Pohangina River

A long weekend and plenty more Ruahines to explore. This time I move my sights just a little further north to explore part of the Pohangina River from the east side of the range.

I've been finding it takes noticeably more effort to plan Ruahine trips. I've figured that it's because the Tararua maps are so familiar you don't need to think about times and conditions in many places and just mentally skip over them to concentrate on the unknowns. When it's all unknowns you have to make many more conscious estimates about terrain, vegetation (mostly a bit horrible), river size, track condition ...

On this trip I underestimate the size of the Pohangina river, overestimate the difficulty of some stream travel and completely change the plan, but still do most of what I set out to do.


What:    Wander around various huts, tracks and streams in the southern Ruahines.
Where:   Stanfield Hut, Pohangina River ... etc.
When:    28 - 30 September 2019
Who:      Solo
Maps:     I wandered all over the place so they are in no particular order but if you insist: 2, 3, 2, 4, 2.

As I head north from Woodville the clouds over the Range indicate that the winds are going to be fierce on the tops. Despite a lot of the road signs being vandalised I find my way to the end of Tamaki West Road.

Could be a bit windy

There's a car in the small parking area already - a chap potters over and inquires about my intentions and exhibits a bit of knowledge of the area. Turns out he lives on the other side of the Range and is in for a short day walk with (possibly) his partner who shows a slightly less than keen demeanor towards the whole enterprise. He notes that there is no longer a bridge over the river at Mid Pohangina Hut (although still marked on the online topo map) but that I should be ok with the two river crossings I have planned for the day.

They head off before me and I get myself ready as the car rocks in the wind. It's about 9.15 am as I head out.

A few minutes from the road end across a wee creek there is a picnic area and then an old toilet block. Shortly after there is a choice of heading up river, across river to Holmes Ridge or up to the Main Ridge and Traverse Shelter (A frame). I start the climb around 9.30 on a good track that zigzags up through reasonable bush.

It's almost a 700m climb and I catch up with the couple on the way. The wind is ever present but no worries below the canopy - I'm soon in cloud.

Towards the top the track breaks in and out of scrub and the wind starts to become something to be reckoned with. Finally I pop out on the side of a road and full exposure to the elements. It's tempting to call it a 4WD track but you could pretty much take your town car along it. It has all the hall marks of going somewhere important but the map indicates that it peters out 4 or 5 kms south west along the ridge. It enters the Range from the west side at Takapari Road (and bears that name on the signs).

I reach Traverse Shelter around 10.35 - it's a sadly run down and abused A frame. It looks like DOC has wisely decided to abandon its upkeep. The calibre of some of the visitors is pretty low judging by the vacuous anti-1080 graffiti on the walls.

Traverse Shelter

It provides shelter from the elements as I rug up for the wind and cold. My route now takes me north east up the Range with the road meandering and rolling along with always another wee rise or corner emerging out of the cloud.

At 1170 there is a sign to Stanfield Hut (single track continuing along the main ridge) but I head left to follow the road dropping gradually north west. Hidden in the cloud to my left are relatively gentle slopes clad in leatherwood and to my right; steep slopes dropping to tributaries of the Pohangina River.

There's not much to see in the cloud so I plod along - a large native worm provides a momentary distraction.

A few larger trees start appearing creating a bit of atmosphere in the clag.

My altimeter has drifted a bit but the clouds are higher in the west so I can take a bearing off an obvious terrace and confirm I haven't overshot my turnoff. It turns out to be well sign posted so I needn't have worried. It's just before 12.40.

There's a marked but a little overgrown track that starts dropping steeply into the valley. A few hundred metres above the bottom I can hear the river and I start to suspect that it might be a bit of a proposition. The first glimpse indicates an active course with lots of white water.

Pohangina River

Near the bottom the slope gets a bit mucky and with intermittent marking it is easy to lose the track. In the end I follow some animal trails arriving slightly downstream - just under an hour from the top. There's a large triangle across the river marking where the track continues.

