Smiths Creek

A bit of a non-event this weekend. Some misbegotten cartographer placed a spot on a terrace on the other side of Smith's Creek from the track. A rotten weather forecast indicates the perfect time to knock this one off - and reduce the remaining tally to 18.

You reach Smith's Creek from the Kaitoke road end north of Upper Hutt - a traditional route into the Tararuas. It's the closest to Wellington,  giving good access to the hills. Generations of trampers have caught the Upper Hutt express and pooled funds for a taxi, or crammed into the club truck to be disgorged in the carpark late on a Friday afternoon.

The marked tracks take you either up Marchant Ridge towards the Southern Crossing, or over the Puffer Saddle to Smith's Creek and down to the Tauherenikau Valley.

I've whistled up and down that track many times but only noticed pt 270 when I took a serious look at the spot heights I haven't picked up yet. The good thing is that it will be a short trip on a good track with just a little bit of thrashing around off track.

What: Half day trip spot heighting
Where: Smith's Creek
When: 24 Feb 2019
Who: Solo
Map
　

The weather forecast is for heavy rain so I keep putting the trip off until 1pm on Sunday when the rain has really set in. That's also the time I remember that the car wipers are on the blink - I'll have to take the soft top.

The road end at Kaitoke is much improved now it's by the Kiwi Ranch gate. Back in the day, the rutted track and clay parking area up the hill was more like the tip face at Porirua landfill in the 1970s. The wee white car would not have coped at all well with it.

As it is, there's water running across the parking area. Unsurprisingly there are no other vehicles.

It's 2.45 when I trot through the rain into the bush. About half an hour later I'm at the saddle having managed not to fall over on the greasy wet yellow clay. There's a stream running down the track and I'm glad to have my walking poles (well, trotting poles).

The track sidles gently down for a long while before dropping more steeply to a creek. I check the map and trot down valley veering off track to follow the next sizable stream down to Smith's Creek. I meet it at the intended point and have to treat it with a little respect as it is considerably up (but nowhere near risky).

I find the next stream junction and take a bearing for spot height 270. It turns out to be on an old terrace which is sizable but covered in wind fall, so not really a camping spot. I thrash around for a while but there are no obvious knobs so eventually accept that I've crossed it and head back and across the creek.

With an uncanny knack I have chosen an area of regrowth and dense undergrowth where the track has sidled a little way up the hill - it takes a while to grovel back onto it and I'm missing my tramping boots by the time I get there. Running shoes don't really cut it in this stuff.

The rain has eased by before I clear the saddle and start jogging back to the car. The trotting poles are really useful on the slippery sections but occasionally catch the undergrowth and do their best to scuttle between my legs.

About 1hr 50 after leaving I'm peeling off sopping kit and chucking it in a rubbish bag in the boot. All done and just the drive home.

Mitre day trip

I realised the other day that I had never actually climbed the highest peak in the Tararuas.

This will appear barely credible given my unhealthy obsession with spot heights, but let me explain. For years I thought I had been over Mitre (1571) in the course of a northern crossing with some school mates. However, Richard maintains that we took a different route. Normally I would be the first to cast nasturtiums on the reliability of Richard's grey matter, but in the absence of any firm memories on my part I'm going to have to go with his notoriously tenuous grasp on reality.

I reckon I can knock it off in a day trip so I dust off the trail runners and plan a Sunday sortie.


What:   Day trip up Mitre
When:  Sunday 17 Feb 2019
Where: Tararuas - The Pines road end
Who:     Solo
Map

There's a few cars in the park as I leave the car and start trotting up the gravel road at about 7.15am. There's a nice new DOC shelter although not really designed to sleep in, it would provide protection from the elements whilst waiting for a pickup.

It's an overcast and mild morning and the first couple of Kms are along farm roads so I can trot along. After that there's a foot trail which leads to the bush edge. From there it is the ubiquitous Tararua sidle track. Up and down and in and out of wee creeks and spurs with the river somewhere below.

There's nothing to report of the trip in apart from a brief sortie off the track due to inattention. A bit under 1hr 40 later I arrive at Mitre Flats Hut.

