This will be my first tramp with others in a while and I'm a bit reticent about going out in such a big group. However, I've never got around to the top of Ruapehu before and also figure there's a fair amount of learning to be had.
What: Wander up Ruapehu
Where: WTMC Lodge, Iwikau
Why: Not been to the top before
Who: A million WTMCers
When: 11 March 2017
Map: Map
One of the reasons for going on so few club trips becomes apparent during the course of the preceding week. The weather forecast deteriorates and although it's clear we won't be getting to the top, the relentless momentum generated by the complex logistics of getting 24 people up, accommodated and fed means there trip will proceed. I'll also note at the outset that the weather meant I left my phone in my pack all weekend so no photos I'm afraid.
Bang on the dot of 10 minutes late we leave platform 9 and head north for the traditional Friday afternoon traffic jamb up the Kapiti coast. I have claimed a seat in the back corner of the van and settle in for a long trip.
The new Kapiti express way seems to be working admirably as we have no hold ups and a smooth trip north, with the usual stop at the Kebab shop in Bulls. Mike has the foresight to ring his van's orders ahead so their food is ready when they arrive. We continue in the dark arriving at Iwikau (Top of the Bruce) a bit after 10pm. It's drizzling as we stand around in our coats while the person in the hut fails to wake to repeated banging on the doors and windows.
Someone eventually climbs in a window and we claim our bunk rooms. I'm sharing with Mike and Tony and have remembered my ear plugs so have a comfortable night.
In the morning the weather looks very settled - solid rain, close clag and a bit of wind. The lodge is at about 1600m so the wind at the top (1000m or so higher) is likely to be fearsome. As Mike cheerfully points out: "Ruapehu is protected from the weather by Mount Taranaki in the west and the Kaikouras in the south."
Tony and Mike pick some lower altitude walks with a view to some sodden exercise and possibly views of water falls and lakes. Mike takes a van load down to a walk to some waterfalls near National Park and I elect to follow Tony and six others on a longer walk to Tama lakes.
We leave the van at the Tama track entrance and set off, well wrapped against the elements. Despite the weather there is a fair few other people on the very well formed Taranaki falls upper track. Pretty soon the rain has dropped away and we're stopping to peel off layers.
The track sidles through gentle landscape and some nice bush, but mostly open tussock and scrub. We stop briefly above Taranaki falls but don't go down as we will likely be taking that track on the return.
The track meanders and climbs with none of the streams looking particularly swollen (Tony guesses that they are more locally fed and the rain is further up the mountain). It feels a bit weird to be relying on someone else for navigation and decision making but it's a good opportunity to watch and learn from an experienced tramper.
Where the track reaches the edge of the explosion crater around Lower Tama lake we scramble down and grab a bite of lunch before heading across the wide, flat and bare crater bottom to the lake edge. Despite the clag the water is blue. A creek flows into the crater but disappears into the flat bottom before reaching the lake - and the lake itself has no outlet so there is apparently some considerable underground drainage at work.
At the lake edge we skirt to the north before heading up the east wall at a spot Tony knows, although it isn't marked on the map or obvious from a distance. This takes us on a steep scramble to the top. The wind has picked up and intermittent showers come through.
There's no problems with timing; the party isn't fast but Tony obviously figures that the weather is settled enough and the party capable enough to head up to the Upper Tama lake. We head north up the spur to 1450, sidle along the east face before crossing to drop down a stream to the south shore of the upper lake.
The clag is still close around the peaks but down by the lake is more sheltered from the wind. Time is still good so we decide to circumnavigate the lake. There are indications that others have done this although we get to a section on the western shore where the bank drops steeply to the water. There seems to be some indication that a trail climbs up the crater wall to get around the section. I watch the leaders scrambling up and decide to do a reccy nearer the waterline, sure enough there's a slightly acrobatic but quite feasible route around.
As I sit in the comfortable moss waiting for the others to complete their scramble I contemplate the decision to depart from the group line to follow a path with a slightly higher chance of a slip but with significantly reduced severity of resulting harm. It's the line that I would follow on my own but perhaps I should have just gone with the group. On balance though we were never far apart so I reckon it was within reasonable bounds of finding the route that suits you best without putting others at risk.
We continue around a sandy than bouldery shoreline with wavelets lapping at our boots until we reach another section where the beach disappears. I'm not so keen on following the lead group into thigh deep water, and this time find a well formed foot trail along the bank above. This takes us comfortably around the rest of the lake and up the west side.
The track doesn't seem to be official but is clearly reasonably well used. I can only assume that people are either heading towards Ngauruhoe just a couple kilometers away or east to pick up the Waihohonu-Oturere track.
The clag closes in and the wind rises as we climb out of the crater to rejoin the upper end of the marked trail we left before lunch. The going gets easier, as we drop down and we are soon following the well formed track back to Taranaki falls.
Tony and I are bringing up the rear and stop to chat with a couple of women who are on the around-the-mountain trail. They sound like they are from the US and one of them has three vertical lines tattooed on her chin. I wonder if some native American tribes have a similar practice for facial tattoos for women as Maori moko. If so I imagine she would get a pretty positive reception in New Zealand.
The falls are pretty with a sizable stream dropping off a lava bluff through a narrow slot. Most of the party clamber in behind to be immersed in the spray and be close to the force of the crashing water.
The track then follows a tongue of forest down along Wairere stream before sidling through more open country with views of the Chateau and back to the van. The weather has considerably cleared and it is apparent that down country has been much better than the slopes of the mountain.
All up, 8 pretty easy going hours and despite the clag and a bit of rain some quite pretty country side. A good day walk.
The next morning is claggy and rainy again. After tidying the lodge and packing, Tony takes a group of 14 with the intention of wandering up through the ski-field and possibly as far as the bottom of the glacier. (I couldn't find a name for it on the map - it's a little one that feeds the stream that runs through the ski-field). Mike takes the remainder to either walk the Old Coach Road or sit in an Ohakune cafe.
A 4WD track takes us up to the top of the first chair and to the stream beyond (top end of the Whakapapanui stream). Visibility is low so we keep the group reasonably close together. It's difficult to picture the landscape as I normally see it - covered in snow and skiers.
We roughly follow the spur up until first an implement shed then the cafe loom out of the clag. The lee of the cafe is a chance to regroup and add a layer. From here we follow the line of the Knoll Ridge T Bar to the top with a brief pause to cram into the emergency shelter for lunch.
Above the T Bar we come across the first snow - it's a bit hard on top so most of the party stick to the rocks as we sidle and climb a short way to a snow field with a stream flowing out of it. This is close enough to the bottom of the glacier for our purposes so we stand around in the rain for a bit contemplating what it might look like in something better than 20m visibility. We're probably at a little under 2300m so it would be just a 300m climb to the summit plateau with nothing to see. And probably a bit of a risky scramble on icy snow to get there.
Retracing our steps is of course somewhat quicker with just a little bit of casting around to find the best way down the spur to the true right of the waterfall. The volcanic rock is incredibly grippy compared to the Tararua streams I am more accustomed to, so you can boulder hop quite comfortably.
Back at the lodge we change in the vestibule to minimise the need to tidy up then scamper back through the rain to the van.
Mike is just picking up the other party when we get to Ohakune so we convene for a pretty good late lunch at the Mountain Rocks Cafe.
The trip home is uneventful and it's still daylight when we arrive in Wellington. Not my usual weekend trip and the weather was pretty awful but quite enjoyable.
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