This weekend, with three days at my disposal, I can plan a more detailed exploration with the goals of:
- checking out a north eastern approach to the Three Johns
- exploring the spur NW from 1715 and seeing if it's navigable to Waterfall Hut
- following Pinnacle Creek to Hawkes Bay Ridge
- visiting Purity Hut
- popping up to the highest point in the park - Mangaweka (1731m) and along the range to Hikurangi (1710m),
- exploring the feasibility of a spur descent off Mangaweka to the Kawhatau River
- climbing Broken Ridge to Paemutu
- trying a side spur approach to Smiths Stream
What: Navigation trip
Where: Central Ruahine Range
When: 7-9 February 2020
Who: Solo
Map
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| Friday: Road end, over Three Johns and down 1715 spur to Waterfall Hut |
Wednesday night is the Queen concert, Thursday is a Waitangi Day powhiri with Angela at Paekakariki (hosted by Ngati Haumia), then chilling with friends for the arvo. This all sets me up nicely for a restful break in the hills.
The drive up the Wairarapa confirms that the weather is shaping to be wetter than predicted. Sure enough, cold drifting rain greets me as I nip out of the car to open the farm gates on the final approach to the road end.
I decide to risk it and drive to the furthest car park. The farm track is ok for a townie car and it's a more casual set up then the main park, but there's room for at least five or six cars - if people park carefully. There's a couple of cars in situ plus someone camped up - I find a spot and drag on my raincoat and boots.
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| Toyota envy? |
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| Windfall in the Waipawa River |
A short walk down the hill and I'm heading up the Waipawa River looking for a stream on the true right. There's a couple of spurs I could take to Three Johns and I have picked the second one. Passing a wee creek I pick a spot and start climbing through mixed bush. There are plenty of animal trails.
In the back of my mind I'm entertaining the possibility that the creek I passed was not marked, and that this is the first spur - but up is up and I'm not too bothered.
After an initial clamber I meet a fence line in the forest - pretty much confirming it's the wrong spur. I follow it up and then around the slope to pasture. Picking a point I clamber over and follow animal trails up through tolerably open forest.
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| Rimu fence post |
It's pretty good most of the way - there's a few patches of leatherwood and low trees to push through and it looks like people have passed, but not frequently. Although it has stopped raining I'm soon saturated.
A sudden clearing has a survey marker (about 1180m) and an excuse to stop and add a layer.
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| A bit soggy at 1180m |
Later there's a rounded knob with leatherwood, and an uninterrupted view of clag that requires two compass checks to get past (I drift off line both times). Otherwise the going never gets really horrible and I can keep pottering up through forest, and eventually into scattered scrub and tussock.
The ridge top sharpens and I pass the top of erosion faces disappearing into the grey on my right. Eventually, the next knob emerging from the clag has a survey mark - 12.35 so a slow 3 hour climb.
I don't need to check my compass and map to work my way along the ridge, following a stronger ground trail that drops into the saddle. All still in clag.
The next section is easy going with the exception of some deeper tussock towards the top with liberal scattering of spaniard. I keep to the left most of the way up, veering to the right for an easier route further up (didn't find one). At one point, a large animal sets off a small avalanche as it plunges off the south eastern face.
Coming off the top of 1635 (1.20pm) I remember to drift to the right of the ridge top, to avoid having to cross a wee tussocky slot.
At Rangioteatua (1.35pm) - the clag is finally starting to thin so I sit for a leisurely lunch facing the ridge I plan to descend, waiting for it to appear. Which it does, to show a slippy, craggy, roller-coaster.
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| Rangioteatua |
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| My target ridge dropping right |
From the map it looks like I can leave my current ridge just as it starts to rise for the final climb to pt 1715, cut across the NW face of pt 1715, and gain the saddle to pt 1673. With the cloud ceiling now approaching 1700m I can see that the face is clear and am delighted to find a strong animal trail going exactly my way.
