Otaki Headwaters

It's not so many years back that I would look at the map and think how adventurous the Ohau river system was. Two huts reached by travelling up the unmarked river bed - what if the river came up, or you missed the correct junction, or worse, wandered past the hut without seeing it?  Far safer to take the longer but marked tracks.

Now the river is a familiar and much more pleasant way to get into interesting country - and the tracks are just for a rapid exit when all the fun has been had.

The plan this weekend is to head up the South Ohau to the top of one of it's tributaries; drop over Butcher's Saddle into the headwaters of the Otaki River and find my way to five spot-heights which defy any rational connecting route.

On my intention's sheet I have described the trip as ambitious and the support crew is mentally prepared for me putting in a no-show on Sunday night.

The interesting bits - deer infested knob at arrow, camp at triangle

There's a good few cars in the park as I head out on a clear morning at 7am.

I make reasonably good time up the river arriving at the North/South branch junction at 8.20 and South Ohau Hut at 9.30.  There's a few terraces you can short cut across which save a few minutes - and if you pick the wrong one, waste you a few minutes navigating through supplejack. I usually get it right now.

Junction - Deception spur in middle

I haven't traveled the upper reach of the South Branch often and quite enjoy that, although smaller, it is a bit steeper and less sedate than the lower section.  I reacquaint myself with a hunters camp mouldering into the forest (it'll take a long time for thick black polythene to break down).

South Ohau Hut

South Ohau Hut is empty as I pause to fill in the log.

Butcher's creek has a wide rocky base with vegetation starting to recolonise but between the deer and historic rock coming down it is still quite open. It's quicker travel than I expect and I whistle past the correct junction to head up the wrong one.

After topping up from the wee stream I notice a bit of a smell and come across, first a deer leg in the water then a bit further up the rest of the deer (minus head), fortunately not in the water.

The stream I'm following heads in the right direction and remains open but gets steeper topping out in an eroding gully that I have to scramble out of. When I finally make the ridge it is 200m higher than the saddle. Oh well, on the track it is short work to get back to the correct spot.

Wrong route

The saddle is a more complex shape than the map suggests and I can't see any obvious trails heading south which is a bit surprising as this is an obvious connector route to the Otaki River. In the end I just pick a spot and bash on down. A trickle develops and becomes a stream and the stream heads over a waterfall. Fortunately, although mossy you can scramble down provided you don't mind a bit of sliding.

I emerge on a bend on the Otaki River about 11.40. I'm intrigued to see what it's like this far up. Most of us know the Otaki from driving across the braided mouth, a visit to Otaki forks, crossing on a swing bridge or maybe going off track up the middle section.

It's smaller up here (obviously) but clean, clear and still a good size. As I head up the valley there are occasional wee flats and cascades but no gorges and no swimming.

Side Stream

I exit the river bed onto a grassy terrace and see the south end of a ten pointer. It hasn't got wind of me yet so I take a step forward every time it faces directly away. When it finally twigs and crashes off into the undergrowth I am about 15 paces away. I'm not entirely sure what I would have done had I got any closer.

All too soon the pleasant wander up the river is over - the foot of the spur to 998 is obvious with a good size stream entering from the true left - there's a massive bolder in the stream bed a little up from the junction. It's 12.25 so, about 45 mins up from the bottom of Butcher's saddle stream.

Upper Otaki River

Lunch - bottom of spur

I stop for lunch and top up my water - I'm expecting a long hot climb and the spur looks a bit gnarly on the map.

It's a bit of a scramble to get onto the bottom of the spur from the junction - it might have been a little easier a little way up the side stream perhaps? Once on the spur it's a steady climb - no trail noticeable but pretty good going.

Breaking out of the bush onto a knob I'm shocked but not really surprised by the damage - it is churned up, flattened and chewed by deer. And four of the culprits are there. One heads up the hill and out of sight - two others and a fawn haver about 50 metres away waiting to see what I'm going to do. They crash off the side when I start closing the gap.