My first impression is that the river is a bit discoloured, quite energetic and to attempt a crossing would be outside my comfort zone. I work my way down stream a little way to see if there is a better prospect - nope. It's unpleasant travel and the map doesn't offer much confidence that there will be a crossing point within cooee. I sit down under some pine trees and have some lunch and a think.

It's possible there is a better point up stream but I have no idea what the other crossing will be like up by Mid Pohangina Hut. No matter which way I look at it there's no decision to make.

I scramble directly up the slope to intersect the track avoiding most of the nettles on the way.

Back at the road it's almost 3.30.  I'm really not looking forward to the additional kilometers on the hard surface, but at least Stanfield Hut is not on the other side of a river.

There's fresh car prints on the road and after a while a couple of vehicles come through from the east - fortunately not too fast so they don't wipe me out. Apparently there is a locked gate at the west end.

The weather has cleared somewhat but the wind gets stronger the closer I get to the main ridge.

Shortly before the top I note there's a signposted track heading south which I missed on the way over. The sign notes that Diggers Hut has gone. The track looks a little over grown but there's the usual wide channel through the scrub. The other end of the track is at Arbon's road in the Pohangina Valley.

At the ridge (4.55) the wind is blasting across from the west. I can only just stand and barely avoid being flipped off the edge of the ridge.

Once I'm off the road and heading north on the main ridge, the wind howls across but the scrub provides enough protection that I can travel unmolested. To the east there are patches of sun on the foot hills.

Soon enough I can see down into the Tamaki River West Branch valley. After about half an hour there's an old sign indicating 45 minutes to Stanfield Hut and a steep, slippery downhill begins. Soon after the top the bright orange hut is briefly visible at the bottom of the spur.

It's a couple of minutes shy of 6pm when I emerge into the hut clearing. It's starting to get dim in the bush so I'm relieved to make it in daylight.

The hut looks a little elderly from the outside but inside it's tidy and well cared for. It's less than two hours from the road end so I was not expecting much. It's also empty which is hardly surprising given the forecast.

The log is predominantly hunters and they don't seem to have much trouble finding deer to bag. Reviewing other people's trips in the log helps in hatching a plan for tomorrow as I chew on a cooked breakfast for dinner (yep - time to stock up on dehy again).

Working backwards I figure I don't want a long day on Monday so Mid Pohangina Hut is about as far away as I want to be tomorrow night. I work out a route to Mid Po via Cattle Creek where I can assess timing and head up river to Ngamoko hut or return to Cattle. From Ngamoko, follow the stream up to the duck pond (near Apiti Saddle) and find a way onto the main ridge where there's a marked trail to follow to Cattle Creek for the night and exit the next day.

I remember to set my watch for daylight saving before turning in.

It's another windy Ruahine night. I'm a bit sore from all that walking on hard surface and sleep fitfully, waking to a grey Sunday morning.

I get away at 7.55 am and head up stream. The route is reasonably obvious although the toe of the spur is eroding and the markers aren't very visible.

At 8.30 I reach the top of the spur and follow the ridge around to pt 908. I can't see a trail heading south to pick up the Holmes Ridge track and decide it isn't worth trying to find a link when I come back this way.

The ridge is open for a while then the track ducks into good bush. The last down hill to the saddle above Cattle Creek is open again and the wind is howling through. The valley is somewhat scraggy - scrubby bush with lots of slips and grassy clearings. The bright orange Cattle Creek Hut is easily visible from the saddle.

Just after 9 am I drop off the ridge to follow a steep track down to the stream. A few metres down stream orange triangles mark the short track up to Cattle Creek Hut on a wee terrace. About 1 hr 20 from Stanfield.

Cattle Creek Hut

It's in the open so is quite light and airy inside. It also seems to be reasonably well looked after by users. The log indicates people potter up and down the stream so I figure there shouldn't be any dramas. As I sit, drizzle starts to blatter on the windows.

