Dorset and Carkeek

Labour weekend and time for Janine's birthday trip.  These are typically slightly over-ambitious efforts to knock a peak or a hut or two off her bucket list.  

A few old maps and cold beers and we have a solid trip design.  Which changes the day before we leave.

Thursday after work into Atiwhakatu, Friday the party splits with Mike and Janine following the tops around the Kings to Girdlestone and on to Dorset Ridge while I descend the spur near South King to Dorset Creek and up to Dorset Hut.  Saturday - spur to the Waiohine River and up to Carkeek Hut.  Sunday - spur to Park Forks, down river and up to McGregor Biv.  Monday - stroll out via Jumbo.

Janine gets to tick off the Kings and a couple of huts and there's a couple of spurs and a bit of new ridgeline for me.  

It's a good plan on paper, but I'm at pains to point out that there's a few biggish days involved and with a few climbs everyone will be glad of every kilo they don't pack.  (i.e no bags of carrots and spare stoves Mike)   

 

But, actually ...

We stop at a pub in Carterton for a cheap and cheerful dinner - the clientele is a little dodgy though with Ron Marks stooging around looking for a loose electorate or mayoral seat to purloin.  

We're under headlights by the time we get to Atiwhakatu Hut around 9pm.  The occupants are all in bed, so Janine finds a bunk while Mike and I doss down on the deck - there's a bit of wind but it's a mild night. 

Friday: over the top

We get away about 7am and head up valley along a track that is a little less of a highway than last night.  Mike surprises a couple of large goats that stay just out of sight ahead of us for the next kilometer or so.  

At the swingbridge marking the short climb to the saddle I leave them having a snack as I'm keen to push on to give me good time to navigate my route.  We confirm contingency plans including Tarn Ridge Hut and what to do if anyone doesn't turn up when expected.  

The DOC sign in the saddle says 1 hr to the bushline which raises an eyebrow.  It takes me 1:10 - I'm not fit but I think it's a bit of an optimistic estimate for many parties climbing 500m. 

It's windy above the bushline but a beautiful day.  I sidle the top of Baldy and head up to the ridge just south of South King.  It's been a while since I've been here - other times have been in clag so it is quite nice to see for a change.  I get a good buffetting on the way up but the wind fades at the top.  

At the ridge a figure is coming down from South King.  It's a DOC hut inspector (Harvey) - he has just come from Mid King Biv.  He visited Tarn Ridge Hut yesterday and notes the tap is broken (still) and he had to use water from a bucket.    

He and his colleague do the entire Lower North Island between them and I'm interested that they are still allowed to travel solo in these safety conscious times.  He can't confirm if Tarn Ridge Hut is being replaced although notes that a business case has been submitted which is a good sign.  

After a good yarn he heads off for the Pinnacles and McGregor while I tuck into the tussock out of the wind for a snack and wait for Janine and Mike to appear on Baldy.

Looking down on Baldy

The wind drops away while I snooze in the sun.  At last, two tiny figures crawl over the top of Baldy and start heading for the saddle.  It's about 1.45 and I'm keen to keep moving so I flick them a Whats App message to note the Tarn Ridge water situation and I'll see them at Dorset Hut tonight or near Tarn Ridge Hut in the morning.  I'm thinking the latter is more likely given it will probably be after three by the time they get to the ridge.  I'm not too worried as the weather forecast is good, they have a tent and the common sense to fill up at a tarn if their water gets low. 

The spur I'm after is marked as a route on the old maps and it is easy to find on such a clear day (there's a wee tarn just before it, so it would be pretty straight forward in clag too).    

Looking westish - McGregor on left, the spur is behind the hummock on right

Looking down the spur - the other spur runs up to Dorset Hut on the bushline, just right of centre

It's about half an hour easy travel down to the bushline and there's enough foot trail to suggest this route receives a bit of traffic.  I'm interested to get a bit of a view across the face below the Broken Axe Pinnacles.  This is supposedly where the Sutch party came down after one of them had a fall on their epic crossing from Levin.  Having climbed a fair way up one of the streams I know parts of it would be pretty tough to get down, but there looks like a spur just past the last pinnacle that could have been a goer.  Maybe another time.  