Deer knob - Te Matawai Hut on ridge behind

It's a steepish climb now but the deer have made trails that see me through the worst of the scrub then fade towards the top. It's a clear, hot day and I'm regretting not bringing sun screen or sunnies but at least have a long sleeved shirt.

The ridge is part of the Main Range; north is Pukematawai, Arete, Dundas and other peaks - south is Nicols, Crawford and so on. To the east, across the lovely glaciated Park Valley is the isolated Carkeek Ridge. One of the spurs brings back some sharp memories of a hairy climb down, and a scrub bash up into clag and flurries of snow.

Carkeek Ridge

Today though it is still and hot - the track is a little soft and shows the scars of the Te Araroa season. There's an awful lot more feet heading through here than there ever used to be.

It is so much easier wandering around up here when you're not in cloud. I can see exactly where my next spur departs and don't need map or compass to work out where to leave the track.

The tree line on this spur is just below the ridge and I am very pleased to slide into the familiar shade of gnarled and mossy beech. The plan is to follow the spur down to pt 855 - I'm expecting it has been travelled before as the bottom of the spur points directly at Butcher's Saddle and is an obvious route between the range and the Ohau. From pt 855 I'll return to 1020m to take a more tricky route down to pt 755 then the valley floor.

Soon after leaving the tussock there's a bit of a trail and someone a long time ago has marked the route with blue packing tape. Much of it is missing now and the rest is somewhat brittle. At a couple of critical junctions a more recent someone has left a tiny bit of pink tape. I make a mental note of the one I think might mark the spur to pt755.

There's a few spots where you have to cast about a bit to keep on the right spur but I find my way to 855 and have a bit of a sit down (a bit after 4pm) before the slog back up the hill. It shouldn't really be a slog but the legs are not quite as spritely as they were this morning.

It turns out my hunch was right - I take a bearing from near the pink ribbon and find myself on the correct spur. It sounds straight forward but it is tricky finding the right point to depart a relatively flat spur under canopy.

 Pt755

There's no real trail apparent and it's trickier to stay on course now. At one point I take a new bearing too soon but work it out and sidle out of a gully onto the correct route without too much lost time. A bonus of this is catching a few cups of water from a tiny trickle to supplement my dwindling water.

From 755 another bearing takes me down a spur to old terraces beside the river - near the bottom there's a faint trail marked with blue triangles indicating a pest monitoring line - it's not quite going my way so I leave it to its own devices.


The canopy is a long way above and it's starting to get dim but, although nice and flat there's no water here. I can either head south to Collie Creek or carry on to the river - the river wins out simply because my route in the morning is north and heading south just feels inefficient.

A few minutes later (6.30), at the exact point I clamber down the last bank, I find the perfect camp spot.

A large mossy space just above the river is as level as a billiard table and has a tree each side perfectly situated for hanging a fly. A circle of stones for a fire indicates I'm not the first to fancy this spot. This sounds pretty straight forward but finding a fly camp spot is virtually always an exercise in compromise. Candidates will either have an inconveniently placed root or no handy trees (a necessity when you have no poles).

I hang the fly high as the forecast is good then get on with making dinner (well, boiling water to stick in the dehy packet).

It's calm and mild and the soporific chuckling of the river has me dozing before dinner is ready. Over venison risotto I make my plans for the next day (up river, find spur, along ridge, down track).  I turn in with the last of the light and try to relax the cramps out of aching feet and legs.

There's no rain in the night, nothing that bites and just a gentle down-valley breeze in the early morning - just enough to require a corner of sleeping bag to be twitched across an exposed cheek.

As the morning light filters into the valley (the sun will take a while to follow) the head torch is initially required to get the billy going for breakfast. There isn't even a dew so the fly is dry and everything packs away tidily. An unbelievably civilised camping experience.

Yesterday was a little more productive in terms of distance than expected so I'm thinking I might even be out by 3pm today.

The map says it's a little over a kilometre to where I intend to start climbing out of the valley. I have the land marks in mind - stream on (my) left slip on left, stream on right, slip on right, stream on left and climb. It should take about half an hour travel time in the open river bed.

The river is small enough that I find spots to skip through without filling my boots - they're still wet from yesterday but it's nice to keep them a bit lighter.

