Triangle Hut

So, I made the mistake of delaying my write up and trying to remember the details over a month later ...
On the positive side, this will be have to be brief.

This weekend I've designed a trip around the Rangiwahia Hut road end on the west side of the Ruahine Ranges. The forecast and my fitness are not brilliant, so I plumb for a relatively less ambitious loop taking in a bit of off-track, Irongate Hut (the new hut should be just about finished now), Triangle Hut and Rangiwahia Hut.


What:    Tramp
Where:   Western Ruahine Range
When:    7-8 December 2019
Who:      Solo
Map

The usual long drive up, this time via a pretty good old-school bakery in Fielding (noted for future reference).  The only thing of note is the amount of haze in the air - possibly something to do with Australia being on fire.

It's a popular road end so I'm expecting a few cars - there's two, possibly an indication of the forecast. I head off about 8.50 am.

Straight out of the carpark I take a right onto Deadmans track and plod on up. It's a good track, Climbing steeply then more gently. Before the bushline a couple of hunters are coming down - they've spent the night under a fly and bagged a deer in the morning. They're happy to stop for a chat and I pick their brains about the conditions and vegetation on the ridge - the forecast wind was reasonably kind to them but is set to get up during the weekend.

There's a long section through tussock and I can start to get a feel for the landscape - it's surprisingly gentle. At the top (10.25) it's hot in the sun and I'm not feeling 100% so stop for a half hour snooze in the tussock above a wee tarn, tucked out of the wind.

Underway again I head right (south) off the track and down the ridge. It starts wide and flat without much of a foot trail - it would be easy to drift off line in clag and miss the sharp drop to a saddle and the continuation of Whanahuia Range.

It's a bit scrubby in places and the foot trail comes and goes but it's fine going to pt 1392 which I loop around to approach from the south. The wind is even stronger now but isn't making a difference to the haze. Tucked in the tussock I study the map - the spur down is obvious today but would take a leap of faith to find the top in clag (11.50am).

SW from 1392 - probably pt 1434 

Top of spur SE off pt 1392 - note the haze

I can't see any foot trail as I clamber down through thickening scrub. Before long it is full on leatherwood with no sign that anything but animals come this way. I chose this spur because it leads straight to the hut and it's inconceivable that someone hasn't used it as a commuting route - once again the Ruahines aren't following the Tararua mold.

The leatherwood band runs lower than the map indicates and I'm thoroughly sick of the clambering and rending by the time more mature forest takes over. Towards the bottom the spur steepens and there's a glimpse of the new Irongate hut. I drift a bit too far right and have a clamber across a steep face to find a way down to the river. You don't want to get too close to the stream opposite the hut as there is a significant waterfall.

Across the river the brand spanking new Irongate hut is glowing in the sun. I arrive about 2pm to a sign on the door indicating that the workers have finished and are happy for all comers to demolish their remaining food but not to touch the other gear. Their farewell entry is the last in the log book.

The old hut has been demolished and the new hut is certainly an improvement - warm, light, spacious with a big veranda. The DOC website still has photos of the old hut and I didn't count the mattresses but it looks like it would sleep 10-12 on bunks and room for many more on the floor and deck.

I have plenty of food for myself and don't fancy carrying anything more, so restrain myself to nibbling one of their Cookie Time cookies as I inspect the premises.

It's really tempting to stay but I'm keen on having a short day out tomorrow so reluctantly leave the new facility (and free food) about 2.45.

Heading up river the track ducks up a stream on the true right then leaves it to climb steeply onto a spur. In coming weeks the news is full of satellite photos of the Australian smoke plume reaching across the Tasman - but today I am just left wondering if the sunset colours in the mid-afternoon sun filtering through the beech canopy are related.

There're stoat traps along the way and I empty and reset 5 or 6 (all rats). I'm still not feeling great so just plod along and am relieved to get to the bottom and the flatter river travel (4.10pm).

