Rimutaka summit to Wairongomai

Sometimes you know that a trip will be a bit ... ambitious - the uncharitable may even say foolhardy. However, if you have the right contingency plans and are prepared to activate them, then at worst you will have a bit of a story and not too many enduring scars.

This weekend the plan is to see about getting from the summit of the Rimutaka hill road to Wainuiomata via Mt Climie, Mt Bawbaw, Wairongomai hut, Wairongomai Saddle, Papatahi and the Whakanui track. I figure it is a possible goer but prime the support team to standby for possible premature extraction from one of a number of potential points.

What:     Navigation trip
Why:      New territory - fill in some gaps along the range
Where:   Rimutaka Range
When:    11 February 2017
Who:      Solo
Map:      Map

Most people have little in the way of a mental picture of the landscape between the Hutt Valley and the Wairarapa. The higher ridges and peaks delineate the eastern horizon for many of the good valley dwellers and Wellingtonians, but the hills and catchments behind probably don't even register as a possibility. Driving over the Rimutaka hill road there are no views into the interior and even the incline never climbs high enough to hint at the land southwards.

Admittedly I'm guilty of the same level of ignorance but over the last year I've been picking off sections of the Rimutaka Range so here's my version of putting some structure to the landscape...

Ranges are defined by rivers so first think about four rivers: the Orongorongo River starts about two thirds of the way up the park and flows south west. The Pakuratahi River flows north draining the top third of the park (joining the Hutt River at the Kaitoki water works). The Wainuiomata River drains a chunk of the western side and the Wairongomai drains a little bit between the Orongorongo and Pakuratahi flowing east into the Wairarapa. Other water courses nibble around the edges.

This network creates a main range running north from Turakirae Heads to the Wairongomai river. It then sort of hiccups - a range runs north from Wairongomai via Bawbaw to the summit of the hill road in the east and in the west another one runs in parallel from Wairongomai Saddle via Orongorongo and Mt Climie to peter out in various spurs into the Pakuratahi River. Both called the Rimutaka range according to my map - go figure. Around this core structure are numerous ridges and spurs.

All a bit of a simplification of course but enough for what follows.

Summit to Mt Climie

Cups of coffee and a drive in the dark sees us at the lay-by short of the Rimutaka Summit at 5.40 am The near full moon is just behind the ridge. It's not the actual summit but the risk of walking down the road in the dark is not worth making the point.

The forestry track gives an easy gradient and surface to quickly reach the ridge and start the zig, zag and zig down the spur to the Pakuratahi river.  After 40 minutes there's a handy street sign just where I want to turn off to link to the incline road at Ladle Bend. It's also starting to get light.

Ladle bend is on the Rimutaka incline - the old fell railway route to the Wairarapa and a very popular family MTB trip. Today though I am just crossing it - and at a time of day that other users are unlikely to be about.

Back road to Ladle Bend

Pakuratahi - my spur ahead.  Incline comes out of valley to right and heads away on the left

The map shows an old access track on the other side of the river that starts up my target spur towards the Mt Climie road and the range. I cross the bridge, scramble down to the river and across.

Ladle Bend bridge from below

More mist in the pakuratahi

4WD track ?

There's no apparent path into the bush so it's a bit of a grovel but eventually I'm in pines on the terrace working up river. After a while there is a break that must be an old 4WD road but it is fairly overgrown. After a bit there is another old track that crosses the river (marked on the map).

At this point I figure there is little to be gained thrashing along the terrace to where the track starts up the hill so bash straight up through the pines to meet it. It's pretty overgrown but okay to navigate under the pines which is precisely not very long at all. Just as it turns sharply to climb the spur, it turns to hell.

Track up the hill under the pines

Morning sun just touching Kaumatua range
From elbow on marked track on spur in the middle of a gorse patch (7.10am)

The old track is covered in gorse, blackberry, cutty grass and 2m scrub. And the bush either side is not much different. I am soon regretting wearing shorts and short sleeve top. It's slow, painful and there's plenty of blood shed.

