Pinnacle Ridge and Mid King

The weekend forecast is promising some fairly ordinary weather, but with a few weeks away from tramping I'm not about to pass up the chance of getting out. With a bit of thought I string together a clever combination of three pieces of uncharted territory into what looks like an intriguing over-nighter.

The plan is to start at the Holdsworth road end, cross the stream above Donnelly flats and follow Pinnacle Ridge all the way to Baldy then up to South King, then pop along to Middle King and down to Mid King Biv before following the spur down to South Mitre Stream and Mitre Flats Hut. Next, head down river on the Barra track crossing the river at some point to find a way back over to Holdsworth road end. A good proportion of which I have either never been on or not recently.

What:   Navigation trip - supposed to be overnight but ...

Where: Pinnacle Ridge and Middle King

When:  27 May 2017

Why:    Nav practice and some interesting looking routes

Who:    Solo

Map:    Map

It's a bit before 6am and the rain is just starting as I leave a dark Hutt valley and head over the Rimutakas.  At Holdsworth, light is starting to seep in through the clouds so I farf around a bit until it's bright enough to head out without a torch - about 7.25am.  

The bush is wet and still, and the rain is holding off for now. I know which spur I'm heading for and assume there will be some ground trail - but have no idea where to cross the stream.  In the end I pick a point just before the intersection where two tracks head back to the car park. In retrospect there is likely to be a better spot further along.  It's not too bad travel through the bush on on the true left - albeit with wet boots from the stream - and eventually a few markers indicate a way on to the spur.  This soon develops into a full blown track with frequent markers; from antique to recent. At the bottom there are breaks in the canopy giving views back down valley and up towards Powell Hut (invisible today).

Well marked

Down valley across Donnelly Flats ... probably

It's very pleasant open bush with a well formed trail that climbs steadily but gently.

At one point on the way up an old Forest Service sign is propped by the track - it clearly indicates something significant used to be here somewhere - perhaps an old park boundary?

At about 0900 travel along the ridge is far quicker than expected and I'm approaching Pt 846.  There should be a fairly obvious trail towards Pinnacle via a saddle - and sure enough there is.  Complete with a liberal scattering of markers and home made signs.

Beautifully crafted (marking the route I came up)

The route north along Pinnacle Ridge - also well  marked

About quarter of an hour later there is another intersection with some more beautifully hand crafted signs providing advice about getting to Atiwhakatu hut down a spur (well marked) and back to the intersection at Pt 846.

They've even angled the sign to let you know it goes downhill

Fewer people travel the section towards Baldy but it's still well marked and good travel.  There are a few spots where I wander off the trail but quickly work back onto it again. There's quite a bit of fairly flat travel to get to the saddle about 0950 - 2 hr 25 from the car - possibly faster than the valley track.

A marker on the Barra track is scratched to indicate where to find the turnoff to Pinnacle Ridge.

I'm a good hour ahead of schedule so am starting to think that completing the loop in a day is on the cards - it will mean a bit of torch light travel towards the end but ... worth a crack.

However, there is now the small matter of climbing 650m up Baldy then another 280m to South King. At least the first part is under cover.

To the south-west the bushline around Jumbo hut is mostly just below the clag but I don't spot the hut.  Underfoot the track is benefiting from a DOC sponsored trim - relatively recent given the state of the fern fronds and astelia blades that litter the ground.

At 10.25 the bush gives way to the tops; a chance to pause, grab a bite, break out gloves and have a look around.  A steady drizzle is falling and the view drifts in and out as the surrounding clag thickens and thins.  Pinnacle ridge is somewhere far below and almost indistinguishable.

From the bushline looking south

It's cold and wet on the tops but the northwester is not so bad with the ridgeline far above providing some shelter. Visibility drops as I climb and I 'm glad of my new windstopper gloves. Everything not actually underneath my rain coat is soon sopping wet.  Without a view there's nothing to do but put the head down and plod on up.

A possible side trip to the Broken Axe Pinnacles is completely off the cards now - even if I hadn't been looking to compress the trip to one day, these conditions aren't really conducive to scrambling around slick, sheer rock and tussock.

At the ridge, the wind is delighted to gain unrestricted access to my left ear and glasses lens. One layer under my raincoat is starting to feel a little light. It's not far to Middle King though so I keep moving; sidling below South King and heading through the lumpy saddle to Middle King.  In the low visibility it feels completely unlike the last time through. The wooden sign to the biv is a welcome sight; confirming I am exactly where I thought I was.

The right turn rapidly drops me below the ridge line and the rain and wind suddenly fade away - the clag - not so much.  The ground trail comes and goes - it is a little less formed than I am expecting but the spur is generally pretty obvious so it is quickly found again when you wander off. It is slow going but eventually the trail approaches the bushline and I make out an orange triangle. At the triangle I note there is a ground trail leading left back to the spine of the spur and to the right - down and along the bushline. I follow right and soon am ducking into the bush to follow a marked track to the biv.

Mid King Biv - built by the Forest Service in case you didn't know

The cheerful orange biv is in a delightful bushy spot with a branch of Baldy Creek cascading down from the basin above.  It's a little messy with a fire pit beside a nearby rock and a bit of detritus from less than careful tenants but it would be a great place to wake in the morning.  I almost regret that I'm not stopping for the night but at 12.25 it's a little early.