It's a narrowish valley so you're in and out of the water but I don't recall anything challenging about this section. Triangle hut when it hoves into view (4.55) is perched on a wee terrace. It's old but perfectly serviceable. The Whio protectors are frequent visitors and it shows as the hut is kept tidy.

I note in the log book that another party took a different spur off the range to me (off Mangahuia) - they too do not recommend the experience and I can completely understand their sentiments (yep - that would be you Jean!).

Triangle Hut

There's a bit of afternoon left and had I been a bit more on the game I might have looked at heading on to Rangiwahia Hut. The sensible thing however is to stay put and peruse the hut literature, which is what I do.

The wind gets up a bit during the night and it's raining off and on in the morning. I get away at 7.15 up the marked track - a far more sensible way of getting to and from the ridge. Looking back across the valley I'm a bit regretful not to be heading up the ridge behind the hut to Taumataomekura - this had been part of the original plan put paid to by the weather forecast. I have to admit to myself that, weather aside, I'm just too far off colour for it have been a goer.

The wind is strong across the ridge with clag coming and going. The foot trail is obvious though so I hardly need to look at the map. A short diversion up to Mangahuia (9.10am - not because it has a spot height) then I'm on the long, long, gentle descent to Rangiwahia hut.  The cloud starts to break, the wind drops and the rain fades.

Mangahuia

I didn't know what to expect but Rangiwahia Hut is a surprise (10am). What looks to be a beautifully muralled small hut with no windows turns out to be a massive woodshed. Then comes the hut with equally beautifully decorated toilets. The hut sees a lot of visitors and the infrastructure has received investment to match.

Rangiwahia wood shed

Rangiwahia Hut and Rangiwahia outhouses

It's about 10.05 and there's no point hanging about so I head on down the wide track. There're some engineering challenges with the steep and eroding faces in the area but DOC is keeping on top of it and there are some excellent information boards.





About 20 minutes down from the hut the track crosses a gorge on a beautiful arched wooden bridge looking like something from a Lord of the Rings film set.


After that there's a bit of a climb across a crumbling hillside and succession plants then back into good forest on a wide track. I bump into one couple on the way up but don't stop to chat, getting back to the car about 10.50

Not too busy today

Postscript

The loop around Rangiwahia Hut and Deadmans is a much visited part of the park with very good tracks and facilities and info on the DOC website. There's no need to say anything more about that.

The Whanahuia range south is clearly traveled and the short bit I did was pretty straight forward although the foot trails weren't strong.

Once again, seemingly obvious off track routes don't have evidence of use and are tough going through the scrub belt. It's definitely doable but I don't really recommend the spur off 1392.

The new Irongate Hut is flash, large and will really lift the possibilities from the Petersons Road end.

I was unsure about the quality of travel from there to Triangle Hut. In the end it was fine - the main thing was just that it is a bit of a grunt over the spur. I don't know what the river is like around the loop but it might be interesting to find out on a hot day.

As for the rest - pretty much exactly what you would expect from reading the map.

All up, not a particularly startling weekend but a passable loop trip.

Ruahines Trapping - Oroua River

Killing stoats - a sure fire recipe for an enjoyable weekend.

The tramping club runs trapping lines in the Ruahines as part of the Whio protection programme - I'd always been meaning to go along on a trip or two but keep missing the trip schedule. This time there's space in the van heading north with a trapping trip and an easy trip sharing transport.

It starts with the usual Friday afternoon rendezvous at platform 9 and the inevitable 10 minute late punter holding everyone up. Still, the traffic up the coast is pretty good and, with dinner in Levin under our belts, we are soon in the rural hinterland north and east of Fielding. 

After Apiti we head east to the hills and start seeing broken branches in the headlights. Trees on the road banks have been flattened by the snow in the previous week. A few clumps of snow remain.

