Broken Axe Pinnacles - in search of Sutch

Another trip report that has been languishing in the ether while I spend far too much time working on COVID ...  Finished off two years after the fact so I've glossed over a few details.

This weekend I'm taking an extra day with a view to a bit of historic speculation. 

You will likely have heard about the 1933 Sutch trip where a party of four completed an epic 17 day Tararua crossing.  I won't go into the details - if you want a good account of it look up Windy Hill Tops who has done his home work.

What:     Navigation trip
Where:   Dorset Creek and Broken Axe Pinnacles
When:     22 - 23 August 2020
Who:      Solo

This weekend I'm interested in one decision the party made and its consequences.  The party had left Te Matawai hut early in the morning and by mid-afternoon were at the Broken Axe Pinnacles...

"On the last Broken Axe Pinnacle O'Keefe and Hill slipped and fell a distance of about 30 feet. O'Keefe sustained several cuts on face. Delay of two hours as a result. At 5pm regained ridge - rain fell and heavy mist descended, winds to gale force."

As they stood on the ridge in atrocious conditions they would have had three options - continue along the tops and risk getting caught by the dark without shelter, or drop off one or other side of the ridge to reach the bushline. Going back over the Pinnacles probably wouldn't have featured as an option in those conditions and after the fall.  

"Off ridge and down to bushline at night fall on a very steep face - entered bush and camped beside a stream ..." 

They decided to drop right (North West) off the ridge. Had they dropped off the other side they would have been in the navigable headwaters of the Atiwhakatu stream and likely have been out in a few days. But I suspect it would have been the weather and daylight that drove the decision rather than the route the party might take afterwards. 

The account does not specify whether they continued along the ridge before dropping off and is not entirely clear on the route they took to the Waiohine River.  A map, hand drawn shortly after the adventure identifies two possible stream routes but is slightly inaccurate.

I'm inclined to think they did not continue, as that would have required climbing over McGregor - not difficult, but surely something they would see fit to mention.  Also, the timing would have been tight - at that time of year sundown would have been around 5.20pm and the end of twilight about 6pm.  I suspect you would need all of those 40 minutes to descend about 300 vertical metres of steep face in poor conditions.

In the morning it's still miserable and they decide to drop to the Waiohine River and try to climb to Holdsworth from near the mouth of Francis Creek. They take 2 hours to drop an estimated 800 feet (240m) to what they think is Dorset Creek.

This trip I'm interested to visit the north west face below the Pinnacles to explore where they might have come down.  Also to check out the stream below McGregor Biv to see whether that may have been an option. 

There's a few cars in the park and a couple of chaps pull up as I prepare to leave. About 7.15 I head up valley beside a somewhat swollen Atiwhakatu River. There's a bit of sun but patchy cloud towards the tops suggests conditions will be a bit different up there. 

By 8.30 I'm at Atiwhakatu hut and have decided that the original plan of following the river to the catchment ain't a goer.  While I pause to fill in the log, a runner drifts past and heads up the rain gauge track towards Jumbo Hut.  Out of casual interest I pop half an hour further up valley to take the other track.

It's not as well travelled with a bit of windfall but easy to follow.  The old maps mark a sidle track to the site of Angle Knob Hut - I keep an eye out for signs in the most obvious place but don't see it. I hear later that there is an old hut site on this part of the ridge - where it broadens and a wee stream crosses the track.

The temperature drops and the odd glimpse across the valley shows Baldy shrouded in dark gray. 

Mossy goblin forest gives way to leather wood and the track pops out in to a cold wind with drifts of drizzle.  The hut should be nearby so I hunch up and scoot along rather than stop and rug up. East and south there is sun, cloud and a rainbow.  Uphill and west it's looking a bit grim.

The hut is cold but gets me out of the wind. It's 10.50 and I decide to wait a few hours as it should only be a few hours to McGregor Biv which will be a bit more restricted for spending the afternoon.  The two chaps from the carpark thump onto the varendah and have the same idea as they settle in for a game of cards and boil the billy.