Waingawa swing bridge South Mitre Stream opposite

A couple from Wellington are in residence and having a leisurely morning - they are tenting with their dog for a couple of days and doing local day trips. I fill in the log (checking to see if my previous entries are still there - they are), top up my water and head for the track up the hill.

Mitre Flats

I'm not fit enough to run 1200m up a mountain so just try to keep a steady pace. Just on the bushline I catch up with a couple from Masterton who have full weekend packs and are heading through to Tarn Ridge or Dorset huts. We have a good yarn about this and that - they are spending their holidays at home this year and picking up some local tramps.

I head on up as clouds start to gather around the ridge.

On the way up - looking back down the Waingawa valley

Starting to clag in

At 1045 I'm at the top - it's cooled down, there's a little breeze and the clag has come in. As I sit and have a bite to eat there's a few spots of rain. I drag my jacket on send a few texts in recognition of the momentous occasion. With no view and my body temperature starting to drop I turn for the long trot out.

Not much of a view

The second couple are nearing the top and I stop to chat again. I suspect they are slightly demoralised by our relative rates of travel - but you can hardly expect to compare someone in running shoes and day pack with full tramping kit. We are all kitted up now and although not really raining the clag is so soggy that the ground and tussock is getting quite damp.

The visibility is reduced enough that I'm wary of wandering off the side of the spur. The trail is mostly pretty easy to follow with the odd cairn, but in a couple of spots I have to cast around a bit - no recourse to the map and compass needed though.

Back in the bush a few spots of rain start coming through and continue pretty much all the way down.

Part way down I bump into couple number one who have decided to totter up the hill avec chien. I disabuse them of any hope off a view and leave them to it. An hour 22 after arriving at the top I reach the flats and pop back to the hut. Not sure how long I spent at the top but probably 15-20 minutes.

I note my exit in the log and start heading out. 

The swing bridge is a couple of minutes from the hut and (as I always do) I pause to look at the slip that I spent an uncomfortable night on during a Boys Brigade trip so long ago.

Slip just down stream of the hut - not recommended for camping

The trip out is as uneventful as the trip in apart from having to give way to a party of five coming in. It's about an hour 10 from the bridge to the park boundary, then another 24 minutes to the car.




I note a bunch of markers about 15 minutes from the boundary that could indicate a track up onto Blue Range. I dropped off the range in the dark a bit further back up the track from here after a bit of an epic day trip sometime back. The markers could be something interesting (for someone else) to investigate.

Park boundary

The rain doesn't seem to have got out of the foot hills and the road is dry as I trot back to the car. It's just on 2pm - making the whole trip 6hr 45.

Postscript

Another one down and 19 to go.

I haven't done any jogging recently so was happy that I could keep a reasonable albeit not competitive pace throughout. I have no idea about distance although I think I saw a sign that said 8km to the hut so, allowing say 4km to the top that would be about 24km all up. A good wee day trip.

Ngawhakaraua

Ngawhakaraua - if you pronounce it even half way correctly it has a certain rhythm to it. There used to be a settlement of that name on the Manawatu River but I have no idea how the name came to be associated with a scrubby knob in the north eastern Tararuas.

Last week I found my way to the mysterious Miro Valley Hut and slightly less mysterious Mangahao Biv. This week I want to explore the ridge system to the south west.

A series of gnarly spurs drop south to the Mangahao River - with recent rain the river won't be an option for travel. There's two named 'peaks' on the ridge - Ngawhakaraua and Mairehau - but I haven't heard of anyone visiting them. It's not on the way to anywhere so I suspect it will just be the odd hunter that cruises through. I'm hoping there are some trails up there but have a feeling it's going to be leatherwood central.

There's 9 spot heights that I want to visit - I'll never knock that many new Tararua spots off in a trip again on account of having only 20 to go after this trip.

There's a number of challenges to this trip - the fore-mentioned vegetation, the four spots on steep side spurs that defy an elegant route plan, no water on the tops, and I'm not sure about access.

