The thought crosses my mind that a three day tramp into tough country finishing two days before heading south for a 8 day tramp might be a little rash, but ...
Dundas hut is just off (east) the Main Tararua range in its northern reaches. It is nestled on the side of a spur that is flanked by two bigger spurs, which just happen to have a couple of spot heights each. On the map they look interestingly steep and gnarly - finding a viable route onto the bottom of the nasty looking southern spur looks particularly tricky.
I've been trying to design a cross range trip that takes them both in but it hasn't eventuated so this will be a special out and back trip from the Mangahao dam road end. The upside is that I can explore the spur up to West Peak from Harris Creek and pick up a small handful of spots a little further south in the Mangahao catchment - quite possibly the last time I will need to go in there.
What: Three days of navigation, scrub bashing and spot heighting
Where: Dundas hut vicinity, Main Range and upper Mangahao Valley
When: 7-9 January 2019
Who: Solo
Map
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| The whole thing |
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| The business end of the trip |
Up early, drive up the coast, scone from the Olde Beach Bakery, gravel road into the dams, yada, yada, yada ...
It's raining solidly and the road is pretty pot holey. Just before the end there's a washout on the downhill side and I have to drive with two wheels in the drainage ditch. The car gets through with a bit of scraping on the floor panels.
It's quite late (8.50am) by the time I get away. The top reservoir is fuller than I've seen it for a long time so it must have been quite wet up here. The rain stays steady - and the track is muddy and slippery. All the side streams are crossable although I resort to a stick in one where you normally wouldn't even wet your boots. I certainly wouldn't want to tackle the main river which is not at its highest but is turbid and violent.
It takes about 2 hours to get to Harris Creek. I cross and turn left off the track. There's no obvious trail so I follow my nose across the old terrace avoiding the swampiest bits then scramble onto the base of the spur.
There's little sign of human traffic but it's pretty easy going. I potter up in the rain without any particular hurry. At the bush line it becomes apparent there has been an old trail up here. There is evidence of old cut branches - not recently cleared but an easier path through some of the scrub than expected.
Out of the forest the clag holds in tight and refuses to lift. The wind rises - the air temperature is warm but there is a bit of wind chill so I stop to layer up.
I go to take a swig from my camel back and discover that the nipple and all the water have gone. Not a great start to a few hours on the tops. However, in this weather I shouldn't need to recourse to dropping to a water course so continue upwards. I scramble through the next patch of leatherwood and emerge minus the rest of the hose - I back track and find it attached to a branch and tuck it safely in the pack.
The scrub reduces in size and the tussock starts to predominate as I climb higher in the clag.
The next knob looks very much like the top (West Peak) to me but my altimeter disagrees. You can see how people can get lost up here (just don't wander into the headwaters of Chamberlain Creek!). I take a bearing along what should turn out to be the main ridge (all going well) and soon find a foot trail.
I potter along to Walker and recalibrate the altimeter. I don't bother too much with counting the knobs as Pukemoremore is pretty obvious and I'm comfortable I'll recognise it when I get there. The compass provides occasional comfort I'm not wandering off down a side spur.
Aside from requiring a little more care with navigation, the lack of visibility leads to the mind searching for the familiar. This can be in thinking a rock is an outcrop you dimly remember or interpreting a random sound as a distant voice. At this point in the range in this weather on a Monday I'm pretty confident it is an overactive imagination.
The rocks on Pukemoremore are all somewhat familiar as they loom out of the clag. I'm trying to remember when I was through here last and finally remember a loop trip up Ngapuketurua spur to the Main Range via Ruapae, East Peak etc and down Triangle Spur (until I got misplaced in the dark).
I totter over Puke' into the saddle and onto the knob above the hut spur. Then it's the steepish 200m downhill to the hut (shortly after 4pm).
I'm soaked and the hut is a welcome respite. The wind has kept at a reasonable level though so, although tired and wet I'm not feeling battered or cold.
The hut is empty- it's a classic old six bunker in a fantastic location. It's on the side of an impressive cwm below Pukemoremore and gets good sunlight (well ...). As it's a bit of a mission to get to from any direction, there's a good chance of having it to yourself. I settle in and get into something dry.