Despite donning a few layers I cool down as I sit reading an old FMC bulletin.  Another chap comes in, all three are heading for Powell.  He stops a short while to get a jacket on. He is lightly equipped and has found the track up a bit tough, I suggest delicately that it's looking to be pretty cold and windy on the tops and note that there is the bail out route down East Holdsworth track - although a fair way across.  It's one of those tricky things - it's possible that he is underestimating the weather you can get on the tops here, but he's young and looks fit enough, plus there will be two others following him along a marked route.

It's almost 1.30 by the time I drag layers on and leave the hut just ahead of the two chaps.  There's a bit of a stream coming down the track and the wind brings cold rain down from the ridges above.  I'm soon climbing into cloud. Nearby hollows hold snow.

At the intersection with the Holdsworth Ridge it's well clagged in with a bit of wind but nothing dramatic. I follow a good foot trail towards Angle knob.  Just past the tarns is point 1397 - I had been intending to come up this way had the river been amenable - it's the site of the old Angle Knob Hut which got lifted off it's foundations by the wind and dumped further down the hill. 

The clag starts to reveal more patches of snow on the slopes. The intermittent rain is still just liquid though.

It's a bit windier in the saddle past Angle Knob.  I recall some rocks in the saddle and an old sign but remember that the slope that leads to the spur is wide and open so start angling down well short of the sign.  

Below the saddle the wind quickly drops away and I'm soon out of the clag looking down spur to the gray dot of the tarn and orange dot of McGregor biv.

It's taken a little under two hours from Jumbo so I still have a bit of afternoon to kill - I set about getting out of soggy gear and settling in.

Amongst the usual reading and cards to while away a wet arvo, I study the map and the diary entry for this part of the Sutch trip. I had been planning to explore a possible route down off the Pinnacles but am becoming uneasy about getting bluffed.  I decide to explore from the bottom up.

The morning brings high cloud and clear tops.  I study the slopes of McGregor - it's possible a party could have descended here but there would be some tricky bits. I don't really think it's likely but figure it's worth checking the creek out anyway.

Scrambling past the loo into the leatherwood I discover that I'm quite quickly in reasonably open forest with long grass. It's a bit rotty and scrambly in places but within 20 minutes I've reached the creek. It's narrow and slippery with a few cascades but no waterfalls for a start.  

As it widens there are some big old log jambs requiring a bit of scrambling and a slot with a ledge on the right.  There's only one waterfall where I have to do a bit of a hairy true left sidle. 

The weather is dreary with a bit of drizzle to keep things nice and slippery but at least it's not cold down here.  I potter on keeping half an eye out for the spot where I crossed this creek a few years back while picking up a nearby spot height.

Just over an hour and a half from the bottom of the hut spur, the creek opens into the Dorset Stream Valley.  There's a bit of a terrace opposite where I regroup.  

The stream is a good size here but the flow isn't a concern. I have to say that the location doesn't match the description in the diary of where the party joined the Dorset (they describe a deep gorge with precipitous sides and a steep descent over huge boulders).

About 30 minutes up stream I reach the mouth of the stream from the pinnacles.  Again, the location doesn't match the description in the diary.  This is a bit problematic for the two main stream options they may have taken.  However, I decide to continue to see what the catchment below the pinnacles is like.

The stream is in a surprisingly wide valley.  There's a lot of rock on the valley floor that has made it's way down from the heights above over the years - along with plenty of big old trees.  

 

The valley narrows and steepens until one of the pinnacles is visible coming and going in the clag above. I figure that the most likely route down would not be the headwater stream on the true right which would have required the party to return across some of the pinnacles or make a long crossing of the face.  I choose the stream that points towards the ridge between pt 1425 and McGregor. 

I just about miss one junction but find may way up an increasingly steep gully, eventually leaving the trees behind.

Reaching a waterfall there's a messy scramble around on the true left and a short way further up stream another series of waterfalls - the party would not have been able to down climb these and I'm not about to climb up them.  

The stream is in a bit of a slot with steep sides - I climb up the true right and into a hell tangle of leatherwood scrub.  Persevering for a while I make excruciatingly slow progress up the steep slope but soon realise it is hopeless.  It's galling to have to give it a way but there's no way I'm going to get through.  Back in the creek I study the face on the other side which is less scrubby but completely exposed.  

It's around 2pm - I reluctantly accept that I won't be climbing to the ridge from this position and retrace my route down valley. 