It's fairly easy most of the way down the stream. I give up on dry boots after a short distance and concentrate on not slipping or being knocked off balance by the blasts of wind barrelling up the valley.

The valley starts reasonably open but is steep and there are quite a few wee gorges and relatively limited opportunity to walk along the banks - until you get to some big terraces lower down.

At one point the wind is howling through an S-bend ripping spray off the stream surface - there's a series of loud cracks which I can't source (rockfall?) until I figure that a wee overhang at stream level is catching the wind and somehow causing a local thunderclap.

 



As the stream gets bigger there are more scrambles to avoid small water falls and pools

At one point I scramble up the left bank and am sidling along above the creek looking for a safe way down when I come across a chain bolted into the rock - clearly a well travelled route.

The lower reaches have more terraces - some are quite large and show signs of a lot of deer grazing. A lot of the slopes are unstable and some side streams are bringing down large quantities of shattered rock.

I'm looking for a slip face on my right with orange markers for the track over the toe of a spur to Mid Pohangina Hut - it's not the end of the world if I miss it as you can just head a few hundred metres down stream to the river and follow it up a short way. But that's not the point is it!

There's a DOC sign so no worries about that. It's about 10.50, I can't see any foot trail from the sign and there is a bit of active movement on the old slip. On the down stream side at the top I can see an orange triangle so I scramble up as elegantly as I can and follow a fairly rough old track down to the hut clearing.



Turn-off to Mid Pohangina Hut

It's 10.55 - three hours from Stanfield and 1 hr 40 from arriving at Cattle Creek Hut. It's looking good for heading up stream to Ngamoko and the long loop back to Cattle Creek.

Mid Pohangina is an older looking hut and not bright orange. It's a four bunker and again, quite tidy. The Whio protectors clearly come through regularly and have some kit stashed. There's not a lot of tips in the log as to what to expect on the trip up river. I have a bit of a break and leave about 11.15 to check out the river I couldn't cross yesterday.

Mid Pohangina Hut

The wind is much more gentle here and the cloud cover is breaking a little. At first glance I'm not too keen on the river but with a stick, a bit of study, and picking a good route with back out option and run out I cross comfortably. There were only about three wobbly steps to cross the main current.

Before long I have crossed many more times as I make my way up valley. I hear a whistling call and wonder what on earth it is until I spot a pair of Whio across the river - they are very well camouflaged. I try to imitate their breathy whistle and am somewhat surprised when they taxi easily across the river to the shallows about 7m in front of me. They potter about chasing each other and generally larking about, completely unphased by my presence. It's a real treat and a testament to the work of the whio protectors who have set traps all the way up this valley.

I'm enjoying the improving weather (not about to take my rain coat off though) but starting to think I may have missed Ngamoko Hut. However, after a large slip on the true right, the river swings east and a sizable stream enters from the true left and then the hut appears on a terrace above the river.

It's 1.20 - 2 hr 5m from Mid Po Hut and way past time for a lunch break. The track up to the hut is on the upstream side. 

Ngamoko hut is another tidy six bunker, this time with a lino floor. I tiptoe in to get the log book as I am still seeping water from being immersed in the river for the last two hours.

Over lunch I mull the options and study the map: Back to Mid Po or commit to go up Ngamoko stream. Progress has been surprisingly good so onwards it is.

The route up Ngamoko stream will take me up to a tiny lake marked in the surprisingly flat looking headwaters. The older maps have a bypass track marked for a waterfall near the start but this was scribbled out on the map in the hut and doesn't appear on the current topo map.

The stream starts fairly narrow, dim and slippery. When I hear a waterfall ahead there's an old slip on the true left so I bash up to try to find the old route - I don't find it and make my own way, scrambling through bush on the steep slope. It sounds like there are a series of cascades so I stay up the slope until I can see that the stream has widened. It's taken a bit of time but after that it's an easy amble up stream.