As the afternoon progresses the clag clears. Until, at 7.55 I'm watching sunset creep up the spur I'll be climbing down tomorrow. To the south east Cattle Ridge is catching the full late sun.
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| 5.45 |
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| 6.15 - Dome on right |
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| Cattle ridge at 7.55 |
I keep myself busy getting things as dry as possible, reading issues of National Geographic from the 1980s and cooking dinner.
During the night the clag returns, it's quiet outside with no wind and the hut smells like a wet dog - it turns out to be my boots.
In the morning it is still claggy but I am hopeful that it will clear as there is a bit of a glow to the gloom.
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| Leaving Dundas Hut |
As I'm closing the door at 7.20am I think I hear a 'woohoo' drifting down from the peaks. I briefly consider who would be up there at this time - it's so far from any other hut that the only person around would be someone doing the SK (the length of the Tararuas in a weekend). Mind tricks again.
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| A few glimpses of Pukemoremore |
It's a plod up to the ridge where I take a right turn and see two figures suddenly emerge from the mist. They have minimal gear and are moving quickly. So that woohoo might have been real. A brief conversation ensues: Where have you come from? Putara road end at 2am. You'll be heading to Kaitoke then? With a bit of luck! I thought I heard you yell. Yeah - had some trouble finding the way in places - pretty pleased to get to the top.
They disappear south and I drop then climb towards Pukemoremore, it's 7.50. The clag is piling in from the west but it's thinning in the east and the sun is starting to peer through. The view opens down valley to the hut.
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| From below Pukemoremore - hut just right of centre |
In these conditions I keep half an eye out - with the sun behind and low in the east and mist in the west I might see the spectre of the brocken. Sure enough a bright circle (glory) forms in the shredding mist and a shadowy figure emerges in the centre - a bit distant and the phone doesn't capture it well but it's pretty cool to see. The last time I almost saw this was close to here on Triangle Knob - only it was in the evening light and the clag was too far away.
By the time I have reached the top the clag has broken and it's a clear day in the east. Although the main range north is still shaking itself clear.
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| South across the cwm, hut left of centre - intended spur up behind |
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| Main Range north |
I turn off the Main Range into tiger country. It immediately gets interesting with a steep wee scramble over a knob then into the saddle before Dome.
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| Looking up spur to Pukemoremore from Dome |
There's nothing too frightening but I take it slowly. It doesn't look like people come this way much but it's pretty good through the tussock and the low scrub isn't bad.
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| Looking down spur, notch on Cattle Ridge behind |
The sun is hot but the air is still cool. It's a pleasure to be wandering down an unknown spur without having to battle the elements or the vegetation.
As I drop towards the second spot height (1050), the scrub starts to become more of a proposition. I am however a little more interested in working out how to tackle the spur I intend to follow back up to the ridge. The map suggests a first proposition of working onto the toe of the spur whilst avoiding straying onto the faces where it forms the walls of the upper gorge on the Ruamahanga River.
The map also shows a second proposition; a sharp gully that meets the spur just above my target (pt 952) - it has a couple of contour lines that touch though - indicating a bit of a cliff. The view from here shows an erosion channel that corresponds with the map. I figure it will be a steep scramble but will provide fast access upwards but with the challenge of finding a way through the crumbling cliffs that are likely to line the top. Both routes will face a belt of scrub. I reckon proposition two is the best bet.
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| The erosion gully |
The scrub starts to become more challenging on the approach to 1050 (about 0940am). After pt 1050 the map is no help as to the best route down, so I follow whatever animal trails I can find. These rapidly run out and there is the usual bruising battle through leatherwood and regenerating forest species. Gravity assists as the slope steepens and once under the canopy it is ok going. The slope is steep with loose rocks and I pick my way to avoid the worst of the rotting logs.
At 1030 I finally reach the track between Dundas and Cattle Ridge. It's not well maintained so could be easily missed. I turn right and follow it to the stream junction at the base of the Dundas Hut spur, about 20 minutes later.