Kapakapanui

I have ample time to speculate about the relative damage caused by various plants. Gorse is like a bunch of train bullies - basically pricks but you can push through without too much blood. Blackberry is the viscous street thugs that stand their ground and rip you to shreds. Bush lawyer is the stealth assassin that sneaks up and slits you with a shiv - that or vicious Velcro.

This continues to 525 when with much relief the canopy lifts and some animal tracks make going easier. Further along a couple of  'Up and go' containers indicate that someone has been this way - probably straight up from the river. It's a bit of a mixed bag up the spur. Tracks come and go, no marking that I can see until near the top, a bit of scrubby clearings to contend with and a few more knobs to get around than I was expecting.

Kapakapanui on horizon - looking down
through tunnel gully reserve

The sun gets hotter, the views get broader and towards 857 the trail gets stronger. 4.35 hr after kick off I am taking a breather in the moss on 857 before the saddle to 828.

Overall it's not the most efficient route. Doing it again I would probably aim for the saddle by 399 and gain the spur that way. Or preferably start near Goat Rock rather than the hill road. In any event it takes 5.10 hr to get to the Mt Climie road.

There's a trig at 831 - three MTBers are chatting as I wander up. The talker keeps droning as if I don't exist and only one of them acknowledges my greeting. I'm used to a bit of interchange with the people you meet and the casual rudeness sort of jars.




The views from Mt Climie are a bit of a consolation. Whiteman's Valley, the hills around the incline and southwards my route for the day with the scarred face of Mt Matthews in the distance. It's sunny and warm. After stopping for photos it's just after 11 and 5.40 hrs since starting. Mentally I tick this off as phase one of three for the day.

First glimpse of the Hutt Valley

Mt Climie looking north - 857 towards left, incline somewhere in the distance

North from Climie - little notch on horizon at left of centre is the destination

Mt Climie to Bawbaw

There's no obvious route into the bush but after crossing the low astelia covered top and ducking into the mossy trees a route pretty quickly develops. There are footprints and various types of markers. Someone has tied way too many green plastic bags to trees - we'll call him Mr Numpty. Ironically, they are recycling bags.

Looking back towards Mt Climie

It's mostly pretty straight forward - the ridge doesn't have very dramatic ups and downs so it is a little tricky keeping an eye on progress and there are patches of regrowth and scrub that are unpleasant. There are also grassy clearings with long dead tree skeletons - vertical and horizontal. A couple of spurs to the west look like they get traffic but keeping an eye on the compass these are easily avoided. I suspect the travel along this section is a little harder than I remember but the reason for such relatively rosy tinted hindsight will come clear soon.

A pause in a grassy clearing

Forest remnants 

 

Not as easy going as it looks

The Markers thin out and pretty much disappear, I think around 825.

Looking back to Mt Climie

825 ... probably. Spur runs down into Pakuratahi catchment

Looking south range around Bawbaw on left

Getting closer

The climb up to 791 is obvious.  The ridge then becomes quite flat and wide - at some point I have to strike east to find the saddle between the Pakuratahi and Wairongomai catchments - the link between the two arms of the Rimutaka Range. The canopy is high so there is no view and  I don't see anything to indicate a trail - after what seems like a suitable distance I take a punt and a compass bearing. Soon enough a strong trail develops into the saddle through open forest.

I'm running the sums now - it will be touch and go to reach the hut in daylight, I'm running low on water (although there are some streams marked near my route) and the cell phone is on the blink (I said I would check in at some of the high points).

The saddle is relatively gentle as are the head waters of the Pakuratahi, you could probably drop down to a stream relatively easily. There are a tonne of animal trails - I don't think many hunters bother coming in this far.

The climb up Bawbaw starts easily then for the last 100m becomes steepish, the trees more stunted and the trails fade away. Part way up the camel back runs dry.