The weather has improved such that the afternoon sun is shining directly up the valley and warming my back. I potter along discovering that there are more side streams than marked on the map. However, the headwaters forks are obvious when I reach them (the only junction where both tributaries have little fall). It's 3pm so plenty of daylight left but this is where the going could get really messy.

Random section of stream catching the sun

Junction

I haven't done much homework about this next bit. I've heard there's a pond and that there may be an old hut in the area. I'm assuming that people follow the true right tributary to where the pond is marked but have to say it didn't look very well travelled. I wonder if there is a route along the bank that I missed.

It's getting tighter and messier when I get to a side stream and scramble onto the bank as the way ahead seems blocked - working back towards the course of the creek I walk into a boggy patch and discover I'm standing in the duck pond - about 20 minutes from the junction.

It's not as small as I expected but shallow - it looks like the creek course has been blocked and flooded surrounding flat, low lying land.

If I had done my homework I would have known that I was very close to the old hut. Apparently it is a wee two bunker about 50m from the pond. Although seemingly in the middle of the Ruahines it is on private land but no longer maintained. Checking the forest park boundaries later confirms that there is a wedge of land from the east that is not forest park and the pond and hut are right on the edge.

I figure that the hut will be close to the pond and strike off in exactly the wrong direction through the forest paralleling the shore. It's tricky going through fallen and rotting trunks and I pretty quickly give up the idea of finding the hut and start thinking of how to get to the main ridge.

My fear is that there will be a belt of leatherwood so I decide to head towards Apiti Saddle as a named feature on the map that may have a trail. As it turns out, the forest is pretty good so I angle up and around the knob east of the saddle and find and lose a bit of a trail before a not too bad scramble up to the ridge north of 951.

A piece of pink tape alerts me that I have reached the ridge track (4.05) - it used to be a wide swathe but is somewhat overgrown here.

From Pt 951 to duck pond basin - Apiti Saddle somewhere on right

I figure I have three hours light left so all good, but a bit of ground to cover and I'm feeling the combined efforts of the last two days.

There's a wee knob on the ridge just north of Pt 951 - I suspect this is where people drop down a wee spur towards the hill at the junction of the tributaries then circle around the pond to the hut. I didn't note any trail from the knob but wasn't looking.

The weather is deteriorating now and there seems to be an endless succession of knobs on the ridge. I plod along taking regularly rests on the up hills. Eventually I'm looking into the very recognisable saddle above Cattle Creek hut. The wind is once again howling through from the valley below.

It's 5.55 - I'm tired and sore and it's so tempting to drop to the comfort of Cattle Creek Hut, only 15 minutes away. On the other hand it only took around an hour this morning to get to this point from Stanfield hut ... I should make that just on dark which would make for a very short walk out tomorrow ...

Ridge track south from Cattle Creek

The sight of the ridge track which is wide and easy from here clinches it. I limp on hunched against the wind. 40 minutes later I'm at the top of the spur to the Tamaki River West Branch, and 23 minutes after that at Stanfield hut - just before 7pm and no headlight required.

The hut is again empty - even on the track I only saw my own foot prints from the morning. It's nice to settle in knowing how this hut operates. The only difference is the wind has dropped away and I can hear the odd rat fossicking around in the roof (no sign they have got inside the hut).

In the morning I get away at 7.45 taking the river route to avoid the small climb to Holmes Ridge.

Less than 10 minutes downstream the route to the ridge is marked and sign posted. I potter down finding some indications of trail but as often as not finding my own way through what looks like willows and buddleia.

As the ridge on my left gets lower I start keeping my eyes peeled for an exit marker - it's pretty obvious about 1hr 10 from the hut. There's a trail through the trees that leads to a sign and then the clearings. Including a loo stop, it's 12 minutes from the river to the car (9.05 - just over 1hr 20 from the hut).

Time to leave the river

Road end

Postscript

Despite not being game to cross the Pohangina and having a significant change in plan, I did manage to tick off most of the goals for the weekend. With a little bit of homework I would have looked a bit harder and found Duckpond Hut - lucky I'm not a hut bagger.

