Shutes Hut and northern Ruahine Range

This is the belated write up of my New Year trip from January 2021.   I'd fitted in a couple of  MTB day trips at the end of December, but back in Wellington the feet were getting itchy and I figured there was time for one more jaunt before knuckling down on COVID again.

The far north of the Ruahine Range is notoriously difficult to access but there is public access from Comet Road which heads south off the Taihape-Napier Road.  I assume the name is a bastardisation of Kaikomata which is the name of the range.  

What:      Just hut bagging really  

Where:     Northern Ruahine Range

When:     5 - 7 January 2021

Who:       Solo

As Comet Road climbs to the top of the range, there are a couple of sections that are a bit marginal in the MX5 but we don't have to resort to plan B of dropping me off to walk in.  The support crew is ok to drive out but not keen to tackle it uphill, so I will be walking out.  

There's a hut at the road end (Comet Hut) - I'm assuming that it's pretty rough so despite the relatively late hour I decide to push to Shutes Hut or camp on the way.  It's 7.30pm as I wave good bye and head into the scrub. 

Comet Hut

In the East, the farmland in the Tararua River headwaters is catching the late afternoon sun.  I'll be crossing the river this evening if I'm comfortable with light and water level. 

The track climbs through scrub and regen before entering manky pine on the ridge top - a long redundant trig lurks among the trunks (20 minutes in).

  

After a couple of Ks of relative flat, the track dives out of the pines and off the edge of the erosion scared gorge that the Taruarau River has carved across the northern end of the Ruahine Range. 

Taruarau River

It's a steep descent and getting pretty dim by the time I reach the river.  It's running low though and easy to cross.  I can't see where the track runs on the other side and waste a bit of time casting around - in the end just fossicking through scrub and grass until I see a triangle.  I quickly lose it again though and end up bashing up slope in the dark.  Stopping to check the map I realise my mistake and head up and across, to drop over a wee spur to join the track as it follows up above a wee stream.  

A junction and sign emerge out of the gloom and shortly there is a grassy clearing.  The hut is in there somewhere, but it's surprisingly difficult to navigate - the grass is chest high, pigs have ripped up the ground and there's no discernable path.  

The hut is identified on the map as 'Shutes Hut (Historic)'.  The 'historic' could mean anything from a few sheets of moldering iron to a lovingly restored relic.  Fortunately, the structure that looms in the torchlight is closer to the latter than the former.  It's 10:15 so about  2 hr 45 from the road end.  

I settle in for a late dinner and perusal of the log book.  There's entries back to 1985 which is good to see, and a plaque at the door giving a bit of history.  It's pretty rustic inside with branches lining the bunks but with an iron roof and mattresses it is perfectly comfortable. 

In the morning I can assess the scene.  There's a wee stream nearby and cabbage trees which I assume have been deliberately planted. The surrounding slopes look like regenerating natives - not a pretty landscape but heading in the right direction.

The plan for the day is to follow the marked track east than south to Ruahine Hut then assess and consider dropping to the romantically named Dead Dog Hut.  I get away about 7.40 - the track is marked but doesn't seem to have a lot of traffic.  It climbs then sidles across slopes high above the Taruarua River.  

The drop to Koau Stream is steep and I'm pretty hot by the time I reach the bottom.  A dip in the creek is very welcome.   It's about 10am so still not the heat of the day.  There's an old shed moldering into the landscape - no indication of purpose but pretty small and light weight.  

The track is not easy to follow but I find some indications a little up stream and zig zag steeply up old slip faces to the ridge.  It's really heating up now and the swim is long forgotten.

Looking back into Koau Stream

Around 1.20 I've dropped to Waitutu Stream and take the chance to sit in the cool air for a while and watch a spider spin a web above the water.  

 

Then it's another climb and wander through a mix of open scrub and bush.  Finally the track broadens into 4WD proportions under regenerating trees and pops out at Ruahine Hut. 2.20 pm so 6 hr 40 from Shutes, at not what you would call a cracking pace.

I take over half an hour for a rest and lunch.  I also have a think about plans and decide to miss the Dead Dog.  It's a shame, as it and Herricks Hut are a pain to get to without landowner permission, and I can't see myself bothering to get up this way again anytime soon.  The revised plan involves a long road haul but it is mercifully clouding over.  I get away a bit before 3pm.