Northern face below the Pinnacles

In the bush it is typical goblin forest with lots of cutty grass.  There are permolat markers but it's surprisingly easy to wander off line and miss the next one.  It's not difficult but also not fast as you have to be careful with your footing.  

About 50 minutes from the bushline the markers head right to a side spur and there's even an orange triangle.  From here it gets steep and the last 20 meters sees me hanging off trees (there may have been an easier route that I missed at a fallen tree).  All up it takes two hours from the ridge.

 

Somewhere above, Mike and Janine get to the ridge and start heading along past the Kings - while I cool my feet in Dorset creek.  

There are some markers for the crossing point - on the true right there are a couple of permolat markers on a tree marking where you start a steep clamber onto the spur to Dorset hut.  On the true left an orange triangle marks where you leave the creek and head towards the steep spur I've just come down.  

I take a good break and start the climb about 4pm.  The bottom is a bit of a scramble and then it's just a slow grind.  Again, it's easy to miss the markers - but no particular hardship if you do as the bush is reasonably open.   At about 1060m there's a gully in the spur (you can see the flatter spot on the contours) and the markers take a turn left to cross it to join the spur proper for the last 80m (vertical) to the hut.   

It has taken an hour 25 from the stream and the hut has just lost the afternoon sun.  

I check-in on the Inreach and peer across the valley to see two small dots inching their way towards Adkin.  I settle into the empty hut and periodically gauge their progress and work out that they will either be camping on the ridge or coming off Girdlestone in the dark.  I'm just composing a message to home base to text Mike when the Inreach beeps: "M&J camping on ridge, see you tarn ridge hut tomorrow."  Perfect.

Dorset Hut on a sunny morning

The hut is one of my favourites - it's tidy, dry and well looked after (mostly by hunters I suspect).  The vestibule is closed in with a sink - wonderfully civilised.

I've lost sight of the figures on the ridge but afterwards learn that they had water from a tarn and, while I am enjoying the evening sun outside Dorset hut, they are watching clag forming on the east side of the ridge and closing in around Girdlestone.

Yeah, let's stop now.

They find the last flattish spot on the ridge and set up camp.  Although not entirely to plan, the upside is the clag delivers the conditions for a Spectre of the Brocken.  

Mike has smuggled a birthday cake for Janine in his pack and they settle in on the cusp between the cloud and a spectacular sunset.  Janine reports not much sleep - not because of Mike's feet in her face but the limited space means the tent can't be pulled tight and it flaps in the wind all night.  

Saturday:  A change of plan 

The morning is a pearler and I can just make out the orange dot of their tent on the ridge as I head out from Dorset hut around 7.30.  I follow a trail up through the tussock but then lose and find it again as I make my way to the ridge top.  There's a cairn where I hit the ridge top so I must have been following about the right line, although Mike and Janine later report there is a signpost further west on the ridge.   

M&J's eerie - Dorset ridge on right

Up Dorset Ridge - Girdlestone at centre

As I potter up the ridge I note that the orange dot is still there - they're clearly not in a hurry this morning.  However, as I pass the tarn I hear Mike hailing me from across the valley.  I can't reply as I have started developing a cold and have no voice.  I wave cheerfully and head on up to just short of Girdlestone to wait for them.

Dorset Ridge - the hut is at the bushline on the far spur that runs left 

Although it's a beautiful day, I'm aware that the wind has changed and low cloud is forming to the west and spilling over the main range - it could be a bit claggy by the time I get around to Carkeek Ridge.

It takes about an hour and a half to get from the hut to the ridge and I have a pleasant hour snoozing in the tussock waiting for the rest of the party to make their way off Girdlestone.  

When they arrive, they've reached the same conclusion as me - dropping down the old tracks from Dorset Ridge and back up to Carkeek is no longer an option given the time, and there would be a mutiny at the prospect of following the tops to Carkeek given the long day they had yesterday.   

We change the plan - they will head to Dorset hut for a short day and bag the hut then head to Mitre Flats tomorrow.  I'll follow the tops to Carkeek and follow the original plan to exit at Holdsworth on Monday and pick them up at the Pines.  

We part our ways again and I head towards Tarn Ridge while they have their sights set firmly on a cooked lunch by the Dorset tarn.  