Traverse Hut isn't up to much but the other four were in good heart - surprisingly so given how close Stanfield is to the road end. Marked tracks were generally cut widely through the scrub although the ridge north of Cattle Creek Hut is getting a bit overgrown. The road across the range is well maintained but a bit dreary.

It was very much a range of two halves - the weather was markedly better in the west than the east - the wind on the main ridge was pretty fierce at times even though it was much calmer not far west. This is still very much the thin part of the park so the variation was surprising.

The vegetation is pretty mixed - a lot of leatherwood which makes off track travel highly variable, and a lot of weed species. I was surprised how many pines there were in the park.

The river and stream travel was varied and sometimes a bit challenging but seeing the whio just cruising in the river was the undoubted highlight.

Southern Ruahines

With a bit of leave building up and no particular Tararua trips in mind I've started eyeing up the Ruahine Range.  The travel times make things a bit tighter so taking a Monday gives good options for interesting trips.

I don't have anything particular in mind beyond experiencing a reasonable selection of what's on offer and the southern tip is as good a place to start as any.

One of the first things that strikes me as I peruse the map is the number of Maori names compared to the Tararuas. I can hazard a guess at the meaning of some (Raparapawai could be about rapidly sparkling waters or perhaps the creek where eels were split for drying) but I have the same problems with Google finding any authoritative sources.

The map also indicates no open tops and I've heard there is a fair amount of leatherwood so there could be some toughish travel. There are some sporadic bits of track in the west and more continuous tracks in the east.  The main Ruahine Range forms the divide and has a surprising absence of marked tracks - but surely people will have followed it!

The plan for this weekend is to enter the Range from No 1. Line road end and follow the most direct route to Ross Peak, head south along the Range on what surely will be a network of informal trails to pick up the marked track to Wharite - the southernmost 'peak' in the Range, then head back and drop east to follow marked routes to Kiritaki Hut followed by an exit west via a couple of named peaks around Maharahara and picking up a marked track that finishes part way up the spur from No 1 Line Road.

With three days in hand I should be able to manage it.

What:    Solo wander around the southern most part of the Ruahine range
Where:  Ruahines
Who:     Solo
When:   21-23 September 2019
Maps





The drive up the coast is uneventful save for the mild disappointment of being too early for the Olde Beach Bakery. The forecast is good, the traffic light and it's very easy finding No 1 Line Road (turn right to cross the river a ways past Ashurst, then drive past lines number 1 to 3).

A tidy gravel road winds into the foot hills and ends at a DOC carpark beside an airstrip (you would be forgiven for thinking it was just another paddock).

Around 8.20 I'm scrambling down a signed and marked track to Matanganui Stream. At the bottom there's a faint trail into the bush which, with a bit of casting about, gives an easier route up a crumbly slope through supple jack. The spur has some bigger trees and is pretty good going.

There must be another route onto the spur as a stronger trail develops with some tape markers.  This is looking good for a route to the tops and Ross Peak. At pt 583 (8.55am) there's a flat spot and some large rimu.

There's a couple of indications of camp fires on the way up and other signs of people. The bush stays pretty tall and open but the canopy starts dropping until, just below 900m there is a bit of a flat spot with a clearing and bracken. After that the leatherwood starts with emergent stumps that testify to the large forest trees dying off and the upper slopes being colonised by leatherwood and other unpalatable species.




Looking back down the spur

There's clag around the upper slopes and the top of the spur up to Ross Peak comes and goes across the gully to the south (I suspect this is the main route people take to the peak and probably requires landowner permission).

I note what I suspect is bog pine (Halocarpus bidwillii) but my meagre botanical skills let me down - the feature that catches my eye is juvenile leaves at the tips of branchlets right beside twigs with scale adult leaves.