Not a sensible way up

I don't think it is likely they came down this stream - it is possible they followed the spur further west which has a marked bushline reaching almost 1200m but there's still the problem of the description of their entry to Dorset Creek to deal with.  It's a bit of a dispirited trudge back down the valley.  

For some reason I have a photo from the trip down of my watch showing an altitude of 1040m - I dimly recall there might have been a wee side stream joining from the true left and some trees - I may have wondered if this was a spot where you could have joined the stream from above ... or not.

Junction with Dorset Creek

It's about 4.10 when I rejoin Dorset Creek (still no high sided gorge to be seen).  I head down stream intending to see how I go for daylight.  The day has cleared somewhat and there is afternoon sun on the tops.  There are a few magic moments when the sun is shining directly into the valley and catches steam drifting in the still air.  Beautiful, but a reminder that sundown is approaching and I'm a long way from the Biv.  

It's about 4.40pm when I get to the wee stream below McGregor.  I decide that heading down river into a bit of a gorgy section as it gets dark may not be the smartest - or climbing the creek again for that matter.  I decide to bash up a spur to join the ridge to McGregor Biv so head a short way down stream to find a route. 

I didn't take any notes of this section but recall that it was already getting dim as I scramble up the mucky lower slopes.  I'm feeling utterly drained from the days exertions - it is a very slow and painful trip up and it's well dark before I'm anywhere near the ridge.   The other thing I recall is getting to the flat top of the ridge and having inordinate trouble following the informal track - there are markers but in my tired state I manage to stumble on and off the route and make it altogether more difficult than it needs to be.  I'm determined to get to the biv though and persevere rather than crack out the fly.

Eventually open sky and cold air herald the bushline and it's not too far to stumble up the slope to the crest then down the rutted track to the biv.  Luckily empty at 8.30pm - it has taken a ridiculous length of time to get here from the creek but such a relief to stop and get dinner underway before falling into a sound sleep.

My photos indicate a bit of a sleep in to get away shortly after 9am.  I don't recall anything of the trip back to Jumbo apart from hail on the tops.  Not pleasant.  It takes about 2 hours to get to Jumbo Hut at which point the weather starts to break.  

An hour later Atiwhakatu is in a completely different climate and by 1.50 I'm back at the carpark on a pleasant sunny afternoon.  It's slightly weird to be soggy from wading through snow and hail with your fingers still tingling from the cold while the sun warms your back.

Postscript

I won't pretend to be an expert on the Sutch trip but from the snippets of information I have seen it seems unlikely to me that they came down the face below the Broken Axe Pinnacles.  The description of joining Dorset Creek doesn't match either the creek off the Pinnacles or the creek below McGregor Biv.  I wonder if they actually came over McGregor and dropped into Angle Creek which from the map might be as gorgy as described.  However I suspect there are other problems with this theory (like the time from the accident to descending to the bushline).  

Someone else will no doubt have a better idea on all this - for me I had a good weekend out with a bit of new territory and some unanticipated night navigation practice.  

Mid Tararua crossing

An appropriate response to Christmas over-indulgences is a bracing 4.30am alarm on boxing morning followed by four days in the wilderness on iron rations.

The main aims of the exercise are to explore Oriwa ridge, visit the Mid-Otaki 'hut' (a two bed shelter installed by DOC for bio-diversity work), cross the headwaters of  the Park River (exhibiting some of the clearest signs of glaciation you will see in the Tararuas), traverse Carkeek Ridge, pop through the Waiohine River headwaters on the way to Dorset Ridge then Dorset Creek, cross the Broken Axe Pinnacles and pick up various spot heights on the way.

As with all cunning plans, parts turned out to be overly optimistic and some flexibility on the fly was required. The first hiccup was the weather forecast - midsummer in the Tararuas was apparently going to involve hail and wind chill ratings of below -10 deg C on the tops. The first order of business on Christmas night was therefore to swap-out the pith helmet and safari clothing for more suitable attire.

In the end there were firm ticks next to pretty much all the goals of the trip - the exception was a possible diversion to the Waiohine River and back up to Angle Knob which will keep for another day. About 29 new spot-heights visited which is a large dent in the list.

