Tararua tracks work

I've been doing a bit of track work with the Greater Wellington Backcountry Network so here's some photos and notes from a few trips over recent months ...

Derrick Field is the powerhouse behind it all, aided and abetted by a bunch of, mostly retired but very active, volunteers.

Mount Frith and Finis track

I first get wind of a working party doing a blitzkrieg on the Mt Frith track.  If you don't know it, it's worth checking out.  It runs from a little north of Featherston where the Tauherenikau exits the Tararua Ranges, up to Mt Frith then on to the pylon track that links to the top of the Remutaka hill road with various exits and entrances you  can explore.  A lot of the bush is recovering farmland so pretty scrubby, but there are some unique views as there aren't a lot of tracks in that neck of the woods.     

I turn up at the Bucks Road campsite at the appointed hour to Derek's obvious puzzlement - apparently my joining email hasn't landed yet.  I have no idea what to expect but have chucked a bunch of potentially useful bits and pieces in a pack.  

There's been a bit of work done on the track already so we commute up the hill with scrub bars, chainsaws and other implements of destruction to the point we'll be working from.  There's 8 in the team and the order of operations quickly establishes itself.  Two head off with a scrub bar with a Triblade - this smashes off everything below about 2-3cm in diameter. Derek follows with a scrub bar with a cutting blade - essentially a circular saw on a stick which takes out anything up to 5 or 6cm.  Finally, a chainsaw comes through knocking off everything else.  Behind each tool is one or two chuckers who clear the carnage from the track.     

Given the nature of the scrub, Derek is keen to establish a broad swathe of destruction to prolong the time before the next trim.  It's slow work and my office-soft hands and back are quickly feeling the burn.  I also learn that the demands of the chuckers job varies with the terrain, vegetation, height of the bush and leather gloves are required for the old man gorse.  One day I'll be old enough to drive the scrub bar!

Chainsaw and chuckers
Mind your back 

Over the next few weeks we get in more days on the track with the mix of volunteers changing.  Mostly Wairapapa resident, but a few of us from further afield and the odd volunteer from the local tramping community (they also run their own working days).  Gareth is a starter on most days - he is organising an adventure race through this area and has a definite vested interest in the successful outcome of the work.  

The final day 'on the tools' we climb from Boar Bush Gully to Mt Finis and teams start from each end of the remaining uncut section.   It's pleasing to finish it 

View up the Tauherenikau gorge to cloud on the approach to Marchant Ridge

A slice of Wairarapa Moana

From above Boar Bush Gully towards Featherston

Southwest to the Remutaka Hill Road

A suitable sign to mark the end of this project

Tracks around Cone, Winchcombe and Maungahuka

The next project is my first multi day trip.  Derek has quite the logistical challenge to get teams, gear, helicopter and weather windows lined up.  

It ends up with two groups covering different chunks of territory.  One group to clear the track from Neill Peak to Winchcombe Biv and install warratahs up to Mt Hector.  Then, as time and weather allows, relocate to Maungahuka to cut through to clear the track along the main range to Aokaparangi. 

The second group to clear the track from Neill Peak back to Cone then along cone ridge and down to Neill Forks - with a helicopter relocation of gear to Neill Forks hut part way through - I think Derek had some other jobs in mind for them also.

I'm in the first group and end up partnered with Jim who has a wealth of experience and is good company.

We gather at the helicopter pad near the Waiohine road end.  There's a bit of amusement getting the cars up the track, and then organised chaos as gear is stacked into the correct piles for the different flights that will be required.

  

 

Bill the pilot duly turns up with his ground crew and fuel, and I'm on the first flight.  We're required to do the DOC online helicopter module so the instructions are fresh in mind and loading and departure go smoothly.  It's a pearler of a day and it's great to lift off and pass over the Waiohine River before skirting around cone ridge and climbing to the top of Neill.  Half a day's tramping is dispensed with in a few minutes as we touch down on the peak and quickly unload.  

 

Greg hares off to wang in some warratahs across the open peak top - he has until the helicopter comes back otherwise we'll be carrying the rammer all the way to Hector.  

In no time Bill is back and drops members of the other group, picks up the rammer and relocates it up to Winchcombe with our supplies - they then drop bundles of warratahs up the ridge to Hector marking the GPS waypoints.  Somewhere amongst all this, he drops a load of gear onto Cone and Greg and Mike to do the Hector warratahs.

As the sound of the helicopter fades for the last time Jim and I leave the cone team to organise themselves - they'll be cutting back to Come.  We turn to contemplate the ridge ahead.  It's a while since I've been this way but I recall interminable lumps and bumps.  The day is good for now but the forecast is variable over the next few days.

From Neill - Winchcombe Biv on the bushline 2ish km away. Hector in clag beyond.

Across the Hector Valley to the north the Tararua peaks (Tuiti and Tunui) and Maungahuka are clear but a drift of cloud obscures Aokaparangi.  

Tararua peaks, Maungahuka, Concertina Knob on right 

Jim gets into the chainsawing while I chuck the cuttings and cut back smaller vege with a set of shears.  In the tussock areas he gets away from me while I catch up in the forest.  

We get into our rhythm - it's not as efficient without a scrub bar as there is a lot of scrub too small for the chainsaw but too big for the shears.  However, you can certainly see the difference when we've been through.

By the end of the day we have probably done about half (1 km) of the ridge as we stash gear and start the commute to the Biv.  Greg passes through at one point on a mission to get back and finish the final warratah on Neill - he has an ice hammer not a rammer so we wish him luck. He reports that they have already set all the warratahs from Hector and are starting clearing back towards us on the ridge.

Greg and Mike are already settled in when we get to the Biv - they have very kindly left the two bedder to Jim and I and pitched their tents on the only two possible sites in the area.