Tarn Ridge towards Lancaster

Time for lunch

It's hot work under the sun and I'm almost glad when the threatened clag starts to coalesce around the pinnacles.  Conscious of the lack of water on Carkeek Ridge I fill up at a tarn on Tarn ridge and chuck in a couple of aqua tabs.  

The clag spills up from the Arete Stream valley and toys with the Waiohine Pinnacles.  Views into a sun dappled upper Waiohine River Valley and Carkeek Ridge come and go.

  

I'm in clag on the top of Lancaster so take a bearing for Carkeek Ridge and after a few seconds see a cairn.  The second cairn is a bit off-line to the right and could lead to dropping towards an outcrop off the ridge - quickly remedied by another glance at the compass.   

I'm soon in clear air again and stop around 2pm for lunch on the flanks of Thompson looking back at a miraculously exposed Lancaster.  Across the Park Valley chainsaws in the mist indicate a track crew are hard at work - on a Saturday. 

Lancaster from Thompson

Carkeek Ridge

It's good travel along the ridge, there's enough ground trail to keep things flowing although you have to keep your eyes peeled in places to find it amongst the tussocks.  This time through I get to see some spectacular erosion chutes south of Carkeek - last time they just plunged away into greyness.  

I figure the rest of the party are comfortably ensconced in Dorset Hut by now tucking into whatever other illicit (and weighty) contraband they have smuggled in.  I continue along the ridge under a higher cloud ceiling that promises to be set for the duration.   Across the valley clag is now spilling over the length of Tarn Ridge.   

   

Point 1285 marks where I left this ridge last time through to do the down and up to Dorset Ridge.  I don't recall much of the route beyond seeing some old permolat markers on the way up to Dorset.  I suspect it is quite well travelled though as the trail from here to Carkeek Hut suddenly becomes fair more obvious with cairns and, in the scrub, tape.  

The route ducks in and out of the bush edge with some pretty wee clearings and, just before the hut, pieces of the helicopter that crashed here are stacked beside the path.  It's 4pm - about 2 hours from my lunch stop on Thompson and 8 and a half hours from Dorset Hut (including that long snooze below Girdlestone). 

The hut is in good nick and the last visit was in July.  Usually this just means people haven't been using the logbook, but I'm inclined to believe it as I walk through a few cobwebs inside.  The last visitor reported flying in to a snowclad ridge, shooting some deer on day one and then spending three days snowed in before flying out again.   Like Dorset, it is well provisioned, well cared for and no signs of rats chewing the food.   

It's not sunny, but warm enough and it's pleasant to lie on the cool moss in the clearing before the hut as I wait to ping a checkin message back to base and receive an updated weather forecast.

After that I have a leisurely evening and hit the sack.

Sunday:  I think I can ...

Sunday is the day there's supposed to be the odd shower - around 3pm according to Garmin.  However, as I get under way around 7.30 there is already a prickle of moisture in the air.  There wasn't any noticeable rain over night though so I'm expecting the river section to be fine.  

I'm looking forward to this next bit.  I have been along as far as pt 1080 and recall some of the most gorgeous goblin forest I'd ever seen.  I assume this ridge cops all the moisture and rain from the north and west as well as anything that spills across from the south or east.  This supports a mass of moss and lichens on the gnarly trunks.     

I've not been down here to the river, so this is another bit of red line for the trip.  There are markers and the track is mostly pretty obvious, but you have to keep your eyes open.  A little bit under an hour and a half later I'm at the improbably green point between the Waiohine and Park rivers.  Park Forks.  

Park on the left, Waiohine on the right

Meanwhile, Mike and Janine have left Dorset Hut on a similarly drizzly morning (not surprising as they are less than 3km away).  They follow a different route from the hut to the ridge and find the signpost to the hut.  Their route is up and over to Mitre then down to the flats for the night.  They've done most of it before and provided Mike doesn't fall over again they should have another leisurely day.   

For me, the section of river is marked as gorgeish on the map - I came up it some years back and don't recall any problems so I'm hopeful there won't be any swimming.  