What:     Tararua crossing - navigation trip and spot-heighting
When:    26-29 December 2017
Where:   Manakau Road to Holdsworth
Why:      Navigation, new territory, hut and spot-height bagging, burn off xmas calorie overload
Who:      Solo
Map:     

Not exactly the shortest route

Day one - to the wee triangle

It's a wee bit of a struggle to get out of bed early on boxing day. The support crew is nothing if not obliging and rustles up some coffee to keep us awake on the drive up the coast. She also keeps threatening to slip extra food into my pack convinced that I will starve to a withered husk despite the gargantuan quantities of Christmas fodder consumed in the previous 24 hours.

With a five day trip plan I've just managed to stuff everything into my medium pack so the only addition possible is some slices of the sister-in-law's fruit cake (destined to be squashed beyond recognition).

The weather is gloomy but holding as we bid farewell at the Manakau Road end about 6.44 on a threatening morning. The wander up the road and scramble across the slip are well familiar now. I take a slightly more sedate pace up the spur to Waitewaewae in deference to the days ahead.

Five day pack looks about the same size as a weekender!

At 0900 on Waitewaewae it's cool and trying to rain so there's no tarrying. I've been through here a few times now but this is the first time in reverse. This time I don't divert to the plane crash site (11am). There's a minor hiccup when a lapse in attention sees a premature diversion down the wrong spur but this is soon rectified. It starts to drizzle and keeps it up until early afternoon.

At pt 918 I'm leaving the main ridge and heading into new territory. This is where the adventure begins. Rather than the usual route east to Oriwa I follow a spur down to the south to pick up spot-height 815. Some maps show a road route through the saddle here but I can find no evidence of it so it is either completely overgrown or was only ever a paper road.

Back in the saddle below 815 it's a mucky scramble down to the stream then a steep climb to pt 985 on the Oriwa Ridge. The ridge is famous for tree fall from the 1936 storm making it time consuming and laborious. I find it not too bad. It's undulating and long, but mostly straight forward until after pt 937 where navigation gets tricky and it's easy to wander onto a side spur. There's a bit of a ground trail that comes and goes but a couple of remedial scrambles across gullies is required to keep on route.

The ridge is also home to Notoriwa - I'd seen the name before but not really thought about it's origins - I idly wondered about it as I pottered along - assuming it came about from people travelling north over the innumerable bumps towards the high point Oriwa ... the conversation probably went something like:

"Is this Oriwa?"
"No"
"Is this Oriwa?"
"No!"
"Is this Oriwa?"
"No!! this is not Oriwa!!"
"Notoriwa?"
"Yeah, why not."

Google confirms that this is in-fact pretty close to the truth.  Butcher, who proposed the name, noted that "I have the strongest objection to bastard Maori, I agree that some other name will have to be found for the knob." Clearly he wasn't successful in doing so.

Towards the tail end of the ridge I realise that I will be spending the night under the fly - Mid-Otaki hut is way out of range for today. At least the weather has cleared a bit.

Otaki River from tail end of Oriwa Ridge

On the valley floor the river is up on previous weeks and a little turbid but passable. I end up crossing and scrambling up a stream to find the old route up valley I followed a few weeks back. The blue triangles run out pretty quickly but I manage to follow the faint trail until the approaching twilight dictates it's time to find  a spot to camp.

This is the first use of my new DD Hammocks fly - it's light-weight and an odd size (plenty long enough but only 1.5m wide).  It takes a while to sort out and in the end was pitched pretty badly, but the threatened rain doesn't eventuate and the southerly blasts over the tree tops far above so I'm comfortable.

Day two - the short day (campsite just off screen, bottom left)

In the morning I follow, lose and find the old path until it deposits me on a low terrace and disappears completely. It's easy going following the river and crossing terraces, the only tricky thing is keeping an eye out to pick where to leave the river to pick up a couple of spot-heights (452 and 480). Both turn out to be relatively straight-forward but as the valley tightens, care needs to be taken not to get caught on a terrace with a high bank above the river.