Greg at Winchcombe Biv

This is the first time I've been to the new Biv - the old one was long gone when I was doing the bulk of my Tararua tramping, and the new one hadn't been built when I technically 'bagged' all the official huts (which I hadn't set out to do).  It's still in tidy condition, solidly constructed, well painted and with a ventilation fan (solar powered I think).  Over the next couple of days we discover that with a little rain, the hut surrounds are prone to be boggy and that the uncovered bog is prone to be miserable.

"All my own work ..."

We compare notes for the day and estimate that we should be finished tomorrow.  Greg and I are rapidly learning that going light weight might be a virtue when it comes to tramping but can be dispensed with when helicopters are involved.  Fortunately Jim has the good sense to bring enough beers to share and the good manners to do so.   

As we settle down, I'm pleased not to be in my single tent as I try to find a position that eases aching muscles.  

In the morning Jim and I head back to where we stopped and continue the work of yesterday eventually joining up with Greg and Mike before trudging back to the Biv.  The weather is packing it in and we've had some gear issues with broken shears and a lost oil cap on a chainsaw (Jim does an admirable bodge with a dracophyllum stem that sees us through though).

Commuting

Back at the hut it's a bit dismal with the rain set in and the ground getting steadily muddier.  Mike has brought a spare tarp which we rig over the entrance to the Biv and we can sit and eat in relative dryness.  It makes a huge difference but requires vigilance to prevent too much pooling - everyone heads off to their respective digs early. 

The three ... wise men?

The rain has eased by morning and we have hopes the weather will break enough for Bill to get in.  We get packed and relocate to the heli pad then sit around twiddling our thumbs and watching the cloud anxiously.  We have cellphone cover so can keep Bill posted on the conditions.  

 

Ridge to Neill

Shortly after

At least it breaks enough and Bill heads out - but we hear him fly around the ridge and up the Hector Valley - I'm scratching my head as it's a bit gorgy and I wouldn't think hunters would want to be dropped up there.  When he arrives Bill advises he was dropping off a SAR team to practice gorge rescues.  A good thing - I might be needing them one day. 

Two loads later we are settling into Maungahuka hut.  

The instructions are to cut through to Aokaparangi.  The gear is a bit of a compromise as it is not really chainsaw country - in  retrospect a scrub bar would have been more effective on the small stuff.  Greg and I don't have a lot of chucking to do but there is plenty of tussock and non-chain-sawable vege so we proceed at our pace while Mike and Jim forge ahead.  We're sharing the last pair of shears which are being kept functioning through cannibalism of the defunct pair. Fortunately, I've brought a flax knife which works well but requires bending double.   

We work north from Maungahuka along the range.  The country side is interesting enough for tramping, let alone working. 

It's a long commute back at the end of the day but we have got a fair way towards Wright and are pleased with progress.  During the day we see just two people - a chap doing the big day loop from Otaki forks, and a TA walker who is a little off the beaten track.

Jim looking for something big enough to chainsaw

Greg and I are the last to head back and it's a bit of a grind in the wind back up to Maungahuka - but the hut is relatively warm with all the bodies and Jim produces another round of beers.  Not to be out done, Mike shows off his prowess making scones in a billy.  He's perfecting the technique as part of a programme he is setting up to have TA trail volunteers engage with walkers.  

The TA walker is staying the night - she is following the main range rather than the usual exit to Otaki forks via Junction Knob and Waitewaewae.  She is unaware of the steel ladder on the Tararua Peaks that she will be crossing tomorrow morning, and her gear is a bit light weight for the conditions.  Jim digs out some spare gloves for her and Greg accompanies her in the morning to see her safely past the ladder.  

We reckon there isn't really enough work left for two teams along the range today so Mike and Greg head off to cut down to Concertina Knob while Jim and I head out to finish along the range.

It turns out to be tougher going than I expected and although Mike gets all the sawing done I stay back to get us much shearing done as I can.  In retrospect I was probably clearing to too high a standard - as Derrick points out later; people travelling these areas should expect to content with a bit of vegetation. 

The weather has deteriorated during the afternoon and I'm getting wet and bullied by the wind as I lug the jerry can back to the hut.   Everyone is back and Mike and Greg have dealt to the track all the way down and onto Concertina knob.  

There's nothing more to do tomorrow so we'll be packing in the morning and crossing our fingers for a helicopter sized break in the cloud.  I have cell coverage in the hut and down load various forecasts in order to select the most optimistic. 

It doesn't look promising as we peer across the tarn in the morning - the norwester is bringing humid air off the Tasman providing an unending supply of clag on the tops.

  

We get packed though and relocate to the helicopter 'pad' to be ready.

     

Waiting, waiting ...

Woohoo!!

Eventually some breaks start developing and we contact Bill - however he is held up waiting for a DOC crew to arrive at the hangar.  Eventually he turns up with a couple of chaps and drums of complicated gear.  They dump supplies then ferry equipment around the corner of the ridge to the ladder.  They're re-rigging a bunch of the chains and attachments with stainless steel.  

Finally we get our turn and are quickly ferried down to the warm air and clear skies at Waiohine Gorge.

Postscript

The other team got a lot of work done from Cone to Neill forks so all up it was a productive week with all boxes ticked.  Hopefully it will be a while before anyone needs to go through some of those areas again.  

The back straining nature of the work was a bit of a challenge for this (ex)office worker and I'm discovering how quickly and thoroughly it trashes your lightweight tramping gear.  I'm thinking a nice gesture from DOC would be giving volunteers access to discount kit - but not holding my breath under current funding constraints.  

A great experience with a great crew - all of whom were good company and generous - I learnt a lot.