It turns out to be pretty good travel.  Lots of river crossings and care needed but I manage to avoid the deepest pools only getting in up to my waist.  It is pretty, and even though there is a steady drizzle I'm within my comfort zone and enjoy the wander about 40 minutes downstream to Dorset Creek.  

There are markers for where to start up the spur.  It's steep and initially requires a bit of a scramble.  Then it just goes unrelentingly up with indifferent permolat marking.  I take it slowly as I figure there's plenty of time to get to McGregor and assess options for the rest of the day.  

I've travelled parts of this ridge a few times now, including in the dark, and there's always a few bits where the marking is easy to lose.  For some reason I get a bit turned around at pt 1000 but sit down for a snack and check the compass and I'm soon back on track.  About seven years ago I came down this way and had exactly the same experience.  

I've slowed somewhat today so it takes 2hr 45 from the river to the bushline.  

I drop down to McGregor hut to get out of the drizzle and have a bit of lunch.  It's exactly a year ago that Janine and I stopped here on a trip to take in the plane crash on Shingle-Slip Knob.  Another terrifying birthday adventure.   

It's not yet 1pm so I'm thinking that if it is not too bad on the tops, I could skip Jumbo or even just head all the way to the car.  I've always thought Carkeek was doable in a day with a weekender pack so it would be interesting to see.   I chuck on another layer though as it's cooler and the drizzle isn't letting up. 

 

At about the same time that I'm contemplating my next move, Mike and Janine are experiencing the clag on the way over Brockett and Mitre.  

Mitre

It's a little windy and claggy on top but once past Angle Knob it's easy going and I'm at Jumbo in about 1 hr 35.  A couple of groups are in loc trying to get soggy firewood to light.  I have a berth booked but at 2.30 it's too early to stop so I head on down to Atiwhakatu.  The drizzle has now turned into light rain.

About 10 people come up hill as I make my way down and I'm pleased not to have stayed at Jumbo. 

An hour ten from Jumbo and Atiwhakatu is heaving.  I take one look in the door and leave them to it.

By 5.10pm I'm at the carpark.  Under 10 hours from Carkeek and I'm definitely not fit so it is easily a weekender trip.  

And that's that.  I have takeaways, a shower and a comfortable bed at brother number one's place while Janine shares the Mitre Flats Hut floor with a hoard of others and Mike camps outside in a bog. Not my idea of an enjoyable evening but they bump into people they know and have some good yarns. 

In the morning I dry sodden kit, before heading out to pick them up at the Pines.  It's a nice sunny day and there's a party from HVTC waiting for a pick-up.  Mike and Janine eventually turn up and we head off for a late lunch at The Offering in Greytown (which is looking more and more like a boutique shopping street in Khandallah).

All up a successful trip.  Mike and Janine bagged some new peaks and a hut, I ticked all my boxes, and some valuable lessons about optimism bias and how to camp on ridges.

JACS Biv - Tararua

Every now and again Janine forgets what it was like last time we went tramping and suggests a trip.  This time we have Labour weekend and some loose plans to visit McGregor Biv, maybe the Shingle Slip Knob plane crash, and a few other possibilities in the area.  She has the sense to suggest that I can bugger off and do crazy things if I want but she is intent on enjoying a birthday weekend in the hills.

What:     Long weekend tramp
Where:   Shingle Slip Knob area
When:    22-24 October 2022
Who:      Janine

 

I swing past and pick her up and we're at a packed Holdsworth carpark on a clear and sunny morning ready to leave around half eight.

There's a lot of runners and walkers about and DOC has mounds of gravel to redo the tracks around Donnelly flats.  East Holdsworth Track is closed at the bottom but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary for the amble up to Atiwhakatu.   It takes a little under 2 hours - we're not in a hurry as we're planning to stay at Jumbo or MacGregor Biv.  

The Atiwhakatu logbook shows no-one has recorded intentions to head towards MacGregor Biv - a chap arrives who is heading to Mid-King Biv but that's the closest so far.

Part way up to Jumbo we come across a party that is enthralled by a kaka - it's mate had just flown off but this one sticks around for a bit and exchanges squawks with one of the group.   I hadn't heard that they had established in the ranges but have seen them in the past.  It's a bit ironic that you see them in central Wellington, but they are a rarity and a treat to see out here.