I can't see much indication that people come up past this point - although it is by no means the worst scrub I've seen, progress is much slower and I'm looking forward to the top. With a named peak nearby it is inconceivable that there is no trail along the ridge.

The clag has made the scrub nice and damp so I'm soon covered in that slime that grows on leatherwood.

Thoughts of getting to the top before 11am evaporate and it's closer to 11.45 that I am zigzagging through dense leatherwood on the ridge top. There's no trail. This means a kilometre of dense scrub to Ross Peak where there will hopefully be a trail leading south.

Not far to Ross Peak ...

Having fun yet?



Getting there

The leatherwooden hell continues and it's 3pm before I struggle through the final spiky branches to reach the trig. There are panoramic views across the plains on both sides of the range and the cloud ceiling has risen to expose the range to the north.




Back along the ridge to the spur up

Despite the views I really only have eyes for the state of the trail up to the trig. It's a highway.

Someone has slashed a wide swathe through the scrub and I can finally stroll along. I am expecting the trail to head west and down a spur - possibly to No 2 Line track. The key question is whether someone has cut a trail south along the ridge.

I keep an eye out for subtle signs of a side track and am relieved to find a wide trail that veers left to follow the ridge line. Life is good - it makes sense that the only reason this trail would be here is to take bush beaten travellers in comfort all the way to Wharite.

The trail abruptly stops for no apparent reason - it's 3.40 and there's over a kilometre of scrub covered ridge to pt 1015; the first possible spot where a trail might again join the ridge. The squirming, writhing and swearing resumes. The gentle slope up to 1015 in particular takes forever but I'm relieved to blunder onto another wide swathe of a trail. I follow this to 1015 to confirm that it looks like the trail descends a spur towards the Coppermine Loop track.

It's after 5pm, I'm utterly knackered and starting to get worried about water.  Wharite is still a long way off and not much prospect of accessible streams before then.

South to Wharite from 1015

The colours deepen as the sun heads for the horizon. I totter along just reaching pt 967 as the sun disappears from view. Taranaki is a small blip on the flat horizon.

967 on left catching last of the sun

The hidden leatherwood stumps are too treacherous to risk leaving the headtorch in the pack too long and it's pretty much dark before I'm much of the way into the saddle after 967.  There's quite a few grassy clearings where it gets a little tricky following the trail so I meander along periodically having to cast about to find an old cut branch or some firmer footing between clumps of grass and flax that indicate the route.

Coming up out of the saddle I continue to find and lose the trail but mange to pick the right spot to swing south east and stumble onto a trail that leads up and over a knob to meet the Wharite track (8pm). There's an old sign at the spot. The track is a huge swathe with markers and lots of foot prints. 




This looks like the first place for a possible foray off the ridge to find water but the scrub is still dense and I decide to test my luck that there is water at Wharite or access to the headwaters of a stream. 50 minutes later the trig emerges from the gloom and behind it a huge tower and buildings.

There's no water so I bash off the side of the summit until a trickle forms in the gully and I can scrape a hole big enough to fill my water pouch. Back at the top I determine that a picnic table is probably the best place to pitch my fly.

Preparations for dinner and bed are well under way when the lights of a ute swing into the carpark. I wonder if it's security come to check me out - however it turns out to be Fraser and a couple of his mates popping up the hill for the evening's entertainment. We chat briefly then they pop around the building to do god knows what.

It's a pretty nippy evening and my poor pitching arrangements mean my bag gets damp from condensation on the fly. A car wakes me in the morning and I realise I am precisely in the shade of the building so have missed the best of the sunrise. However, the cloud is far below and the light is good. I stagger out, avoiding the patches of frost and set about getting damp kit to dry.

South towards second tower with Tararuas beyond

Cloud to the east of the gorge and the range

Not the best sleeping arrangements

There's a firm breeze that, combined with the sun soon has my bag and fly tolerably dry. A second ute turns up - the occupants of the first seem to have disappeared somewhere - possibly hunting as I don't see them again. The second ute are a couple of women who are enjoying the views but don't seem inclined to communicate.

