, but enough ground trail to keep going with some compass and altimeter assistance. Near the top, the bush is a bit mossy with undergrowth and the route skirts off to the left of the spur, but it opens up pretty soon for very easy travel with little undergrowth.  A more authoritative account of a Tararua Tramping Club trip around this catchment is available here.




Easy going down the spur

I happily potter down bearing right at around 600m but lose the trail around 460m amidst game trails and a much busier under-story. I think I hit the edge of the clearing marked on the map at that point, as there is a lot of young Rimu and a break in the canopy. I don't try to regain the track as it's pretty straight forward to pick a way down to eventually reach the flats (mind the swampy bits) and eventually the main track. The Tauherenikau River is rushing along under sunny blue skies but doesn't seem overly swollen and it's easy going to lope along the track down to Tutuwai Hut to arrive at 10:00. The hut is empty and the last log entry is a week old.


Tutuwai picking up the morning sun

I had been thinking I would be thrashing around in untracked undergrowth for hours longer than this and might even stay the night at the hut, so this is just embarrassing.  After a look at the map I come up with a suitable plan B involving a sortie further south along the ridge from Mt Reeves. But for now it's back into the bush and a steep 600m climb back on to the ridge I've just left (Tutuwai is at about 300m).

Looking down track to where route to
spur diverges, to right of center tree 


The ground is soft but not slippery, some sections of track look like someone has bum-slid down, piling leaves up in large drifts; a result of enough rain to turn the spur-line track into a stream so it must have been a bit wild during the week. The wind is rocking the tops of the trees and occasionally attains that solid roar that is associated with the wildest days. There's plenty of windfall on this track also, so I'm inclined to be a little jumpy.

A steady pace sees me break into scrub at the 800m contour, 45 minutes later. There's clearly been an old burn or storm because the altitude is too low for this to be the bushline.  On the way up I see that before spot height 646 there is an obvious ground trail leading towards a spur that hits the valley floor near the mouth of Reeves Stream. Noted for another day.

The scrub provides views west showing a bit of cloud above the western Tararuas. It's not looking too bad at present but that's where the foul weather will be coming from.






Looking across to Marchant Ridge. Quoin ridge behind on the horizon at left, dropping right into a notch then climbing to Alpha in the cloud. Spot height 1060 on Marchant in front of Alpha, Omega is the next lump up ridge to right of 1060, the indistinct knob to left of 1060 is 953; the top of the Block XVI track.

Sharp knob on horizon to right of center Winchcombe(?), cloud over Hector to left of it.  Bull mound on ridge in front rising gently to Omega to the left. Rounded top of Cone on right of photo. Tauherenikau River below seen through mouth of Reeves Stream catchment. 

The catchment down to the left is Reeves Stream, the spur in the middle distance (just above the top of the shrub) is the route down from the ridge to the right.

The first requirement of Plan B is cellphone coverage. There's plenty so I call in my changed intentions and turn my attention to finding a route south along the ridge. It's a little after 11, so lots of day left.

I miss the spot and flail about in the Draccaphylum before finally working my around to the correct line. The ground trail is obvious in places but much less so than earlier in the morning.  There is also a lot more undergrowth and I find it's a little tricky picking your way through teenage Totara.  Because it's the main ridge line it would be pretty hard to get really lost but it's quite wide in a couple of spots so it's good compass practice. I successfully navigate to and over three spot heights before reaching Tauherenikau, the highest point on the ridge at a not so startling 899m. It is also, like the rest of this section, under the canopy so there is little view apart from the odd window across to the Marchant Ridge. Still, it's 12:50 so time for lunch tucked into the lee below the modest cairn that marks the 'summit'.


Cairn at top of Tauherenikau - not much to see here.

The trip back along the ridge is a little easier as I have a better feel for the route although still wander on and off it.  The last hundred meters to the Mt Reeves track is not so obvious but I struggle onto the track and sure enough there is a nondescript marker on a tree that I had missed at the start. It's 2:40 - about 3 and a half hours  after I left this track. I figure it will be getting dim around 5pm so turn east for the short climb onto Reeves. After a few photos I take my wobbly knees and descend the wide track to spot height 745 arriving at 3.25.


Nondescript turn off south to Tauherenikau just before leaving bush

Same shrub in foreground as earlier photo - bad weather spilling in from the west


South from Reeves; spur on left horizon runs up to Tauherenikau,
 the ridge between here and there provided the entertainment for the last few hours




From top of Reeves looking north; nice day to the east, rubbish coming in from the west


My topo map does not show the route from spot height 745 to the Waioine Road end swing bridge where I started, but it is on the newer online map, suggesting that DoC might be reinstating it as a recognised track. It's an old route following a definite spur and I've heard it's not so hard to follow. However, any delay route finding or struggling through undergrowth will mean it's dark on the steeper lower section meaning an uncomfortable night in a bivvy bag under a tree (I'm not so keen on night time nav through a slippery gully).



Turn-off to Coal Stream track


The online and printed maps differ as to how the track starts in relation to spot height 745. On the ground there is a large DoC sign on the Mt Reeves side of the spot height. The main track down skirts to the south of the knob and the Coal Stream track climbs onto the knob from behind the sign. There are also some old markers on the trees and all the way down the track.  The sign warns that the three wire bridge over Coal Stream has been removed - I figure the catchment is small and there's been no rain today so this is not likely to be an issue.

Navigational concerns disappear as there are lovely new yellow triangles marking the way and an obvious track. I'm thinking it's not far to go now but there is a small matter of 600m to lose. There's a bit of undergrowth to work through at the top but it's mostly under open beech providing good going. Towards the bottom it steepens and drops into lush bush with a rich, slippery humus so it gets a little treacherous. The stream is as expected - requiring wet feet but not large flows (although it could be).  It's dimming in the bottom of the gully but there's still plenty of light. There's a short scramble up to the terrace where my track diverged this morning - the turn off to Coal Stream is not marked but it is obvious, and just where the Cone Saddle track heads right and starts climbing.


Cone Saddle to the right, Coal Stream to the left


I drag my protesting knees back across the swing bridge to arrive at the carpark at 4:20. There's three other cars in the park and a camper van in the camping area, so people are clearly heeding the forecasts. The trip home is a little slow as the car starts overheating on the Rimutaka Hill but with a little nursing I get home in the early evening. A soak in a hot bath then a warm bed is somewhat more pleasant than a bivvy bag in the rain.

Coda

This was a great day trip achieving everything I had set out to do and more (apart from the lack of the forecast foul weather, but no complaints on that score). Although I always keep an eye on the map I have generally been hoofing along marked tracks entailing paying attention in a completely different way. The ridge was perfect: the canopy forcing a reliance on map, compass and watch, rather than observation of visible landmarks. The morning provided a gentle introduction and the afternoon a little more challenge. It is also relatively forgiving in that marked tracks are generally not too far away and many spurs look navigable (although I wouldn't recommend dropping into Tait's Stream).

The Coal Stream track is a really good option to and from the main carpark (much better than the grovely bottom section of the Reeves track and providing a good loop trip option). The trip to Tauherenikau which had been in the far recesses of my mind was the icing on the cake.

For future reference I need to get better at estimating travel times through various types of terrain and remembering exactly when I left the last point. At present I am using the altimeter to confirm location but would like to reduce reliance on this.