As we set out, I had alerted Janine to listen out for shining cuckoo, but they have so far made a fool of me with their absence.  I'm delighted though to hear one not too far off - we don't see it, but nothing says summer is coming quite so definitively.  

Just before the bushline there is the tiniest pieces of snow behind a couple of trees - a reminder that although we're heading towards summer, cold weather is never far away.  

Around 1:15pm we're at Jumbo which is well tied down now (it was closed sometime back for better wind protection).  There are bags of wood outside that have been recently choppered in - it seems an awful lot of cost and carbon but I guess it means that people don't try to harvest from the local forest.  

We arrive along side two largish parties - one is a family group (sounded European), and the other a group of retired army mates who are out for their annual bash in the bush.  They're good fun giving each other a hard time and delighted to discover that one of their number comes from the same part of the UK as Janine.  

Again, the log has no-one heading our way, so we decide to head on to MacGregor Biv.  Janine advises the groups that the bunk space she booked at Jumbo is available and we grab some lunch.  A chap turns up that is heading to the Biv but he says he's happy to stay in his tent.  We get under way again around 1.50 - a few clouds and coolish but still clear with good views.  

There is a steady trickle of people coming through including quite a few doing the circuit in a day.  Powell Hut is still closed for repairs following a lightening strike a few months back which may explain Powell being full.

I arrive at the intersection on Jumbo ahead of Janine and take the essential shot of what must be the most photogenic signpost in the Tararuas.  It's aging beautifully with the weather scouring the soft wood away to reveal the grain.  

A chap arrives from the Holdsworth ridge, he's thinking of staying at MacGregor but when he hears there's three others for the two bed biv he decides he will likely head on for Mid-King.  

Ridge to Mt Holdsworth

The chap from Jumbo (Steve) catches up with us and we chat - he seems to be getting back into tramping trying to fit it around work and family.  His gear is old school - not old, old school like wooden external frame pack, but early '90s and Fairy Down branded.  He's going about our pace and is happy to join up.  

It's easy enough travel along the ridge and we have no concerns about daylight as we sidle just below Angle Knob and head into the saddle before MacGregor.  The tiny dot of a sky lark whitters somewhere high above the saddle.  

It's quite an unusual treat to come through with full visibility - as we round the shoulder of the knob the view opens up ahead.  The main range with Nichols hut a bright dot reflecting the sun, Carkeek, Dorset and Tarn Ridges with Dorset hut just visible on the bushline.  As we drop down the spur towards the Biv the view north opens further.  This is the interior of the range - well travelled but few tracks marked on the map.  

Below us, the wee tarn on the ridge marks where to look right for the bright orange dot of the biv on the bushine.  

It's about quarter to six when we arrive at the biv.  I haven't seen any footprints and it turns out that the list visitors were three months back on 24 July.  It's a bit damp inside so we get it airing and I chuck the mattresses on some scrub to dry in the late afternoon sun.  

There's just enough space for Steve to pitch his tent and we get on with dinner prep.  Janine has quite a bit to do as she is going a bit gourmet.  Crackers and cheese go down a treat and we clamber up to the heli pad to watch the sun go down somewhere around Junction Knob.  Fantails catch the light as they flit above the canopy on the slopes below.

Steve is intending to head over the Broken Axe Pinnacles to Mid-King so is in no hurry in the morning.  We're going to head to the plane crash on Shingle Slip  Knob then split up - me to head down to Jacs Biv (or 'JACS' as apparently it is the first letters of the names of the guys that put it in).  I'm not sure what I'll do from there but outline a few options.  The good thing about my new GPS is that you can indicate a range of intentions and then ping your location home so they know which way you're going.  Janine will head back to Angle Knob and then see how much day is left and either go for a bit more of a walk or head straight to Jumbo hut.  

We get away for the climb back to the ridge just after 7am on a cool but not cold morning.   

 

At the ridge the sign to the Biv is a good spot to pause and admire the view.  Kapakapanui is emerging like the back of a whale above the morning cloud and the distinctive shape of Kapiti Island hovers above and beyond in the haze.  The peaks of the main range march to Mt Hector in the distance.   

