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.
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