Morning in the forest

Random slip and flats (looking down river)

Old fire place on one of the terraces

I thumb my way up the map to the bend with a large marked slip on the true right, north of Kelleher Creek. On approach though, it turns out that the river has carved a new course across the large terrace (the online map is also out of date) - this causes a little disassociation, but is quickly worked through. The new course has a massive log dam to negotiate.

On the far side, four deer and three goats are grazing the flats and take a while to notice my approach. Soon after, Mid-Otaki hut is basking on an immaculately grazed lawn in the hot sun.

Halfway through the log jamb - tiny, tiny deer in the background

It's a tidy wee hut with two beds and double opening doors. A picnic table outside is a good spot for a pause to study the map and have a midday snack. It's been a great wander up the river - easy going and beautiful bush.

Mid-Otaki Hut

I've worked out a complicated route to link spot heights on three consecutive spurs to ultimately arrive at Dracophyllum Knob (and hut) on the main range.

595 requires a steep scramble up from the river to a flat top then a down-slope bash to an unnamed creek and a pause for camembert, fruit bread and a squash of very nice christmas cake. The rain briefly washes through.

580 is a mucky scramble to a small saddle then a short climb to the knob. A light shower passes through but is not entirely sure it wants to stop.  The wind is whipping through overhead.

The short drop from 580 to Puketoro stream marks the start of the proper climb. There is surprisingly little ground trail. The rain holds off and the temperature stays high.  It's a familiar uphill grind with trails coming and going.  There are some interesting clearings and flat spots around 958 then a final climb to the hut. It's hot and sunny when I arrive at the top around 4pm.

South down main range from Dracophyllum

East to Carkeek Ridge - high point is probably Carkeek

North East - Pukematawai on horizon

I'm a little worried that the two bedder will be full of Te Araroa walkers but hopeful that my early arrival will secure me a bed. There is one chap there who is getting ready to leave - I make encouraging noises about Nichols hut not being so far away - he needs no convincing as there are a bunch of his mates already there and shots off with the parting remark that there may be three more following him. He has come up from the Outdoor Pursuits centre this morning so has put in a solid day already - I find out later that his knick name is 'Rocket' - very apt.

With a stake safely claimed on the top bunk I while away the afternoon drying soggy gear in the sun and sending a few texts. The log book is about 90% TA walkers.

A couple of TA walkers turn up later in the afternoon - he introduces himself as Prancer and she says I can call her Natalie but her 'trail name' is Toothpaste.  It seems that the TA walkers are trying to create a tradition of knick names although are finding that Kiwis are not so quick to take to the idea.

As the shadows lengthen the strong southerly sees the temperature drop rapidly and we're all a bit chilled when we finally climb into bed. Three bodies in the small hut make it reasonably cosy though.  Fortunately, the third possible companion must have stayed at Te Matawai hut as it would have been a bit of a stretch to fit him in.

Day three (or most of it)

Thursday morning is wet and windy.  The clag around the hills is high and there are glimpses of a dusting of snow on the highest peaks. I'm up and out first at 0800, heading north towards Butcher's Knob. The aim this morning is to drop into the Park River and climb the opposite side to Carkeek. The upper Park is a lovely glacial U but the route I am looking at is further down where it starts to turn gorgish.

Snow on Pukematawai, cloud on Carkeek

A short way up the range there are two knobs just south of Butcher's Knob and on the northern of these there is an inexplicable cairn by the track as it sidles below the knob.  I take this as a sign that there is a route down a steep spur into the valley.  This turns out to be mostly true. 

The glaciated form of the upper Park Valley

I can't see a foot trail but the spur is negotiable until near the bottom where it steepens and a fair amount of trial and error is required to find a way down through some impressive bluffs - not for the faint-hearted. I would suggest veering left towards the bottom of the spur.

At this point the Park River is small and clear, the stones are lethally slippery though from the light morning rain. At the Thompson Stream forks there's a pool and the valley ahead starts changing from bush-clad gorge to scrubby glacial U. Time to regroup for the climb.

Thompson - Park forks

Down stream - you don't want to come down some of those bluffs

I'm hoping that this is an obvious route up to the peak but discover no real sign that anyone else has had the same thought. It's a steep climb through unrelenting scrub - nothing for it but to sweat and swear my way upwards.