On the east most knob on Bawbaw there's a break in the low tree canopy where I can just pop my head out and get a view of where I've been. End of phase 2 and about 11.45 hrs since starting. I don't bother heading across to the other knob.

From Bawbaw, saddle from 791 on left, Pakuratahi head waters in middle, range to Climie on horizon

North along eastern range from Bawbaw

Range south to Mt Matthews on left

I wonder briefly where the name Bawbaw comes from - later, all the internet can supply is that it's a mountain in Australia and could come from an aboriginal word meaning echo. 

Bawbaw to Wairongomai

My recollections of this section are a little disjointed - possibly a matter of psychological self protection. It takes a lot longer than expected owing to several varieties of nasty scrub. The map indicates that navigation is likely to be tricky with a complex ridgeline and large flat area.

The slope down off Bawbaw is broad with more surface features than the map suggests. I figure the idea is to cut across east far enough to drop down into the saddle before 640. In the event I drop down too soon and end up scrambling over a steep knob and pottering through a couple of wee gullies before finally finding dense bush around the saddle. The good news is a trickle to get a few mouth fulls of water.

Southern Wairarapa from south side of Bawbaw - spur up to 640 in mid ground

Looking back up towards Bawbaw - note mixed bush and scrub with windfall

From here on the bush is interspersed with areas of windfalls, tight regrowth or scrub and occasional open spaces to get a breath and a view.

Coming off 640 the navigation gets quite complicated. It's a flat shapeless ridge top with lots of scrub and a lovely swampy clearing full of cutty grass. There are some glimpses of 564 but little to give a hint of the best path of travel. It's also almost impossible to follow a straight line bearing. At least I find a stream to full up the camel back.

I can't find anything much in the way of tracks but suspect that I might have found easier going by dropping off the flat top into the bush in the east.

The bush opens up to give a view of the saddle before 564. Low scrub through the saddle rising to nasty looking taller scrub (2m) before there are any trees you might be able to walk through. It's going to be slow work. There are a number of goats browsing and the scrub is infested with pigs.

The rough scrub is like a pot scour on legs that have already taken a battering. It's a painful grovel up the ridge before finally gaining the trees. At 564 it's 9pm and dark so I crack out the head torch and have one final go at the cell - it's working. I figure that I'm not about to do another day like this so arrange to exit out the Wairongomai in the morning.

From ridge below 564 - back to Bawbaw showing twin knobs
scrubby saddle in foreground

Now is the small matter of navigating off the end of the ridge down to the river and the hut 400m plus below. In the dark.

I'm aiming to hit the track about 300m down stream of the hut. In summary, it's fine at the top but I can't see any ground trail and soon am taking bearing changes based on the altimeter. It's very slow stopping incessantly to check the compass but things go surprisingly well managing to thread between the two streams and get to the flat spot at 200m.

Weta motel with residents

Something that looks like a wooden pencil case nailed to a tree leaps out from the dark as an alien shape. On closer inspection it turns out to be a weta motel with a few in residence. Someone has been here before and there's a funnel on a tube nearby collecting some sort of fall out from the canopy. There's also a bit of a ground trail that I follow for a bit. I think I've lost it when another funnel emerges from the gloom - this one with a VUW tag on it. Soon after I lose the trail for good so just bash straight down, onto the flat, through a stand of Buddliar to stumble onto the track.

It's a little tricky finding the hut as the track markings are a bit ... economical but at 11.30 after 18 hours on the go it's a thorough relief to stumble through the door and wake up the two people inside.

In deference to the fact that they have been in bed for a couple of hours I exchange pleasantries, brush the worst of the rat droppings away and crawl quietly into my pit. I chew on some salami and cheese before letting fatigued muscles twitch into a solid sleep.

Wairongomai hut to the Wairarapa

With my revised plan there's no hurry in the morning. It's the right choice to pull the plug on the original day two plan. Once embarking on the section of range to the Papatahi Crossing track there are not really any exit options.