About 8.20 we pause again on Angle Knob before dropping off the back towards the scrambly bit.  I've come up this way once but not down - on the basis of full disclosure I've been careful to describe it as accurately as I can for Janine: "It's a bit tricky in places."  I don't remember much except to keep to the north face and not drop over the south side.  Although that's exactly where the foot trail seems to head.  It must have been an animal trail as, despite casting around I can't find a route I'm comfortable to take someone else across.  Scrambling back to the ridge I slide down a wee chute and find a bit of a trail leading on along the face.    

We take it easy and thread a way down across the steep bits - a bit exposed in places but the footing is good and it's dry.  The highlight of the day, and possibly of the trip comes when a falcon drifts around the ridge riding an updraft.  I can see the yellow around its eyes as it checks us out before disappearing into the distance without a wing beat.  Later we see it as a small dot catching the sun as it cruises the bluffs in the headwaters of Angle Creek.  

With the steep bit out of the way we head on across the broad tussock slope below pt 1412. 

My recollection of the next bit is that it is hard to find and stick to a foot trail.  This is the case again but we find a path of least resistance as we drop to the wee tarn in the saddle before the short climb to Shingle Slip Knob. 

Around 1020 the site of the plane crash comes into view from pt 1348 - the silver metal catches the light and from here the shape of the plane is clear on the slope below the ridge.  Janine catches up and walks past with her head down completely missing the plane and me lying in the tussock. 

The first and last time here for me was in 2018 on a fun wee trip scrambling around some of the local spurs and creeks.  The weather is much better this time.  

We head over to the memorial crosses before dropping off the ridge to visit the crash site.  Last time the grey metal crosses merged into the grey clag making a somber scene.  This time is a complete contrast. 

We pop over the edge of the slope towards the crash site - it is a bit tricky as you are completely unsighted until you are virtually on it - I overshoot a little and end up having to cross some steep scrubby channels to work my way back while Janine finds a more direct route.   

It's as I remember it - the tail section quite recognisable, the wings laid out on each side and mashed bits of the cockpit in between.  An engine with broken propeller in front.  Tussock and leatherwood is growing through holes in the wings.  My previous post on this has an old photo that shows how much the elements have eroded the wreckage.

 

This is where we part ways - I leave Janine taking photos after outlining my intentions.  I'll either see her at the hut tonight or at the car tomorrow arvo.   My plan is to follow the same spur down to pt 736 that I took on the last trip - then drop to the river to visit the Biv.  From there - we'll see.

A slightly scrubby sidle around the slope takes me to the spur running WSW from the ridge near the marked shingle slip.  There is a bit of low leatherwood and scrub to negotiate but I get down to the bushline easily enough.  Once in the trees the slope is broad and it is easy to drift too far north.  I cut back SW through cutty grass and soon enough pick up a bit of a foot trail on the spur - not strong and no old markers that I notice. 

The spur drops steeply then swings SW and eases.  It's nice travel along the broad top in mature forest.  I cheat and use the GPS to confirm when I start dropping steeply west as I don't want to miss the wee saddle by pt 736.  

At Pt 736 I'm aiming to be clever and take the wee wrinkle of a spur running parallel and just south of the main spur to the marked stream junction.  I'm thinking this will come out with the least river travel required to the Biv.  I realise I've muffed it when my compass leads me to the edge of a deep gully.  Ah well, I back off and take potluck scrambling down the steep face of the valley.  Sunlight on water through the trees reveals I'm on a cliff edge that I won't be climbing down.  I sidle along the slope, scramble through a stream gully and eventually find a way down to the water edge.  It's just after 1pm and it has taken about 2 hours from the crash site.

 

It's always a pleasure sitting by a river that you know not many people get to visit - not quite the wilderness experience you get in parts of the South Island but on a day like this with sun glinting on the water it's pretty special. 

I figure I am downstream of the biv but in the interests of time confirm with the GPS.  It looks like I've come out just upstream of the big slip marked on the map.  I cross the river and work my way up, passing opposite another smaller slip face also on the true left that has bush regrowing on it.  

There's a bit of grass on the true left river edge here and I figure the Biv must be close.  I cross the river to peer into the bush and am soon rewarded by the site of framing up on a wee terrace in the bush.