The spur is like a hip jointed roof - the climb up the hip to the ridge line of the roof is scrubby and tough but once on the flat top the going is easy with a strong game trail.  The spur then climbs steeply through more open vegetation to Carkeek (1435m). Wee patches of snow start appearing in the last 150m and the wind carries more. This is supposed to be mid summer!

It's cold on Carkeek so I take a bearing and head off - taking great care not to wander onto a spur in the murk. It soon becomes quite sharp and easy to follow with some impressive erosion towers and shutes plunging into the Waiohine 400m below to the east.

Although there is a bit of foot trail and the odd cairn, this certainly feels like one of the most isolated parts of the range.  There's a lot of ridges and river systems between here and the coast in the west and the Wairarapa in the east.  It's a reminder to be careful although not paranoid.

The ridge runs up and down but is easy to follow - Carkeek hut is just inside the bush line and is visible from quite a distance above but disappears as you approach until you are right on it. There's some ominous bits of mangled helicopter as you round a corner and suddenly there it is. 

Carkeek Hut

A standard six bunker it is light and cheerful. I head down to bag spot-height 1080 which is in beautiful goblin forest.  The track down to Park/Waiohine forks appears well traveled and marked. It's about 1.30.

Pt 1080

Back at the hut, lunch of camembert and fruit bread satisfies the inner man. A map check confirms the next steps and reminds me that there is a spot-height hovering off the side of the ridge that I meant to pick up (1212) - fortunately it is on my way back to 1285 for the route down.  It would have been a bit of a self inflicted disaster to miss it.

Looking west from pt 1212 - across the main range

North east from pt 1212 - towards Carkeek

The rest of day three

The spur running SSE from 1285 provides good travel down and has some markers. There are no real problems although some fairly steep bits. At a little before 4pm the Waiohine River is clear and it is tempting to follow up to its headwaters but my route is up a spur from a side creek to Dorset ridge. This is apparently an old cullers route and I do see some old permolat markers but little ground trail. It is another steep climb but much easier than the one out of the Park. In places there's a lot of cutty grass under a relatively sparse and low canopy.

Spur up to Dorset

The wind is cold and strong at the top so I take a bearing and head off for Dorset Ridge Hut - in retrospect I should have traveled further SW along the ridge as I ended up sidling through some roughish tussock country before finding a good foot trail down to the hut.

Peering through rain spattered glasses I try to see if there is smoke coming from the chimney and half hope there is (a warm hut) and there isn't (solitude). The latter is the case - I light a fire, spread through the hut and take stock. 

Dorset Hut

It's a six bunker but a closed in porch has provided a really useful extension. It provides a very comfortable night and some of my gear even gets relatively dry.

The start of day four

In the morning I don't rush so it's almost 8am when I drop down the spur to Dorset Creek. The track is reasonably well marked and traveled but in some ways a little tricky - it could just be the misting rain but I find myself slipping and sliding a fair amount.

Dorset Creek a little under an hour later is beautiful - deep clear pools and carved rock. There are a few challenging little scrambles but overall it's good travel.  At the selected confluence I scramble up to spot-height 830 (nothing to see here) then drop to the unnamed creek for a steep scramble to 1118. As expected there is no sign that anyone would bother to follow this route.

Dorset Creek

At 1118 I join the quite well traveled route down to the Waiohine/Dorset forks - I'm intending to head down to point 912. Plan A had me continuing down to the river and back up to Shingle Slip Knob via 1145.  I decide to pull the plug on this as I figure this will likely have me bivvying on the steep spur or the tops.

The route down to pt 912 is what you would expect from looking at the map. From there it's back up to McGregor Biv for a late lunch around 2.30.  Both the tops and the valley floor are in clag so there isn't much to see but it's pleasant in the middle and not cold.  The wind has dropped right away.

Bushline and cloud line looking down spur near McGregor Biv

McGregor Biv

The next goal is the Broken Axe Pinnacles. I have read about them and am aware that there is a snow poled sidle route around the steepest section.  However, someone has put a spot-height on top of one of them so I see no choice but to go over the top all the way.

McGregor is one of the +1500m peaks in the Tararuas - I've been here before and in the absence of a view merely pause to text confirmation of continued existence to home command.