The day is starting to heat up and I take a bit of a break for a bite and a water refill - the next part is going to be tough. Downstream, Cattle ridge blocks the sky line, across the stream I can see where my gully starts.
The climb is as steep as expected - the rocks are mostly pretty stable but you have to be careful. Occasionally a large log is embedded in the channel forming a water fall and a barrier to scramble over.
After perhaps half an hour (less?), the gully splits. On the true left is a water fall (20m?). I reckon I could scale it on the true left but it is on the wrong side of dicey with some rotten rock at critical points - and no leeway for slips. On the true right rotten rock runs up to unscalable banks at the top by bush. In between a precipitous tongue of scrub provides the main hope of a route up.
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| The waterfall |
I edge carefully up the true right gingerly testing each hand and foot placement on the crumbling rock and looking for a place where I can haul myself into the scrub. This finally presents and I'm relieved to finally have something solid to hold onto. It's no easy going though - the climb is near vertical, worming through scrub and hanging off the best hand and foot holds available. I take my time but it's exhausting work with the face seeming to force me towards the undesirable true left channel.
The slope gradually relents but not the scrub. I resort to pushing my pack through and crawling after until, at almost 12.25 I hit a clearing on the crest of the spur. I can now see that I am further above pt 952 than intended - lucky I didn't go up the waterfall.
The image below indicates the approximate line taken.
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| Looking down the Ruamahanga with pt 952 in the foreground |
There's plenty of deer sign but no sign of a human trail down to 952. The spot itself gets a lot of four legged traffic and is clear with a wallow. I sit down to recuperate.
That was what I thought would be the toughest part of the day and it certainly lived up to expectations. The route up the spur looks pretty good once I clear the scrub but the map hints that the top of the spur might have some tricky knobs. I'm also somewhat mindful that my 2L of water might be a little shy of providing optimum hydration.
The scrub is a pain for a start but there are quite a lot of deer trails and I'm soon in tussock with scattered low scrub. I take it easy and plod upwards.
The cloud has kept its distance and I have clear views north to the spur I came down, east and south along Cattle Ridge and south to Bannister Basin. The headwaters of the Ruamahanga River are hemmed by the impressively rugged line of the Waingawa-Bannister Ridge to the south.
These headwaters are seldom visited and I'm pretty confident that I am not sharing this space with anyone else. Until, about 2.20pm the thump of a helicopter shatters the sense of isolation. I watch as a large chopper circles above Cattle Ridge Hut making a couple of approaches before touching down briefly and taking off again. It flys up valley and across Bannister Basin before executing a sharp turn across the northwest face of the Twins and looping along the face of Bannister again. It eventually fades from sight through the saddle towards Arete Hut. I don't see it again but hear it buzzing around for a while.
I wonder if it is dropping off hunters or on a search and rescue operation dropping search parties to check hut logs.
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| Pukemoremore has it's head in the clouds The spur down runs right with the hut spur in the middle distance |
Spot 1420 marks where the spur becomes more interesting (as expected) and I am eyeing up potential bail out routes across the upper basin towards Dundas Hut - these look feasible but definitely not a preferred option.
The scrambles turn out to be not too bad with the odd tactical sidle to avoid the worst bits. About 3.15 I am standing on Logan surveying the spur below satisfied that this part of the mission has been safely completed.
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| Knobs on approach to Logan |
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| Another wee scramble |
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| Near the top - looking back down |
At 3.50 I'm back at the hut. It's catching the sun nicely and I take the chance for a bit of a wash and to put some wet gear out to dry. It feels a little weird to be spending a second night but it is a splendid spot.
Tomorrow I intend to head south along the range and drop to a spot off Mt Dundas before following another spur to the valley floor via Triangle knob and Little Triangle. The first part of the spur is a known route but I'll be following a different line for the lower part. The map shows a lot of scrub so I'm keen to get away early.
At 6.15am the familiar clag blankets the slopes. I climb to the ridge and this time turn south. The footprints of the SK gentlemen proceed me along the range.
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| A loo in the gloom |
A little after 7am I am approaching Dundas and the clag starts to break. The slopes above are periodically bathed in golden morning light and I hurry a little in the hope of seeing a better spectre than yesterday.