The morning light reveals the effects of scrub bashing on unprotected legs and the benefits of garters. My marino bike top, although comfortable, is not up to the punishment and has another large hole on the shoulder to match one earned last weekend (and corresponding hole in the skin beneath).

The perils of not wearing trousers when bush bashing

My hut companions are good company. He works for DOC locally so I pick his brains about the TTC suggestion of a track along the southern part of the Rimutaka range and we have a good yack over breakfast. They came up the river so can give me some pointers about what to expect (2 hours of wet feet). They have also studied the log book which indicates that the hut is not frequently used but that people take various adventurous routes to and from it.

First light at Wairongomai hut 

About 8.30 I head out and down river. I'm expecting a lot of river crossings, a few deepish pools to avoid and not brilliantly marked track exits from the river. And that's pretty much what I get. The track is well formed and fast apart from a bit of a scramble up the true right of the last gorge and the last kilometre or so is in the river bed. Dry feet are not an option.

The sun cracks through and a stiff wind whips water off the river and slashes it down the river bed. It pushes me around a bit and it's border line getting the rain coat out. It is a nice walk though and I would recommend it as a day or over-night trip (unless a slightly ratty hat puts you off). With any rain though the river might get dicey.

It takes about an hour twenty to get to the car park which is a large domain with access provided courtesy of the farmer. The support crew is waiting by the river after very decently disrupting a Sunday morning for the early extraction.

After a big breakfast in Featherston it's back over a windy Rimutaka hill for a lazy afternoon.

Postscript

The original weekend plan was too optimistic for me on the day but is doable. With a more sensible starting point in the north phase one would have been more straight forward; and better path finding south of Bawbaw would have made for a shorter day. Better clothing choice would have made things a bit more comfortable too.  A lot of new countryside ticked off though and I now have a far better understanding of the northern part of the park.

Only thing is that there is still a chunk of range unvisited - and we can't be having that.

Coming ....

Coming ....

Arrived - note the ventilation on the shoulderes

Kaitoke Waterworks to Mt Dick

Each week my list of must-visit-places seems to get longer, so the chance to string a few of them together can't be passed up. This weekend I'm planning to knock off four and still have time for dinner in Martinborough.

The candidates lined up are: the ridge running east above Phillips Stream from the Kaitoke Waterworks, the spur north from Marchant Ridge (1038) down to the Eastern Hutt River, the spur from Eastern Hutt River up to Alpha Hut, and finally the winding ridgelines from Waiohine Bridge to Mt Dick.

What:    Convoluted route to Carterton

Why:     Nav practice

Where:  Kaitoke, Marchant, Eastern Hutt, Bull Mound, Waiohine, Mt Dick

Who:     Solo

When:   4 February 2017

Map:     Map

At half past six the long suffering support crew has nobly foregone a warm bed to drop me at the Kaitoke Waterworks info shelter. She watches me trot off across the field towards the hills and heads home - no doubt thinking that the next thing she'll be hearing is a PLB call out for a broken leg in a creek somewhere.

I take the short route up the clay 4WD road. It climbs steeply for about half an hour to the top of the Norbet Track, where I start looking out for any signs of a route leading east along the ridge. I don't know if there is one but it looks like there should be.  There are some nice views back over the morning sun on the hills though.

Rearing to go

Kaitoke water works tucked below somewhere - Ridge track in the mid-ground

A few minutes after Norbert Track the road disappears into a tunnel of trees. About 20m in I think I can see a faint track on my right, and on a closer look there's some plastic tape on a tree. This works for me - I take a bearing from the map and duck in between the spindly trunks. There must have been a burn sometime in the past as the trees are spindly and close growing, but recolonising nicely.

Start of the ridge route - honestly!