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| Rangioteatua at left - deer trail drops diagonally to right from lowest point of ridgeline Taken looking back from sidle on pt 1673 |
I sidle 1673 on the north which is ok going but suspect the south may have had a better game trail. Regaining the ridge line I'm looking down the ridge and can see a strong trail down to a flat section linking to more sidle trails on the south side. These all prove to be solid going.
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| From other side of 1673 - the trail is visible on the ridge top then drops to game trails on left Rangi Creek on right |
The trail I'm on starts dropping towards a wallow in a bit of a wrinkle on the south side of the ridge, just before a saddle and a wee crag. I head up to the saddle to investigate the crag, but have a feeling the good trails on the south might continue lower down the slope.
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| Craggy bit that the sidle avoids |
Dropping about 40m down the face there is indeed a great trail that takes me further along and down the ridge, eventually popping out on the crest again.
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| From Broken Ridge - rough line of the deer super highway |
I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself by now. There are a few craggy bits and patches of scrub and trees, but the trail always seems to reappear and there always seems to be a relatively secure way around the obstacles.
It's a wonderful place to be - the clag is a distant memory, although the clouds still haunt the peaks, and there is no one for miles. Looking around: to the north east Rangioteatua comes and goes with some impressive slip faces dropping into the headwaters of Rangi Creek; to the north Rangi Saddle is starting to come into view; south I can case out the tail of Broken Ridge (which can keep until Sunday); across the Kawhatau Valley Mangaweka on the Hikurangi Range is tomorrow's business but looks rounded and friendly in comparison to the forbidding Paemutu.
Below there look like several viable routes into Rangi Creek (north) and a few promising spurs towards Waterfall Creek - but I can't work out where the waterfalls are so we won't be risking any of those.
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| Rangioteatua - scar face |
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| Broken Ridge |
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| Paemutu |
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| Back up the ridge |
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| Hikurangi Range |
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| Having a ball |
Once below the bush line things are still going surprisingly well, and I keep heading down until a long flat section (1300m). Here the trails seem to follow the line of a spur which drops towards Rangi stream. I'm tempted but hubris insists that I attempt to navigate directly to the hut.
As soon as I veer west across the spur the vegetation deteriorates and I start dropping steeply south west on a little formed slope. A wee spur starts to form then splits - I opt for the left then change back as it starts to head towards Waterfall Creek. The spur sharpens and drops steeply in what feels like the right direction (I'm not bothering with the compass) until I'm rewarded with the orange of the hut through the trees below.
There's a yellow tent outside and washing - not a good sign for getting a bed.
J is a little surprised when someone appears off the hill behind the hut and it is quickly apparent that he knows the area very well. Although he hadn't been down the ridge he knows someone that has, and understands exactly how it fits into the landscape. He and Laura are the only two in residence - they had camped near Rangioteatua last night and come through the saddle to Paemutu then down Broken Ridge today. They got rained on during the morning and were drying things out.
J grew up on the east side of the Tararua and Ruahine ranges and has tramped a fair swathe of them both and, although based in Auckland, they manage frequent trips all over New Zealand. I pick their brains as much as I can and can give a bit of recent intel on the state of their intended route tomorrow over Rangi and Waipawa Saddles.
Three people is a civilised number for the hut and we don't get in each other's way. As seasoned trampers they have good hut etiquette and the time passes easily.
In the morning they get up and away efficiently and I say goodbye, before following them out shortly after (7.25am). The plan for today is to climb to Hikurangi Range (the western most range in this part of the park) via Hawkes Bay Ridge (a local name that is not marked on the maps), do a there and back to check out Purity Hut, head north up the range over Mangaweka to Hikurangi, then backtrack to drop down a spur to the river and return to Waterfall Hut.
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| Saturday: loop with a couple of horns |
My first route is up Pinnacle Creek - on the map it looks like the head waters could be a bit bluffy and steep so I wouldn't have picked it myself - however it is a well known route so I don't expect it to be tricky.