McGregor

The pinnacles emerge, one by one from the clag and it's easy but careful work to follow along the spine. An unmissable DOC sign indicates the sidle route - there are pretty clear indications that people have been over the top though so I'm pretty comfortable following suit. It would probably be more scary on a clear day and it isn't really until the last wee scramble down to the ridge line that I feel that there is any real challenge (someone with a shorter wheelbase may have more trouble). It's about 4pm as I turn my back to head towards the Kings.

The first of the pinnacles

And the next, and ...

Looking back at the last - note bypass sign at base

Just below South King I'm back on familiar turf for the 800m drop via the well named Baldy to the saddle below.  Somewhere en route I figure that I can either put the hammer down and maybe get out tonight or will have to find a source of water and campout.

Last day

Pinnacle ridge is very nicely tracked and marked so I can rocket along as best as aching legs allow. At 846 I'm back into new territory for the crossing from one ridge to the next via a saddle, however it is still well marked and travelled. At 862 I divert NNE to pick up a spot height at 800 - there is an old trail with little marking and a bit overgrown, but a mostly discernible foot trail that sidles to the east of the ridge.

The race with daylight is now on. The track makes a short climb through clearings to Pinnacle itself. On the way up I startle a couple of kereru stooging about on the ground - I can't see I've seen them doing this before.

At the top I stop to not look at the non-existent view and to call brother number one ascertaining that, yes he is available for a pick up and we reckon I'm about an hour out (all going well). There has also apparently been a SAR call out in the Holdsworth area - a group of three lost on a trip to Rocky Lookout - given the highway nature of the tracks you have to admire the determination that must have been involved to get mislaid.

The track down continues to be well formed and marked albeit somewhat slippery.  It is a well used predator control route with a virtual museum of trap types.

The track eventually emerges at the top of a large slip near Donnelly Flats (about 8.30pm) then works its way down the true left. It's getting quite dim in the trees but I'm determined not to stop to hunt at a light. The track parallels the river sidling up and down and along terraces. Eventually it pops out right beside the main foot bridge over the Atiwhakatu. 

A few minutes later - just before 9pm I'm at the carpark and meet bro number who one has kitted up and is just about to head out and miss me completely by heading up the main track to Donnelly Flat. Apparently the missing party managed to self extract with the help of the DOC ranger and were currently taking a member to hospital with a strained back.

I relax into the car seat and take an inventory - being out for four days has meant double the number of the usual minor injuries including a hole rubbed in one leg by the gaiters, a large bruise on the bum, a weepy eye from a stick poke and diverse other knicks and bruises. Nothing that a hot bath won't fix.

I thought that sit down was a bit hard

Postscript

A lot of ticks in boxes this trip.

• Oriwa ridge is enjoyable jaunt - long and a few challenges but nowhere near as tedious as expected.
• The wander up the Otaki river is pleasant culminating in Mid-Otaki hut.
• Now that I have a an idea about the eastern spurs onto the main range I would be pretty confident about tackling most of them (some of the headwater ones could be a bit scrubby though). 
• Caution is warranted dropping into the Park Valley, the spurs are steep and can bluff out.
• Some challenging scrub on the spur I choose to get on to Carkeek Ridge - I think there is a more travelled route further down valley.
• Carkeek Ridge is isolated and has dramatic views. Would like to see it without the cloud. The hut looks like a good spot and has some of the mossiest goblin forest - sort of like a green bouncy castle. The spur to Waiohine is navigable and been used before.
• The spur up to Dorset is apparently an old route - not a lot of indications left but perfectly fine.  The hut is aways off the ridge and is a perfectly fine retreat. The route down to Dorset Creek is marked and navigable. The Creek itself is right nice.
• Spurs below McGregor Biv have good marking on the main route to the Dorset/Waiohine forks. The other spurs not so much.
• Broken Axe Pinnacles - not as scary as I was expecting. 
• Pinnacle Ridge was a delight, again. Pinnacle is a nice jaunt and route to the road end. 

Gear - The Tararuas are always dishing up weather lessons. The forecast was accurate enough but snow in summer!? I decided to take a lighter rain jacket and this was fine. The DD Hammock's fly is light, small and useful but the width demands careful pitching.

The pack explodes in the sun