It's quite a gentle ridgeline and the route is pretty easy to follow with intermittent markers. There are a few points where I follow off on a dud trail but it is quickly detected and sorted in each case. Occasionally there's an opening giving a view towards Wellington or up Quoin and Marchant Ridges. The day is promising to be a stunner, although there's a bit of clag lurking in the west. Further along the ridge the bush is more mature than I expect, and consequently quite good to walk through.

Quoin Ridge

Across Kaitoke to the Hutt Valley

Parts of the ridge are fairly wide and flat and it's easy to wander off line, including at 630 where I am starting to bowl off a spur into Phillips Stream, before realising I've missed the line to the next saddle. At 8.50am I'm in that saddle, where I leave the marked route to drop down a short slope into Phillips Stream and the foot of Marchant Ridge. I can't see any tracks up the ridge but the bush is fairly open and it's not a hard scramble up. A bit of a trail develops further up.

Before long the bush gives way to scrub (I assume the edge of the old burn) and more spectacular views. I have an unrivaled angle on the route I took a few weeks back from the Puffer Saddle, along the Pylon Track, and down a spur to Smith's Creek. Further along there is a similar perspective of the tricky spur down from Tauherenikau from the same trip. You make the most of days like this, to build up a better mental model of these hills.  

Looking south from Marchant Ridge to the spurs above Smith's Creek and the Pylon Track

Spur running down from Tauherenikau

Initially the scrub is easy to navigate - there is always a route of low resistance to be found if you cast about. This doesn't last and it takes an awfully long time to struggle up to 967 and connect with the marked Ridge Track. There are animal tracks all over the place, but old logs and thick scrub seem to collaborate to frustrate progress. It's 10:40am when I finally break onto the track after almost 4 hours on the go.

Unnamed stream off Marchant

Marchant Ridge is easily familiar. I wander along glancing across to the Tauherenikau Ridge on the right and Quoin on the left. After the track enters the bush again I start looking for signs of a route to my spur. I don't see anything so eventually just take a bearing and strike across the flat topped ridge. It feels like I'm going nowhere in particular but eventually a spur starts to form. There's still no foot trail. Then I spot a wee bit of red insulation tape on a tree. There are very few markers on the way down but the spur is mostly pretty well formed - the foot trail not so much. Towards the bottom I'm pretty sure I've wandered off the old trail but don't have any problems working my way down to the stream.

About 1210 I cross the creek and head up the flats towards the river. The navigational challenge shifts - now I need to keep an eye on the rate of progress up river, count off the tributaries and keep an eye out for the specific junction that marks my next spur.

First view of the Eastern Hutt River

It's hot and sunny in the valley bottom, so it's not too much hardship to get wet feet with the frequent river crossings that are required. I have to admit that the thought crosses my mind as to how long it will be before some of the water that is flowing around and through my boots will be coming out of peoples' taps in Wellington.

Another side stream

The river is swift, clear and clean, and there is little sign that people travel this way, although the bush on the occasional terrace is easy to navigate. It's one of those places that is an undeniable pleasure to travel but you're happy not to camp as it would be so easily spoiled.

Despite mild concerns that I might miss the junction, after about an hours travel upstream it is pretty obvious. The side stream is sizable and it's easy to take a bearing on the line of the river. The spot is idyllic.

The junction

There's a dense wee copse of trees growing on the spit but a couple of meters up the main river there is an easy route into the bush. The spur starts immediately with a clear trail.

A couple of bugs locked in mortal combat catch my eye. They seem to be fighting to the death over a hole in the track. It's one of those little things that distracts you and I watch for quite a while until one is seen off, apparently none the worse for wear. The victor inspects the hole and peace is restored. However this isn't getting me any closer to the bushline 700m above.

I work my way up without seeing much in the way of markers. There are a few riflemans about and I hear the odd shining cuckoo. The shape of the spur comes and goes. A steep eroding creek appears on the left, so I follow it up for a bit but figure I need to be further across so head back around the spur.