The last slip is a big one - boulders and smashed trees have been carried across the river which was probably blocked for a while. It's still active so I don't hang about crossing the debris field to the stream on the other side.

A pause to fill the camel back and it's climbing time - just after 8am.

From the shape of the land this is not a route that people are likely to have taken previously and I am unsurprised to find no trails - it's reasonably open though under a good canopy - free of supplejack and kiekie. It's a steady climb up the side of the spur and onto the top of it at 780m.  From here it climbs more gently through 815 towards a junction and a turn westwards. There's a lot of windfall so not speedy progress.

The vegetation changes a few times and a bit of a trail develops over 1024 and the next wee knob. I wonder whether some of the changes are still related to the 1936 storm that smashed the forest in this part of the range.

Pt 1024

At 9.55 I'm at pt 1015 on the long Oriwa Ridge.  Last time through here was in the pitch black and it was a bit tricky - I'm hoping daylight will speed things up.

This is another one of those areas with fond and not so fond memories - the first time through (fond)was one of my early forays off track as part of a slightly harebrained idea of getting from Poads Road to Otaki Forks with no stream crossings (doable - although at the forks you have to cross at least one water course to get to the carpark). The second time (not so fond) was an aborted attempt to get into the Otaki headwaters resulting in the aforementioned late night staggering about off track in the dark.

Today, it's a warm calm morning and I can potter along and find the occasional piece of orange tape to guide progress.

Climbing out of the bush into the tussock I hear voices on the breeze and see a group of trampers at the memorial half a K away.

I divert to the top of Waiopehu (11am) just to confirm I've dunnit before dropping onto the track and down to the hut.

Top of Waiopehu

It's empty of course but the log shows that there have been a few people through.

Horowhenua Plains from Waiopehu Hut

Top up water, fill in log, admire the view and head off at 11.20. I'm now of a mind to be on the way home so although it's a pleasant track I keep as quick a pace as I can manage, passing a family, a couple and a man, son, dog combo before exiting the bush onto hot, dry farmland.

At 1.15 it's taken a little under 2 hours from the hut and 5 and a half from my campsite. A lot quicker than I was expecting and giving the lie to the 'ambitious' claim on my intentions sheet. The carpark is even fuller than when I left - I get changed whilst warding off three avaricious and completely unafraid chooks intent on exploring the car interior.

Postscript

I could quite happily head back to the Otaki headwaters. There's lovely little camping spots and the river is mostly pretty gentle from what I saw. Plenty of opportunity to explore spurs and I only followed a fraction of the river let alone side streams. There even seemed to be a more genteel variety of scrub then some parts not too far to the north. However this may just be due to the depredations of voracious quadrupeds.

The Ohau River was as enjoyable as ever and I didn't mind the extra climbing up Butchers Creek.

I contemplated following Blackwater or Makaretu Stream rather than the track out from Waiopehu Hut but had basically had enough by then - either would be a good option on a nice day with time in hand.

And of course - only 13 spot heights left now - maybe this season after all?

Ohau River

Ohau river - Te Araroa track skirts part of the catchment and it is a traditional gateway from the west into the heart of the northern Tararuas.  There are a couple of huts in the headwaters that I want to visit but have tended to steer clear as solo river travel doesn't strike me as the smartest survival strategy.

This time however, Rodger has posted a Meet-up trip to Te Matawai hut via Gable End. The weather is uncharacteristically settled (in a good way) and I figure we can share transport. My plan is to meet him at the hut in the evening having found my way there via North Ohau hut and the ridge to Girdlestone saddle.

What:    Meet-up trip to Te Matawai hut
Where:  North Western Tararuas behind Levin
Why:     Explore Ohau River, huts in the catchment and Girdlestone saddle
Who:     Rodger, Scott and me
When:   Weekend 17-18 June 2017
Map:     Map

Scott has also signed up for the trip so I pick him up Saturday morning and we hook up with Rodger in Tawa to travel to the (now very familiar) Poads Road end.  With three to organise it is a bit after 10 when we finally kick off on a sunny morning.  We head across cattle churned river terrace paddocks to the gorge.