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| From spur above hut looking up Pinnacle Creek |
From the wide shingle fan where it meets the Kawhatau River, the creek climbs increasingly steeply towards Hawkes Bay Ridge. It's a pretty straight valley so I can pause (frequently) and look back to see Rangi Saddle on the horizon - and for a little while the orange of the hut. There are side streams but the main valley is obvious.
Near the top there are a few little scrambles and a steep plod up with some loose footing, but nothing particularly complicated. I am however rapidly climbing into the cloud ceiling and have lost the view by the time I get to the signs on the ridge at (8.35 - DOC allow a generous 1 hr 30 down).
The signs aren't really needed today, as navigation is simple - turn right and keep going. There is one spot requiring a couple of steps across the top of an erosion face on sketchy footing, but this is quickly dispatched with. It's a bit cold and windy
I am a little too casual in my attention to map and compass, so am a little surprised that it takes me an hour to get to Iron Peg on the Hikurangi Range. The tops here are wide and flat and in the clag I'm close to getting the compass out when I bump into an old post with a tiny punched tin sign. The ridge drops to a saddle, then a wee climb and I'm at Wooden Peg - taking all of the 15 minutes DOC predicted. The signs are the only things to be seen in the cloud.
The ridge track down to Purity Hut reminds me of the route to Rangiwahia Hut. There's a good ground trail and an easy slope through tussock. About twenty minutes after leaving Wooden Peg I drop below the cloud ceiling - sun dappled plains appear below the forbidding grey line of the cloud.
Closer to the hut there are one or two spots where there aren't any poles to be seen and the trail fades, but nothing a compass wouldn't solve in bad weather.
35 minutes after Wooden Peg I arrive at Purity Hut (just before 10.30 so a couple of minutes over 3 hours from Waterfall Hut). The hut is tucked off the edge of a rounded knob and has a fantastic view. It's modern and in good nick.
A party of three are gearing up to walk out down the ridge and are a little surprised to see someone appear from up hill at this early(!) hour. They came in via Kelly Knight Hut and camped on the tops before popping across to Mangaweka then down to this hut yesterday. They've had a bit of fun and games with permission from the Purity Track landowner (refusal because there's too many hunters and trampers up there - which there clearly weren't). They have a plan to skirt his land to get back to the carpark for the Kelly Knight Track - looking at the map I'm not sure how that will have worked out for them.
They're from Palmerston North and are just getting into tramping. They're interested in taking on the Sawtooth Circuit - which, given the placement of huts, a western approach might be a bit of a challenge for them to tackle next up.
After asking a few questions, comparing pack sizes, and a general chat they head off before me.
It's a bit over 45 minutes back to Wooden Peg - the cloud has lifted a bit, and the wind has strengthened. I can see down into the steep and eroding headwaters of the Pourangaki River and across the back of Iron Peg to Hawkes Bay Ridge.
15 minutes back to Iron Peg where the wind is getting boisterous and the clag is thick around Mangaweka. 22 minutes later I've climbed a bit of a slope and wandered along a broad top to what looks like a kit set trig - Mangaweka.
At 1230 it's time for lunch - even tucked on the lee of the ridge I need another layer. It does feel like the cloud will lift though.
It's a pretty easy wander along the range, a few ups and downs, but the clag dissipates to start revealing the eastern range around Te Atuaoparapara.
By the time I get to Hikurangi (1.50) the cloud ceiling is above the tops and it's a different day. It looks like the range continues pretty much the same (rolling) and the spur north east off the top looks pretty interesting.
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| Hikurangi right, Ruapehu left |
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| North from Hikurangi |
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| It ain't warm yet |
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| South towards Mangaweka |
The spur I want to come down starts about 200m below the wee saddle just north of Mangaweka. The face it is on looks pretty benign, so I decide to try a long sidle from two saddles along. There's a bit of deep tussock but it's pretty good and at 2.55 I'm just above where the spur forms and ready to descend. It's even getting warm now.