It's a pretty tedious section - the road is well used and it's a hard trudge.  I have a look at Rakautaonga (pt 1119) as there is apparently a route down to the stream above Dead Dog Hut but don't notice anything obvious - admittedly from the road.  Mad Pom has a description of a route that sounds ok.   

I also have a picture of a trig taken at 4.17 - this might be the site marked as the Lessong Monument on the map built by the surveyor Lessong in the 1880s.  I also find a well marked and formed track heading north down the ridge, about 200m along the road from the trig, starting from a pull off area.  I follow it aways out of curiosity but have to give it away before it takes me anywhere interesting. 

The turn off to the track to Diane's Hut is not obvious but you'll find it by default as it is just before the road swings south.  Once on it the track drops down a spur and it takes about 50 minutes to descend, cross the Koau Stream for the second time today and scramble up to the Hut.  

The hut was built by a family in memory of their 21 y/o daughter who liked tramping and died in 1978.  The last visitor was yesterday and the log book goes back to April 2010.  It's basic but comfortable and, at 5.30, I'm very tempted to stop for the day.  After a rest though, common sense prevails - there's still plenty of daylight and it's not far to Taruarau Biv so after a half hour break I start the steep climb to the ridge.  It takes about an hour to the ridgeline.

View from the ridge - probably about NW

It's a short skip along the ridge and drop to the Biv arriving 7.45pm - not immediately apparent as it is tucked into the edge of the trees.  

Location of the Biv

Taruarau Biv is the standard two bedder - someone has tucked the table inside to keep it out of the weather and there's a camp chair.  It's pretty tidy and will do just fine.  I clear the guttering, get sweaty gear airing and enjoy the last of the afternoon sun. 

There has only been 8 visits in the last year but this is not surprising given the COVID hiatus.  The last visitors were a week back, and I even see an errant TA walker has been through (a good option to avoid the Wanganui River and tedious Manawatu road walking perhaps).  It's a great spot and a perfect evening to enjoy it.

 

I get away around 8am under high cloud.  It's easy travel north along the ridge - the route is simple on paper - north to drop down a spur to Shutes Hut then reverse the route from day one.  It's easy travel along the ridge although it could be interesting to follow in clag.  

As the ridge drops from pt 1183 there's more scrub and you have to keep your eyes open for markers, especially once you start crossing erosion chutes.  North, the steep face to the Kaikomati Range is a reminder about the inevitable climb up from the river that is yet to come. 

 

It's a steep descent down a spur to pop out in the clearing above the hut - not quite as marked on the map.  It's 9.50 - a bit under 2 hours from Taruarau. I take 15 minutes to fill in the log and rest. 

In daylight and on the track it's only 30 minutes back to the river and to the slightly faded sign I missed in the twilight.  It promises 30 minutes to Shutes Hut (correct) and 3 hours to Comet Hut (let's see). Even in light though, the marking is poorly maintained.

I cross the river in bare feet and stop for lunch by the wee creek on the other side starting the long grind up about 11am.  Having your nose close to the ground and looking for excuses to pause means you notice a more details of the local flora - in this case quite a lot of native broom.  It's pretty small and spindly and easily distinguished from the introduced variety.  

I'm in my own world when voices drifting down from above break in. A couple of older women are taking a day trip down to the river - we have a good old chat during the course of which I learn that they are volunteers for a local conservation group and they ask if I've noticed the broom.  There's only so long I can spin the excuse out though and reluctantly resume the climb.

 

Around 12.20 I'm done with the up and emerge on to the manky pine clad plateau.  The going is easier though, and it's not all mono culture - there's a nice wee section through beech forest. At 12.50 I give a nod to the trig which signals that the drop to the road end is about to start. 

Comet Hut takes a further 15 minutes, but it ain't over yet.  There's a long road walk ahead - cutting a long tedious interval short - it takes 70 minutes to walk to the main road with two cars passing but from the wrong direction.  The support crew arrives in due course to find a somewhat fragrant tramper snoozing on the road verge.  

Postscript

There are some real gems in this part of the range - the views, some tidy wee huts and intervals of pretty forest.  But ... it's a hassle getting there and getting access, there's a lot of regenerating to be done, some depressing erosion, and depending on your route, some road walking.  In the end it felt like a bit of a box ticking exercise but I'm pleased to have done it - I'm not sure that I will make the effort to tick off those last two huts though.