The pace is fairly leisurely so it's about 11.20 when we reach the bottom of the Gable End track. Scott is keen to see North Ohau hut so we agree that I'll visit South Ohau today and we'll all exit via North Ohau tomorrow.

Route to the river is unmissable - bottom of Gable End

Rivers are generally best avoided - what with drowning, slippery boulders and the a generally slower pace of travel. However, today I have a walking pole and fear nothing.

The river is at normal flow and clear apart from the deeper pools which have that cool blue/green tint. The sun catches the wider flats and progress is pretty good, seeing me at the junction between the north and south branches in a bit over half an hour. Apparently trampers have missed the branch in the dark and ended up at the north instead of south hut - in daylight however navigation is pretty straight forward and I don't note any side streams that might cause confusion.

North Ohau to left, South to right - foot of Deception Spur between

The flow is much lower above the forks and the river bed a bit tighter in places, but it's still good travel and very pretty. At one point a pink ribbon looks like it marks a short cut across a terrace but turns out to lead to a polythene bivvy - complete with a couple of plastic garden chairs.




Old timer biv

It looks like two someones have been in before me - a pair of foot prints precede me up river and look to be fairly fresh.  On some of the straight stretches of river the winter sun on my back is as strong as you get it at this time of year.

About 1.10 I'm at South Ohau hut for a bite to eat. It's getting the sun but I suspect for not much longer - in summer it would have a very pleasant aspect for a comfortable evening on the deck.

South Ohau hut - Butchers Creek enters from right,
South Ohau comes from left (route to Girdlestone saddle) 

The hut is clean and tidy and, with the sum streaming in, exceedingly pleasant. A couple of chaps have signed through the log book last night - it looks like they have come in by torchlight and headed up to Te Matawai for the night before embarking on the northern crossing.

After a quarter hour break and a deep breath I gird my loins for the steep grunt upwards. Yeates track leaves from behind the hut and climbs straight up the spur for about 300m before leveling. Along the top there's a fair amount of wind thrown trees giving a few views across to the ridge that Rodger and Scottt are sweating up.

In about 45 minutes I reach the junction with Dora Track (Te Araroa) and turn left to reach Te Matawai hut in 20 minutes. All up about 4 hours 20 from the car (and I reckon you could trim a bit off that).

Pt 810 

At Te Matawai you can see up to the main range, or at least the bits not covered in cloud. Pukematawai is hidden and there's not much sun to be had for the rest of the day. The inside of the hut is decidedly cool.

Te Matawai in its normal attire

The experience of being at a hut in the mid-afternoon with no more tramping for the day is weird. I potter around and get myself thoroughly cold before finally having the sense to get out of river sodden boots and into dry clothes and sleeping bag for a snooze. This keeps boredom at bay for a while, and a hot drink for a little while longer.

There's a good stack of fire wood so I undertake another unusual activity and get a fire going. I wouldn't bother on my own but figure Scott and Rodger might be late and cold.

Reading the log book passes a bit more time - some pages are 80% Te Araroa walkers south bound (SOBO) or north (NOBO) - not so much during winter though.

It's just on dark around 5pm that Scott and Rodger wander in. The grunt up Gable was not so bad but the ridge was fairly muddy and the route from there a bit up and down. They settle in and we prepare our respective meals - Rodger takes over the fire and keeps it going all evening - maybe something to do with everyone having three season sleeping bags.

I'm first up in the morning and reasonably keen to get going as I anticipate that we might be pushing light by the end of the day. At this point the down side of using the fire kicks in in the shape of the two chores; dousing and disposing of the ashes, and getting more wood. I get on with this while the others break their respective fasts.

The day is grey but the cloud is about 1000m so there are views to be had. A helicopter buzzes over the ridge to Pukematawai just below the cloud ceiling and shadows the main range before nipping through a saddle into Park Valley.

It's about 8.40 when we leave the hut and, after about about 3 minutes walking, Scott wipes out in a bog - leggings and gloves are thick with the noisome stuff. The track through here is somewhat soft in a few patches.