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| Up slope towards Mangaweka |
I've heard that the creek beside the spur (Trig Creek) is navigable and there look like a few routes down to it - but I'm keen to see what the spur is like.
It's fine through the tussock and low scrub with a bit of trail that comes and goes. It gets a little mucky in the transition to forest, but it's generally only briefly before there's a bit of trail to follow. At a few points the trail is wide and solid.
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| Useful game trail |
Towards the bottom there is a flat spot on the spur and a wrinkle on the map that looks like there could be a direct route off the side of the spur to the creek junction. It turns out to be steepish and covered in cutty grass, but quite a good option as I pop out bang on the junction at 3.55. The river is in sunshine and is low enough that I can cross with dry feet to potter up stream.
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| Broken Ridge |
The river bed travel is easy and I'm traversing the flats opposite Rangi Creek before I know it and Waterfall Hut soon after. It's 4.20 and there's no one at the hut or visited since I departed.
I settle down for the rest of the afternoon drying kit and tidying the hut. Seeing as I'm heading out tomorrow I parcel up some of the hut rubbish.
The last order of business is to confirm my route for tomorrow: up Broken Ridge and along to the end, join the route I took from Sawtooth Ridge to Hinerua, leave it at the last knob and follow a spur down to the stream and Smiths Stream Hut, then out via the marked track.
It's a quiet, mild night.
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| Sunday: Waterfall to Smith Stream |
I head out at a leisurely 8am - passing the loo, crossing the stream and striking up the steep slope. There's no obvious trail, but it's open enough and just a question of grunting on up. Eventually the spur starts to take a bit of shape and there are a few scrambles. The bush is a little damp.
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| A bit of clag hanging around Hawkes Bay Ridge |
The slope on my right towards Kawhatau River tends to be steep with scree chutes and crumbling rock. It's mostly pretty straight forward keeping away from the edge, but a few spots require careful hand and foot placement.
At one craggy bit about 45 minutes from the hut I sidle on the wrong side and end up struggling through leatherwood to regain the ridge. Pretty soon though I'm into tussock and herbs and it's just a steady climb.
Across Waterfall Creek I can study the ridge from yesterday and can just see the lines of the deer tracks I followed. The morning stays reasonably cool with a light wind and a bit of cloud.
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| Down Broken Ridge - flats below hut just visible |
At a slow but steady pace I finally reach Paemutu at 9.50. There's a bit of clag but much clearer than last time.
I have another good look at the saddle from 1715 - it really was a fun route and I can see why it was a bit of a challenge finding it in low visibility.
Scooting along the ridge there is a bit of a craggy section then easy tops with a view down rugged spurs into the headwaters of Smiths Stream (or Creek?).
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| Smiths Stream |
A long pause at the end of Broken Ridge as I try to send texts, and look across at Black Ridge (Tarn Biv not visible from here) and a shrouded Ohuinga. Then it's the familiar trail down towards Hinerua over two knobs. This time I get the sidles right and arrive in good order at the saddle before the final knob above the Hut (the one that is about 1350m).
It's 11.15 - I sidle north around the knob to follow the marked clearing down to the bushline.
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| View back up - From right: 1715, saddle to Paemutu, Broken Ridge and ridge down to Hinerua Hut |
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| Looking up east side of park from clearing on the last knob |
The clearing gives me an easy route down to the bush edge at about 1260m - and a bearing takes me onto the spur running about ENE. Once in the forest I find some tracks and a bit of litter indicating human use.
I get a bit slack with the compass and lose the trail to drift onto the spur heading upstream of the stream junction - an attempt to get back to the spur heading slightly downstream leaves me on a steep, nasty, bracken covered slope. I bash my way down to the top of some bluffs right on the junction. A bit of a sidle and scramble sees me at the creek around 12.20 - and the hut about five minutes later (a short way up the true right branch). Time for lunch.
