Jenine posts a trip to Burn Hut on Meet-up around Wednesday and I am in two minds. I have been meaning to visit that area for a while and transport is a bit tricky - but on the other hand I do prefer pottering around on my own and not having to worry about group decision making. On a bit of a whim I hit the 'I'm going' button and put my original plan on the back burner.
What: Overnight tramp to Burn Hut
Where: Mangahao, behind Shannon
Why: New hut, new track and hopefully a little bit of navigation
Who: Rodger, Jenine and me
When: 17-18 March 2017
Map: Map
In the end there are just three of us and we get away from Wellington a bit after 1.30pm on Friday. It's a smooth trip north and no problems finding the Mangahao Lower No. 2 reservoir.
We park next to a Mazda 6 by the dam and try to guess who might have headed up the track to the hut ... not really a hunter's car, two coffee cups, children's toys, invoice from Levin shop ...
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| Typo in the second to last line perhaps ... |
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| Janine and Rodger rearing to go |
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| View up the reservoir |
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| And they're off |
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| Down river |
It's a pleasantly sunny day as we head across the dam and into the bush about 4.30. The track runs down the true right of what is left of the Mangahao River - water is piped through the hill to the No 3 reservoir then through another hill to the Mangahao power station while the rest of the river is left to meander north and east to eventually join the Manawatu river shortly before the gorge.
The track is in quite good nick and is easy to follow. A couple of side streams are small enough to mean no wet feet and the last larger one has a bridge. The track turns and climbs under a high canopy, there aren't many view spots although we get a nice wee view at one point up the valley to the tops near the hut.
Our pace is pretty slow so the sun is heading to the horizon as we enter the scrubby 'tops.' We are well below the normal bush line but an old burn means the vegetation has still not fully re-established. Someone has however cut a wide swathe for the track so it is pretty easy going. Although, as the track turns south and west the going gets a little more overgrown. Jenine is taking point and very decently finds all the holes for Rodger and I to avoid.
On the horizon we get a brief glimpse of Mt Taranaki before mist starts rising from the valley.
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| Looking northish - hut is on the spur in the left quarter |
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| Jenine forging ahead |
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| Last of the light behind 'Peak' |
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| Burn hut and the first of the evening clag |
The hut is in sight and less than a kilometer away as the sun sinks below 'Peak', so we arrive in the light around 7.45.
A hunter is well settled in - when we arrive he thoughtfully removes his rifle from the common area and stashes it by his bunk. He turns out to belong to the Mazda ("it's actually the wife's car") and says he is expecting a mate to turn up after milking. Rodger pulls together a very decent con carne, potato, nacho, cheese and sour cream dinner and we chat until a crashing and scrambling indicates his mate and dog have turned up.
He reports that it has clagged right in and the overgrown section of track caused him a couple of moments of indecision trying to find the track, although the dog was quite clear where to go. We now have 5 for a 6 bed hut with a dog in the vestibule. The hut is comfortable and warm despite the rising wind outside. Both hunters are clearly quite familiar with the area and are happy to tell us about their favourite spots.
Outside, the clag is blowing up from the valley below and swirling around the ridge, but above is a clear night sky. It's not a bad wee spot.
There's a bit of a moment when the young dog gets a bit excited and bites Jenine. It's quite a chomp but no broken skin. The owner is mortified and whenever anyone heads towards the door he is quickly on hand to keep the dog in check. It has a bit of a jump at me at one point also but no harm done. It does, however confirm my view that dogs don't belong in busy huts and if they are near a hut they should be well trained or kept away from others.
The next morning is grey but the weather forecast indicates that we should be ok before a southerly change and rising wind and spot of rain in the afternoon. Having studied the map I'm interested in an option that Rodger has also identified - following the track towards College Stream then leave it to follow the ridge south for about 2km to come down the Puketurua track.
The hunters indicate that this should be fine and that the Puketurua track is well traveled. The ridge looks gentle and straight forward to navigate but it will be the ground cover that might be the kicker. The hunters also suggest the section down College Stream may be a bit slow going. We decide to head to the ridge and make a call when we get there.
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| Rodger set for the weather |
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| Burn Hut catches a patch of sun |
Clag is scudding across the ridges and we are periodically in cloud. There's a short, gentle climb from the hut to what looks like a trail leading left towards Taramea (and maybe north along the ridge beyond?) then the track skirts along the ridge in a southerly direction.
We are keeping an eye out for an obvious trail to follow along the main ridge but end up just over shooting it. Rodger spots it when we back track a few meters - it skirts around the west side of a wee knob before the saddle to 835. The ground trail is a bit over grown but shows signs that it has been cleared at some time in the distant past.
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| Jenine is somewhere in the scrub there |
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| Easy going at last |
There are quite a few spots where the trail across open scrub is difficult to follow and we end up finding our own way. There's also a bit of bush with occasional old tape markers.
It's not too bad travel overall but there is a fair amount of pushing through scrub and some scrambling required. On the plus side the cloud lifts and the day becomes warm and pleasant. The wind drops and shifts to the south but it remains calm.
Approaching the top of the Puketurua track there is a wide cut swathe along the ridge and the going gets easier. The top of the track is not so easy to find though as it is somewhat overgrown - not quite what the hunters indicated. However, it follows a clear spur down so it is pretty straight forward. When we reach the tree line the going gets easier again and we potter on downwards.
There are a couple of spots where we cast about briefly for the track but the spur is quite well formed and it's pretty easy to follow. Jenine and Rodger have GPS apps on their phones so I don't even have to get the compass out.
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| First glimpse of the top reservoir down Pakaturua spur |
There are some old school markers but no orange triangles - on my 2011 topo paper map the track is marked and named but I note that the online topo map has dropped the name. I assume it is no longer being maintained as a track - however given that it is still on the map I take the opportunity to whip out the bush saw and do a bit of track clearing on the way.
Lower on the spur someone has done ridiculously extensive marking with blue spray paint for downwards not upwards travel. The bottom of the spur steepens and we are soon clambering down hanging off roots and saplings. At the bottom the track emerges at Baber forks - a sign points up College Creek to the track we could have taken (Mack's track) and orange triangles give us the choice of following the stream down to the reservoir or sidling through the bush.
I'm feeling a bit guilty about enjoying the off track sections which haven't been as much fun for everyone so volunteer to go on ahead and bring the car up from the lower reservoir. There's not much point everyone walking the 4km of road.
The reservoir is reasonably full so the hunters suggestion that we cross to the track on the other side is not a goer and there is no space to skirt along the shore - the sidle track is not too bad although I miss the start of it and cast about in the bush a little before hooking on to it. Rodger and Janine later report the same experience. It's a short way to the dam with a brief pause to clear the branches around a tree fall.
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| No 1 Reservoir |
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| Looking back up the reservoir to our ridge |
At the dam there are three cars so the road is clearly navigable. I divest a few layers and trot up the road in the afternoon sun. Just short of the 2nd dam there are a couple of hunters heading up the road so I pick them up on the way back. It turns out they heard us go by on the track this morning and have just come back down the way we came in yesterday. They say there is a large family party heading up to the hut so I suspect our hunters from last night will be re-evaluating how long they stay (especially with kids around the bitey dog).
Back at No 1 reservoir Jenine and Rodger have been waiting in the sun for about 10-15 minutes and sensibly haven't started down the road. Rodger decides to take a quick dip in the dam before we head off for an uneventful trip down the coast.
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