The framing is in front of the biv and I assume intended to take a tarp cover to extend the living space.  Someone has tied a tarp over the biv itself.  It's a cheerful spot in the heat of the day and I'm happy to sit in the biv doorway to eat my lunch.  It's a little moldy but tidy, I can't find a hut book which may be why some idiots have scratched their name and dates on the door.  I'd quite happily sleep here but that won't be the case today.

I have a few options but most of them involve lots of river crossings and some involve swimming.  All of them involve a long climb at some point.  In the end I do what I suspected I would be doing all along - head back the way I came so I can check that Janine got back past Angle Knob ok.  

I get on the way again at 2.10 - heading up to the marked stream junction and disturbing a family of goats on the way.  I find the stream and top up my water, then notice that there looks like another stream cascading into the river a little further up.  I don't go to investigate as I figure getting up to 736 is just a question of following my nose.  It could be that the stream splits shortly before hitting the river.  It's a little messy and steep at the start but soon I am slowly grinding up the well shaped spur and reach pt 736 at 3pm.  

There's no marking for the spur but if you're heading down and take a bearing for the spur from this tree and keep the steep slope on your right you should be fine. 

It's a bit of a grind back up but at least I don't need to spend time navigating.  When I get to the bushline I follow along the edge a little way and find an animal trail that takes an easy way through the leatherwood.  The day is still sublimely clear but the wind is getting up beyond what was forecast.

In my mind, I've broken the trip back into three challenges - getting from the bushline to the top through the scrub, the tussock face from the tarn to pt 1412 (I had a miserable trip up there last time), and the scramble up to Angle Knob - after that it should be a doddle along the ridge and down to Jumbo. 

It takes 25 minutes to work up the 150m through scrub and tussock to the top of Shingle Slip Knob and is not as bad as anticipated.  5pm, about 2 hours 20 from leaving the river.  On the tops the wind is becoming quite a nuisance - the possibility of bivvying out is not looking like a goer - depending on how things go I might be making it into Jumbo by torchlight.   

 

At the tarn I follow closer to the southern side of the slope (right looking up), and it seems easier than last time when I came up the middle.  The wind is now buffeting and I'm having to be careful about balance.  But the route is familiar from this morning, and I make good pace along the steep sides of the pinnacles leading up to Angle Knob.  A final slow scramble up a tussocky slot and I'm on the top.  6pm so I'm looking good for daylight.    

Back towards Shingle Slip Knob on the right

I'm feeling pretty cocky as I get onto the foot trail leading down off Angle Knob - this is short lived; as soon as I am out of the lee of the knob the wind comes in hard up from Francis Creek and gets stronger.  I can still maintain a reasonable pace but have to be careful about my footing.  In the saddle before 1397 though it is smashing through and I have a great deal of trouble walking.  Soon I'm being pushed to my knees and shoved off the track.  The wind pummels and bullies me along the ridge, as I grab handfuls of tussock (and Spaniard) to stop from being tipped over.  

It should drop once I get in the lee of Pukeahurangi (Jumbo).  And it does for a few minutes - but it comes back again.  By the time the hut hoves into sight I'm battered and buggered.  

Phew

Kicking off boots I head in to see if there is a spare bunk.  Janine advises that there is, and cheerfully informs me that she didn't think I'd make it tonight so she's just finished all the chocolate dipped strawberries.  She does however take pity and makes sure I have hot water to get dinner underway and a few shots of brandy to revive flagging spirits.

She has also had a tough time on the way back - first finding the way up Angle Knob and with the wind on the ridge.  Sensibly, she didn't do any diversions but concentrated on getting to the hut.  

From being fully booked the hut is only half full and through some fluke there are no snorers.  It's a noisy enough night though with the wind buffeting the hut and the new stay wires doing their business to stop it blowing away.  

In the morning there is no particular hurry, and we head off around 8.35am after a bit of tidying.  The wind is soon left behind and it's a pleasant and uneventful wander to the valley floor and out to the carpark by 12.15pm. 

And that's it.  The only red line for me was the briefest bit into the Waiohine River but I'm pleased to finally get to Jacs biv which was a delightful wee spot on a sunny day.  Janine ticked off a number of milestones and time will tell how long before the scars and memories fade enough for her to suggest another trip.