What:     Navigation, spot-heighting, and scrub bashing
Where:   Ridge system south west of Mangahao Biv
Who:      Solo
When:    2 February
Map

Previous trips in purple

I drive to the end of Kopikopiko Road - there's a farm house but clearly not a regular residence. There's no public area to park so I figure I had better find the proper farm house and ask about access. This proves to be a couple of Ks back north along the road.

The farm manager is relatively new but is obliging - he gets me to sign farm safety forms and gives me instructions for parking behind the house and for finding the trail which is some way across the farm. He also asks that I text in when I get out.

Back along the road again and I park through a gate with a 'No trespassing' sign. With all the driving around it's after 9.

Despite listening carefully I can't make out where the trail starts - however I find something that looks rightish but proves definitely wrongish as I end up in a scrub gully. I give up and follow the farmland up disturbing 5 deer on the way.

Eventually after a bit of supple jack I find ribbons that lead up and onto the ridge I went up last time to get to Mangahao Biv. I don't deviate down any of the side spurs this time and work my way to 531. The spur down looks quite obvious so I expect to see a bit of a trail but there isn't really any. I see deer sign though and just about bump into one of the culprits - it's about 8m away when it sees me and explodes away.

The spur loses shape towards the bottom so it's a bit of a bash with some sidling to avoid getting bluffed. At the bottom there's a good sized creek which I follow to the top of a water fall - Climbing the other bank I discover I'm on a knife edge spur between two creeks (you can see it on the map). It is in the process of being eroded by both streams so is (geologically) a temporary feature. I teeter along the top before finding a way to scramble down to the other creek.

I follow the creek down to the Mangahao River. Which is up and an unpleasant murky brown - the same colour as last time basically.

I've arrived just above one of the gorge sections I swam up - from here the river flows deep and inky against the rock face and disappears around the corner. I don't know if I would be game to swim down it unless I knew what was around that bend.

Start of the spur up

Looking down

It's a bit before 1pm so the day is getting on and I haven't got to any spots yet. The next bit is an insane route basically bashing up and off spurs with no finesse at all. This is navigation by brute force.

I had thought the spur to 450 and 613 would be easy at the bottom. Not so - the bottom is hairy; a sharp but crumbling edge with kiekie and scrub to grovel through. If you must do this one I suggest heading up the true right of the side stream for 100-200m.

Once past the bottom the vegetation is better and I break onto a lovely little knob with a few big trees, but clear enough to see.




Probably 450 - looking down the Mangahao (east)

Nameless waterfall

The valley to the northwest drains off Ngawhakaraua and is precipitous - you would not want to follow any of these water courses up or down.

There's a bit of scrub but it's pretty good up to 613. I scare a stag that checks me out before trotting down into the scrub - it's 2.30 and I stop for a bite and to study the landscape.

I'm planning to drop off the side of the spur then smash up the other side to 710. There is no obvious route - it all looks steep and nasty. An alternative is to drop to the Mangahao and come at 651 from the south - but I'm not about to tackle that river when it's up.

The descent is steep and I'm hanging off the vegetation much of the time, but by 3.10pm I'm standing in another sizable creek.

The climb is steady and starts with kiekie, once above the creek there is a lot of scrub but a fair amount of animal trails that help.

pt 613 and the face I came down 

About 4.30 I'm at 710. It's clear I won't be getting to the tops tonight so I have a sit and think. The cunning plan is to drop north off 651 then follow the creek to the spur below 782 and find a spot to camp. There's cell phone reception to I text in the plan change.

Near 710

710 - looking north to the ridge, Ngawhakaraua on right 

Another deer checks me out from about 50m away in the scrub, it doesn't shift until I start moving towards it - maybe not so many hunters around here. I find an old shot gun cartridge that suggests someone has been about.

The drop is as scrubby and bushlawyery as expected. I find a wee stream and follow it to the main stream. About 6.30pm I reach the junction that must be the spur to 782. The valley is narrow but I manage to find a spot to camp after a bit of rock gardening (you have to make your bed before you lie in it).

Junction 782

It still takes me longer than it should to pitch the fly. However with a clear forecast I'm relaxed about pitching it high and am quite satisfied with my efforts. It's a comfortable night although this close to the creek it's very loud and I doubt I'll hear my alarm.