It's dark and wet when we arrive at Janet and Graeme's bach near the road end and decamp to their floor. They are members of the Palmerston North Tramping Club and Janet seems to do a fair proportion of the organisation behind the Ruahine Whio Protectors. There's a bit of uncertainty about what we are in for tomorrow - DOC has spent a couple of days clearing fallen branches on the 45 minutes of track to Alice Nash Memorial hut so it is anyone's bet what the next four hours up to Irongate hut will be like.  

We hatch a plan for the morning and hit our pits after a cuppa tea and a natter.  Bruce the dog is in heaven as he potters around sequentially snuggling up next to the comatose bodies. Outside it's wet and windy - the occasional sortie may, if you're lucky, give a glimpse through shredded mist of lights on the plain below. Probably Apiti.

It's a short walk in the morning to the Alice Nash hut on a well cleared track with plenty of snow about.  Overcast and trying to rain but not too bad.

Illona gives us a run down on how to check and re-bait a trap - surprisingly easy - and the five of us divide into a trap checker and a track clearer team. I'm starting on the clearing and have my saw so rip into the fallen branches.

We have three saws but one soon becomes dead weight when a critical nut is lost on the track - still, one person just clearing branches is useful.

It's slow and hard work but we make reasonable progress and soon decide that it is a goer to carry through to the hut before dark, but unlikely that we will have time to pickup any traps past the hut.

At some point we regroup for lunch and swap roles. We regroup again at Tunupo creek which is sufficiently up to require a linked up crossing. After that, Gareth and I have our technique sorted and rip ahead with the traps - the down side is that we have to find our own way through the tree falls - mostly no problem but the river flats towards Irongate have a lot of damage to navigate. The snow is a foot deep in places.

The track clearers give up as dark approaches and head straight for the hut arriving about half an hour later.  The snow is deep amidst the trees and around the hut.

The hut fire pretty much defeats us - there's not much in the way of dry wood and even when it gets going it soon goes out without constant attention. I give it away in favour of Sharron who announces she has some firelighters - she manages to get something going after awhile but it makes little more difference than the 5 bodies in the small space.

Dinner is a good solid tramping club recipe - filling and followed by fruit cake. A lot flasher than I'm used to. Illona collects the trap stats for entering on the website later - all up 16 rats and no mustelids. We're in bed with lights out by 8.30pm with a plan hatched for a first light start. No-one is game to find out where the loo is in the cold.

After breakfast Ilona heads out with Gareth for a rapid return to Alice hut and hopefully enroll a few of the easy trip in clearing more traps. Paul, Sharron and I tidy the hut and turn to clearing the track on the way back - starting with the buried track down to the hut.

We discover that the night before we had been wandering on and off the track because of the amount of branches down. This time we pretty much clear the track with the exception of some big trees that defeat our small hand saws.  We deal to a number of falls that we had just bypassed yesterday and by the time we get to Alice Nash around 12 - the whole route is navigable with just a few areas where large falls have to be bypassed.

Approaching Alice Nash hut a glint catches my eye and there's the nut that fell of the saw yesterday. Unbelievable.

At Alice hut the fire is going and a couple from the other trip are there, the rest having headed out to do some trap clearing. We get a hot cuppa and a muffin while we find out that they drove to the nearby glow worm cave which had a veritable galaxy on display - otherwise they seem to be having a very relaxed weekend. Soon the others are back having cleared a few more traps, we tidy up and head out.

It's worth mentioning that Alice Nash memorial hut is run by the local deer stalkers and is in immaculate condition. It takes cash or DOC tickets and it appears that the hut is checked pretty regularly.

Back at the van wet gear is stowed and we head off for a snack in Fielding and a long drive home - in daylight which is pleasant.

Post script

Although the conditions meant we checked fewer traps than planned, it did feel in the end that a reasonable contribution was made with the track well cleared apart from a few major falls and 70 traps re-baited. Being sociable had its moments - the food is definitely better and there's a lot to be said for division of labour. The pace was somewhat slower than I'm used to but that's not such a bad thing and it meant more energy for cuttin' and haulin'. Being a captive audience for other people's driving had it's moments.