On the horizon the snow clad volcanoes are clear but the east is completely covered in cloud. As I fiddle around with kit and breakfast it looks like the gorge is funnelling a wind strong enough to clear the clouds in a increasingly wide arc around Woodville.

Southish across the west end of the gorge

North up the range - Ruapehu and Tongariro to left

Woodville clears

Around 8am I ease weary legs back into action and head north back along the track I covered in the dark. Less than 25 minutes later I'm at the old sign where I joined the track last night and set off towards Coppermine Sream and new territory. I'm heading for the east side of the range and a series of hops over ridges and up streams to get to Kiritaki Hut.

The morning is cool, the sun is warm, the sky is clear. Before long the wide track is descending and pops in and out of regenerating bush. The clouds in the east are lapping into the foot hills of the range and it looks like I'll be descending into them.

It's getting decidedly hot in the sun so I'm glad when the track is mostly in bush.

At 0915 I drop down the last steep wee section and there's yellow danger tape across the track. I suspect someone has moved it as there is no reason the track to Wharite would be closed. I poke my nose up the track towards the copper mine and there's a wash out around the corner. I assume there are a few more and DOC has run out of money to fix them so has closed the track.

There's a marked track across Coppermine Stream which climbs steeply to the ridge and a choice of right (road end) and left to Mangaatua Stream. It's a hot clear day now and I find an excuse to sit a while in the shade on the ridge.

Although I keep half an eye out I don't see a track heading further up spur - there must be one though as the trail I joined at 1015 must come up this way. The track I'm following today drops steeply through beautiful forest to the Mangaatua Stream, arriving about 1045.

Half an hour up stream, the exit from the stream is marked with a large orange triangle (just go up the creek in front of it - no need to climb the foot of the spur to the triangle). The creek is small but there's a mass of fresh debris coming down it.

I can't see much sign of traffic but it is pretty active so would be obliterated pretty quickly - it's steep and a bit mucky in places. I'm expecting to see some sign near the top to indicate where the track leaves the gully but must have followed the wrong trickle at some point as it ends up being a bit of a bash up through tight horopito. Once at the ridge a short bash along and I meet the wide swathe of Granges track.

It's another steep descent to the next stream; Raparapawai. It's 1.05 and I'm feeling the heat and the exertions of yesterday so sit in the shade for lunch and recoup.  I had thought that the spur opposite Granges track looked like a plausible route - but one thing I've learnt in this neck of the woods is that if there isn't signs of a trail; it is probably not worth the aggravation. The stream route it is then.

This is a longer stream route so I take care to monitor progress on the map. There's fresh foot prints in places to confirm I'm heading the right way but it looks like they went up and back so after a bit there's not much obvious sign of the route. The last 500m or so in particular; the stream gets quite small and I'm starting to think I've gone too far.

The sign that appears up the bank a little on my right is old school, and the track is not the wide highway I've become used to on the marked tracks around here. It's about 2.45 and I'm just about done - but there's a small matter of 2-300m of climbing to the hut.

The track is rougher than the others but perfectly fine. At the ridge line I note that there could be a bit of a trail heading south. But I follow the marked track north towards Kiritaki hut which appears tantalisingly close - although there is a wee saddle to clamber through first.

On reaching the final ridge there is a definite trail heading westish which bodes will for a link through to No 1 Line Track (I'm already thinking I might take the direct route out tomorrow rather than visit the two peaks to the north).

The DOC estimate of an hour from the stream takes an hour twenty and it's a relief to clump onto the deck of the hut a little after 4pm. The clag is piling across the tops from the west, to the south east the plains south of Dannervirke are visible below the clouds.

It's a good sized 6-bunk hut, and if the log is to be believed the last person in was a month ago. Mostly hunters but some trampers. The log confirms that although most people come up from the eastern side via the stream valleys quite a few come over the range from the west. It also indicates there is a route down to Oruakeretaki Stream from the helipad (more direct than the marked track).