I wake before it's light and have breakfast in bed. By the time I head off it's 6.50am - not early but a reasonable start.

At the junction there's no indications of trails so there's only one way to go - straight up. There's a few scrambles but soon I'm in the scrub with the morning sun warming my back. Pt 782 is in scrub and I am disappointed to find that there is no trail along the ridge. At first there are some clearings and patches of horopito but before long it's a grind through leather wood as I climb towards 830.

This part of the ridge has a wide flat top and some really big leatherwood, although I zigzag about I never find any useful trails - it's basically all hard work.

I struggle over an undistinguished knob that must be Mairehau - goodness knows why anyone bothered naming it. But that could just be scrub fever talking.

A view along another part of this benighted ridge  

Looking toward Ngawhakaraua

To cut a long, bloody and painful story short I struggle onto Ngawhakaraua at about 12.30. The day is scorching, I'm a bit over halfway along the ridge, running low on water and knackered. I crawl into a wee patch of shade to have lunch.

Damn near knocked off by the bugger

Spur with 710 in middle ground

East to the Wairarapa

Ngawhakaraua is a little off the ridge line - I drop off the side a little too soon and find myself in a hellish little gully 20m below the ridge - it takes a while to extricate myself.

I have to stay on the ridge until 749 (the last spot for the trip) before I can drop to find water and hopefully some canopy. The scrub seems to get worse.

Back to Ngawhakaraua - about an hour 45 travel

The soul destroying view forward 

Gentians - I think

At pt 749 I am absolutely fed up. As soon as possible I smash down out of the scrub and surprisingly quickly am in the shade of trees and soon following a series of puddles. Once they are big enough I lie face down in the wee creek and drink my fill.

There's a noise behind me and I turn to see a stag 20m up the bank - it shies away but then comes back a couple of times. It disappears for good when I head in his direction.

The bush is mixed but at least it isn't scrub - the downsides are having to sidle through every gully and trying to work out when I'm on the spur down to the saddle - harder than you'd think. I overshoot but figure things out and drop down a wee creek before crossing back to the correct spur. Like last time coming up, I'm not 100% sure where the trail up to the biv runs - I still reckon it crosses to that next spur north.

The amount of daylight left is becoming an issue - in theory I should be able to whistle down in quick order having travelled up this way twice now. Yeah right. I manage to drift off line and follow every false trail on the entire ridge. Pretty much every spur has a ribboned trail running down it and most of them are better marked than the main ridge.

Looking back I suspect I was suffering the after affects of dehydration with a soupcon of 'get-home-fever.' Despite the waning light it would have been quicker to slow down and look at the compass more. Belatedly I do just that and find my way down to a series of clearings on the sharp spur I thought I should have come up yesterday. The ribbons run out again - I cast about and find they've taken a right angle turn off the spur - oh well, at this point any trail is going to get to the farmland so I follow a good trail down.

I hit the farm over a kilometre south west of my target and have a long walk through deep grass to where I should have come out. When I get there I can sort of see what the farmer was telling me yesterday to find the way up but it isn't that obvious. There's a wee climb up a farm track to the terrace then a trudge across more paddocks to the car.

At 8.50 it is quite dim and I have the headlights on as I head down the road. The farm manager acknowledges the text I send and must think I'm slightly crazy given the time.

Postscript

I'm sure someone famous once said - just because it's possible it doesn't mean it's a good idea.

If you must climb Ngawhakaraua (and it is worth it just to say the name) my money is on a rear assault up the 450/613 spur. The descent from 531 has it's moments at the bottom - but if you prefer swimming up the gorges it's up to you.

Find a better route onto the bottom of the spur than I did (perhaps 150m up the side creek?). I found the going ok up to pt 613 - after that you're on your own - it will be scrubby but at least it's direct.

The route I took successfully took in all the desired spots but it was a bit tough in places. The trip along the ridge was occasionally quite pleasant ... very, very occasionally. If you want to do that one - remember; no water and don't wear shorts.