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| Down stream from junction You don't want to be arriving at the top of those bluffs |
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| Smiths Stream Hut |
The hut is old and unlined but tidy enough. DOC has cleaned the dead rat out of the water tank that previous log entries comment on.
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| Sunday: Smiths Stream to road end |
A leisurely lunch sees me departing about 12.55 - past the sign that says 4 hr 30 to the road end. There's a short climb behind the hut, then a bit further up the spur towards 1715 to climb above a large slip and reach a marked track that heads back to the stream.
The stream is easy enough travel (dry feet) up to an obvious junction (35min from hut). There's a wee triangle and some tape to indicate that you take the true left fork. It gets a little tighter in the smaller creek but at 1.35 there are some triangles on the true left marking where to climb to the next saddle.
The day is hot now so I take a few minutes for a top wash in the creek and fill up my water.
In the saddle there's a sign indicating 2 hours to the hut (it's taken an hour) and three hours to the road end (that's a total of five hours - it's getting further away!).
The track climbs a bit and sidles below the top of the ridge before dropping through open, regenerating scrub land. It's dry and baking with the smell of sun warmed manuka heavy in the air.
There are sporadic warratahs and triangles and a good foot trail but in a few spots I have to cast about a bit to find the route.
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| Looking north from the open scrubby bit |
The slope steepens, and the trail ducks in and out of larger trees, then plummets down a fairly steep face to Middle Stream. It's slippery enough with loose grit on hard clay and I imagine it could be treacherous in the wet. It's 2.30 so just over an hour and a half from the hut.
There's a bit of a scramble up from the stream to another DOC sign that says 3-4 hrs to the hut and 2 hours to go (it's still stretching). The track then follows a series of clearings and through mixed bush over a couple of spurs before dropping again to the other branch of Middle Stream. There's some interesting fossilised shell beds in the stream, that at first I mistake for old concrete, then it takes me a minute or two to identify where the track continues on the other side (not upstream).
The next high point marks the last downhill to the Waipawa River. The track follows beside a deer fence through long grass and descends gently to a gate and then the bridge. It's a few minutes from here up the other side to the car - just after 3.30 (a little under 2hr 40).
The day is hot and blue as I peel off boots that smell like wet Labradors, and reach for the first, still-cool ginger beer.
Postscript
All goals achieved for the weekend. The six different approaches/departures to Waterfall Hut is a bit of fun - technically two of them were via the river but I reckon that's ok as they are substantially different routes otherwise (Mangaweka Spur and Rangi Saddle). In fact a river approach all the way from, say Crow Hut would also count as a different route - but that means I would have to find another one to match it ... |
| Six ways to (or from) Waterfall Hut This weekend in red, previous trip in purple |
This truly is a fantastic part of the range - the tops are entertaining with a few little challenges and there is far less leatherwood to contend with than in some other parts.
The spur up to Three Johns is doable but took a bit longer than I expected - it would be interesting to see if the spur I meant to take is any easier. The spur down from 1715 was a blast - a few challenging bits and I would hesitate recommending going straight to the hut - it would be interesting to see if the game trails from the flat spot actually take you on an easy route to Rangi Creek.
Pinnacle to Purity was fine - the hut is really nice and it is a shame that landowner truculence is denying access.
Hikurangi Range is fairly benign - more of a tick-in-the-box for the highest peak than anything else really. But it was good fun doing the sidle and finding the spur above Trig Creek quite navigable.
Broken Ridge also had a few fun bits - a long grind up and over and nice to see the top this time.
I muffed the descent to Smiths Stream. I suspect good trails continue down the spur that comes out downstream of the junction. Ah well.
The track out felt like a bit of a commute. There are some nice sections but where the bush is regenerating is a bit scrappy and I can take or leave tracks over farmland.
I can't complain about the weather - sure there was a bit of clag but I got enough views to compensate.
All up, a great fun trip.
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