Mangahao valley ahead - Girdlestone Saddle to Ohau on left

The scrub gives way to forest as we drop into the saddle, arriving about 0930. The route to South Ohau is well marked but I'm surprised how little ground trail there is leading out of the saddle in the direction we're going (northish along the ridge). There's a bit of casting about required to find the best way through old logs (possibly from the 1936 storm) but it's pretty easy going over a lump in the saddle and then the gradual start to the climb up to Pt 865. Somewhere around here we start seeing markers and the ground trail becomes more pronounced - I suspect there is an old route down to the Mangahao river about 100m below (this would make sense as it would come out opposite Pt 630 at the base of Triangle Spur).

Rodger and Scott contemplate leaving the road most traveled 

Rodger applying walking poles to the defenseless flora

With a breather on the way up it's an easy climb to Pt 865 which marks where Deception Spur comes up from the Ohau forks. There's a cairn and lots of tape marking that route which I mentally add to my list for investigating at some point. We follow the sharp topped ridge north east through open forest for a short climb to find more orange tape marking the top of the spur down to North Ohau hut.

The track down is a bit overgrown but there's a reasonable amount of old markers - without them I suspect it would be easy to lose the way as the shape of the spur is not always obvious.

Scott stops part way down to do arcane things with cell phones and satellites - something to do with the game he was involved in when we went up Hector last year. Rodger and I listen to his explanation about defining a node at the hut and the complicated technology required to capture it because it has no cellphone reception - and understand about one concept in seven.  We leave him to it and head on down.

At the bottom of the spur we stumble on the toilet then the hut - it's about 1.30. The hut loses the sun as we arrive, although the loo is still basking. It's a wee four bunker with a fire - quite damp in the narrow, sunless valley (the deck is lethally slippery) but I imagine pretty cosy once the fire is cranked up.  The hut is on a terrace above the valley bottom with the sounds of the river drifting up.

I'm keen to get going as the map indicates that the river could be a bit gorgy - the more light available while we are traveling the better.

The flats can be followed for a while (albeit boggy) but soon enough we are in the river (well, large stream) slithering over boulders and skirting the deeper pools. It's a steeper and more gorgy river bed then the South Ohau so is slow although not bad going. I wouldn't like to be here if the flow was up.

The sun occasionally lights a hillside above or glances into one of the wider flats but we are mostly hemmed in, in cool, damp air and dim light.

Someone has been through ahead of us - there are wet foot prints on the some of the boulders but in these conditions it is difficult to tell how long they have been there. I am guessing not so long although the person didn't note their presence in the log book.

Scott's boot gives up the ghost and upper separates from lower but not so that we have to actually apply duct tape and he keeps the pace up. It's about an hour twenty to the forks and another hour down river to the large orange triangle that marks the exit near the foot of Gable End.

At 4pm it's getting dim in the bush so we keep a good pace up to hit the farmland as the last of the sun set warms the top of Square knob. On the way back through the paddocks we stop at a large boulder - there's a bronze plaque on it commemorating the Levin Waiopehu tramping club (1927 to 1977), no idea if they still exist - but the plaque will be around for a while.

There's plenty of light to see us across the flats and back to the car but it wouldn't have been long before we would have been cracking out head torches.

Postscript

The Ohau River is a good way to commute into Te Matawai. Probably tricky if the river is up at all but it's pretty and our non-scientific comparison indicates it's quicker. Not much in the way of markers (apart from the exit point on the way out I didn't see any).  A few deepish pools but nothing above mid thigh, and one or two rocky scrambles.

The forks are obvious - I didn't note any side streams that could be confusing. South Ohau hut is obvious above the river - North Ohau not, but I think there was an orange triangle marking the track which follows along and up to the terrace the hut is on.

Yeates track is a steep scramble up at the start but it's over and done with reasonably quickly. The ridge from Girdlestone north had a bit of ground trail but easy to miss and I didn't note any markers until the start of the slope up to Pt 865 where the trail was also more obvious. The spur down to North Ohau would be tricky in low light and is a bit overgrown but there are quite a few tape markers.