My original plan was to follow the track east, north and west to Maharahara then bash down the range to pick up the top of No. 1 Line Track - the route straight over the top is too tempting though.

The wind gets up during the night and slams the hut unrelentingly; the wall beside my ear thrums and it doesn't let up until morning. The sun briefly sneaks in below the cloud in the morning but that's pretty much all I see of it.

Well rugged up I leave the hut about 7.15 am and climb east to the side trail I saw yesterday. Sure enough it's pretty good - a little overgrown in places but straight forward. The weather looks pretty grim but I'm mostly protected by the scrub.

Looking back - last view of the hut

Half an hour later I'm joining the Main Range and am a bit surprised to see no indication of a trail heading north to Maharahara (under 2 km away) - I could easily have missed it though. The leatherwood clad knobs disappear in the clag and I'm quietly glad not to be crawling over them.

The view north from the top

The track drops into a saddle for the last climb to point 1011. I take my time and plod up pausing briefly to pick up an orange camo dog jacket that some enterprising pooch has managed to escape from.

At point 1011 I don't see any sign of a trail heading south on the main range. This confirms my experiences on Saturday - it would be a miserable trip from here to Ross Peak (over 3 km away).

Now on the western side of the range the track starts dropping and there are occasional breaks in the cloud. There's a few places where grass and windfall make it easy to drift off the track but it's quickly found again and I make steady progress down to where the track is marked on the map.

DOC triangles start turning up and shortly after there is a sign and a seat indicating the end of the maintained trail from the road end. It's 9.00am and from here it is a broad track that descends steeply through mixed but more mature forest.

An intersection and some large rata with possum bands gives the option of right via the trig or a slightly shorter route down. I head to the trig and follow a fence and the edge of pasture to the bottom.

At 9.30 it's taken 2 hours 15 from the hut. There's another car in the park with gear lying beside it but I can't see anyone about so set about sorting wet gear into the car.

After a bit, a disheveled figure emerges from the other car. It turns out to be a possum trapper who carefully hid his keys in the bush and couldn't find them again.  He rang his mum to come but his cell phone is on the blink and he's been here a couple of nights now.

I give him the rest of my water and a ginger beer and we yarn while I try to charge his phone.

His life story is a bit sad with a long term marriage split and a drift from farming into possuming. He reckons he needs to get at least 20 possums a day (skin the big ones and pluck the smaller ones) but killing the youngsters is starting to get to him. We exchange experiences about the Tararuas near Eketahuna and agree that the land owners south of the Mangahao are killing access. It's intriguing that he clearly knows his way around the bush and talks knowledgeably about the life cycle of possums including how their poo has changed colour with the rich pickings at present (mast year), but doesn't seem to know his trees.

His phone still won't work so he uses mine to confirm that his mum is leaving soon with a metal detector for the keys.

He insists there is nothing else he needs and help is on the way so I say goodbye and leave him to it.

It's quite refreshing to have no pressure for the drive back so stop in at the Long Beach Tavern in Waikanae for lunch and a (small) glass of the Northend Brewery's Baby Grand - a not too shabby knock-off of the Rodenbach grand cru. That's beer geek talk for a sour beer that most normal people wouldn't touch.

Postscript

Although there are a number of unmarked trails of good quality it pays to do your home work hereabouts - as soon as you get into untracked territory the vegetation is all against you. The marked tracks are mostly wide and well cleared - in fact I don't think I have ever used the word 'swathe' quiet as much. The hut was well looked after.

Because of the vegetation and the Range being so narrow here there's limited exploration potential, but it's well worth pottering around the tracks and streams in the east where there is some beautiful bush. But note that there are areas of active erosion and DOC closures are in place for Coppermine.

There's clearly heaps of hunting going on so I would be careful about going in the roar. And with all the leatherwood I would also be careful about going in the raw.

All up, an interesting first brush with the Southern Ruahines.