Around 7.30 at the top, the conditions are coming and going - I get an interesting effect when the clag is close and thin and I can see the shadows of my legs and arms stretching to the circle of light (glory). Despite taking a shotgun blast of photos they again fail to capture the colour and contrast but I'm happy that I've had a good look.
The next order of business is 1378 - a steep knob on a spur off Dundas. It is unlikely to be traveled as the spur terminates in a stream gully before the valley floor. I start clambering down the steep spur, with a few distracted moments when the mist gives another series of spectres. The morning sun is just touching the top of Triangle Knob on the next spur south.
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| Triangle knob |
It takes less than half an hour to scramble down and up on to 1378 where I sit in the morning sun and survey my surroundings. It's a lovely Tararua morning shaping up to be another hot day.
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| Looking up the spur to Dundas |
On the return to Dundas the mist once again blows up out of a valley and I am treated to a final spectre (accompanied by the same frantic snapping to try to catch a reasonable photo).
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| The last spectre |
The clag is still clearing from the range to the north and west but it's clear as I turn to drop towards the Mangahao Valley. It's about 8.30 so I'm pretty happy with progress with the first hurdle cleared.
It's a patchy but reasonable trail down and up to Triangle knob then to Little Triangle. Here the old trail veers left on to a side spur that meets the floor further up valley (south) - however, I have a spot height on the straight ahead spur to pick up (1113) and want to see if the spur is a goer as it seems like a logical route down. I eye up the scrub and can't see signs of human traffic.
Although there is a bit of bashing required it's not too too bad and gravity helps a lot. It takes about two and a half hours from the top so I suspect it is a little slower than the traditional route.
The map shows a long spur of scrub running down the spur to 800m, however a bush canopy develops off the side of the spur before then and as soon as I can I drop right where it soon becomes easy going. A strong ground trail appears (but still easy to lose in places) and the spur eases down to the valley floor. At 11.30 I am blinking in bright sunlight as I pop out into an open stream bed. A couple of hundred metres later the track crosses the stream and the second hurdle for the day is done. It's just the familiar track back to the dam now.
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| Down spur from around 1113 |
Just after 12 I'm at Mangahao Hut to jot a note in the log book. I get distracted when I discover that there was a SAR exercise yesterday with the 'victims' heading out down the track today. I wonder if the helicopter had anything to do with it but decide it probably didn't as that would be a much broader search area than a SAREX would normally cover. Down valley I see the footprints of the 'lost' party and later boots and dog prints (presumably the search team coming in).
The trip out is uneventful, I'm not in a particular hurry but keep a steady pace reaching Barra Creek bridge at 1.05, Harris Creek at 1.25, Mangahao bridge at 2.25, 690 Creek bridge at 3 and the dam at 3.15. About 3 hours from the hut.
On the way I cross the stream I had to use a stick for two days back.
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| Not such a torrent today |
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| First glimpse of the dam - still high |
I had hoped the search and rescue people may still be at the car park as I have been a bit worried that the last wee wash out on the road will be impassable. The carpark is empty but with the stormwater gone I can take a line that neither drops me down the bank nor rips the sump out.
I tootle down the coast with the air conditioning on full.
Postscript
A satisfying wee trip. The spur from Harris to West Peak is quite navigable with some manoeuvring through scrub required, an old cut trail improves passage at some critical points.The main range up here is not as heavily travelled as many ridges but it's pretty good going and the clag adds a little more challenge. Dundas hut is a great wee place to stay.
The two spurs provided ample interest although I wouldn't recommend either for quick access between the river and the ridge. They are steep and gnarly in the places indicated by the map and liberally supplied with scrub in the lower reaches. The erosion channel to 952 is not for the faint hearted.
The spur down from Dundas after Little Triangle is not too bad but requires some unpleasant scrub bashing.
Weather went from the downright miserable (but not cold) to the searing tropics. Seeing the spectre again was an unexpected bonus of the humid conditions.
No injuries and a few days to recuperate before the next trip. Despite a good wash the boots retained their wet dog odour and it took a day of judicious application of the heat gun to get them dry. More on this later ...