There is enough cell reception to push out a message indicating that I will probably try to get out tonight then time to sit down and have a bite to eat.

The hut is evidently looked after by a bunch of ex Forest Service workers.  It would originally have been used by deer cullers and they are keen to let everyone know that it is in such good nick because of their conscientious efforts.  And good on them.

In the end I stop for almost half an hour before heading out into the rain. I'm not quite sure how to regain the spur but in the end elect for following the track back to the bushline and keeping an eye out for side trails heading in the right direction.  I don't see any and end up climbing back to the first orange triangle on the bush edge and the trail I had noticed earlier - sure enough this leads up to the spur and dives back into the bush with a well trod trail to follow.  There are sporadic pink tape markers and once I get my eye in - more frequent rock markers on logs.

It is generally quite an easy going trail down the spur. Around 800m and below there are places where it is not so easy to find and the spur face flattens or splits but by keeping an eye out for cairns and tape and half an eye on the compass it is not too bad to follow the spur until the sounds of streams on both sides drifts up from below.

Eventually the trail drops off a terrace and joins Baldy creek near a well built cairn. A few meters downstream I work my way onto terraces on the true right of South Mitre stream which is vigorous enough that I don't fancy following the stream bed.  The trails come and go and eventually I cross to avoid scrambling to avoid a bluffy section - as I slop out of the midthigh deep stream and up the bank I stumble onto the cables for the swingbridge to Barton track.  Sweet.

A few minutes later fresh boot prints on the track indicate I won't be the only person at Mitre Flats hut. Sure enough three chaps from Wanganui Tramping club are in for the weekend having come up the Barra track from The Pines.  It's about 2.15; an hour 25 after leaving the Biv.

The log book indicates we are the first visitors in 2 weeks - I find this hard to believe but have noticed before that despite its size and location, this hut doesn't seem to get a lot of visitors. Flicking back through the pages I find my entry from December and add a note to indicate that I managed to complete that trip.

What with a bit of a chat and filling in the log book, 20 minutes have drifted away before I turn south to follow the Barra track down river.

I  pause briefly on the swing bridge to look up river to the slip where, about 30 years ago, I spent a cold night bivvied behind the roots of a tree after the boys brigade trip I was on missed the track in the dark.  Valuable lesson learnt.

From the Mitre swing bridge to the slip

A little over two hours later I'm approaching the road end (The Pines) and plotting my next move.  In theory I should be able to cross the river on a marked bridge, follow a 4WD track up towards Winzenburg Hill then drop through a low saddle to follow a stream down to the Holdsworth road end.  As it is approaching 5 on a decidedly wet and dull day there is no chance that this will be completed in daylight.

The bridge turns out to be blocked by a 3m high steel gate decorated with barbed wire - with a handy gap for agile trampers prepared to do a bit of scrambling.  On the other side the 4WD track is easy to find and climbs rapidly to a mature pine block.  The track is easy to follow under the trees although before long the head torch is necessary.

My map shows a 4WD track heading into the saddle below Pinnacle but in the dark and clag I can't find a sign of it - the less desirable route is a marked 4WD track up a spur to the east to the ridge top (this has been taken off the online topo maps). This degenerates and disappears. I'm left struggling through gorse and scrub in a wretched effort to get to the ridge - the only consultation is that the map indicates more mature bush on the other side.

On the ridge I have no clue where exactly I am but am content to take a bearing which I know will drop me into a stream leading to the Holdsworth car park. A fence is buried in the scrub at about the point I expect and on the other side are larger trees and more sparse undergrowth, The southerly blasts cold clag into the bush.

Scrambling down hill and out of the gorse is a relief.  Before long the trickle of water gives me a route to follow without having to think too hard. The bush has rich humus and all that delightful rotten wood that makes travel more interesting.

Part way down, the strap on my torch comes loose as I'm scrambling down a tiny water fall - a branch takes advantage of the momentary distraction to flick the glasses off my face and somewhere into the darkness. This is more than somewhat aggravating.

Fixing the torch is easy but it's the last time I buy one from Katmandu. Being careful where I step I systematically extract rotten branches from the trickle - inspecting them from 6 inches before throwing them away. No glasses.  Next I comb the bed and surrounding banks - from 6 inches away. No glasses. About this point I'm contemplating bush bashing down stream by braille but that doesn't help once I get to the car.  I start casting more widely and with immense relieve the blue glasses legs in a puddle catch my eye - just slightly upstream from where I expected.

It takes a while to get to the mouth of the stream - the usual amount of log jambs and scrambles and the odd weta hanging off the log I want to grovel under. An odd shape in the stream bed turns out to be a water supply intake. I follow the pipe and am soon on a trail which takes a surprisingly long time to work down valley to some water tanks then some DOC sheds. Then another long wander along a gravel road down to the camp ground.

At 8.35 - after a bit over 13 hours on the go - the rain is just holding off while I peel off sodden gear to chuck it in the boot.

Brother number one is happy to receive a late visitor in desperate need of a shower and hot food. Fortunately Janne has a fresh pot of delicious ham-hock and barley soup which restores the inner man before the outer man is rendered more socially acceptable.

A wonderful wee loop trip apart from the last bit. Probably better done as a two day trip returning by finding a way up to 800 then Pinnacle.