The Tararua Footprints page records this route but is somewhat vague about the top, merely noting that a notch develops in the east of the spur towards the top and you work your way right and up. No indication of the elevation. 

There's a number of possible trails in the bush but in the end I find myself fighting up through steep scrubby bush eventually to emerge on the tops about 50 meters from the Southern Crossing Track. It's about 2 hours since I arrived at the junction far below, so not speedy progress. 

Marchant Ridge

This is the bushline on Alpha and today it marks the boundary between wind and clag in the west, and summer in the east. The spur I've come up is out of sight, as is the valley floor, but I can see Marchant Ridge in all it's glory and the line of the spur I came down. Five minutes later an empty Alpha Hut provides shelter from the wind.

I take a good long break to fill in the hut book, have a bite and drink, and a wee snooze with head down on the table. It's a good 40 minutes (3.50ish) before I'm underway again with coat on against the cool air.

This is one of the classic and well traveled Tararua tracks - it is wide and solid through open, mossy bush - and very pleasant walking as the clag drops behind and the sun comes through. A party of three I meet, shortly after leaving the hut, are the first people I've seen all day. We don't stop and chat, although I assume they are staying at Alpha for the night.

I'm sort of tired so the up hill bits are slowish, but fortunately there's a whole lot of down hill before Cone Hut. From the bottom of Hells Gate it's a short climb to the well marked junction to the Bull Mound Track.

Old school signs

The track is pretty flat at around 1100m and there are great views to be had. Of particular interest is a well shaped spur running from the Tauherenikau up into the clag; according to the map, all the way to the Beehives on the Southern Crossing. Another addition to the 'must do' list.

East from the Bull Mound Track. Clag on the main range and a very interesting ridge almost hidden towards the right

The tops along to Bull Mound have large patches of boggy herb land with scrubby margins. It's relatively dry today. Another interesting looking spur appears that runs north from Bull Mound and also slips onto the 'must do' list.

South from the Bull Mound Ridge

Emerging onto the final clearing, I surprise three deer about 100 m away they pause to check me out then slip into the bush.

Across towards Mt Reeves

There are a few final views down the Tauherenikau Valley before the bush closes over head and the afternoon sun is replaced with dappled light under beech. The track is good and it is only my protesting knees that slow the downhill progress.

It's unlikely that I will come across people heading up to Alpha at this time of day on this track, so I get quite a start when I blunder into two chaps sitting in the moss. They are intriguing specimens; their packs have things spilling out and hanging off and they are hardly dressed for tramping. The usual conversation elicits slightly odd responses - they don't seem to have a map and don't seem to have much idea about the terrain they are heading into. They are about 200m from the valley floor with 500m to go, yet have taken an hour to get this far and think they are near the top. They do however have a tent, and I make it very clear that they are likely to be needing it tonight. While we are talking another couple of chaps turn up - they are heading to Alpha and seem likely to make it. They are thinking of heading down Quoin Ridge tomorrow and ask a lot of questions, also exhibiting a bit less preparation than I would be comfortable with.

I find out that the river is up but that there is fallen tree that spans the torrent. This is a bit of a relief. When I reach the bottom just after 6.15 it is better than I could have hoped. The river is high enough that I would be thinking carefully about crossing but the fallen tree spans the river efficiently and right at the bottom of the track. It's solid and large - I clamber on and walk across, pausing briefly where there is a hand hold for a photo.

Natural bridge

Looking back at the bridge - log on left has come down the river

 Cone hut

Across the river is the helicopter pad then a short walk to Cone Hut, arriving at 6.25, just under 12 hours after leaving Kaitoke.  The place is like Victoria Station: there's a couple of trampers and two hunters staying for the night (the hunters are just heading out for an evening shoot) and another couple just passing through. I recognise Harriett and we exchange intentions. They are heading up to Alpha via Bull Mound so I can tell them about the other parties likely to be at the hut and the two chaps that are probably not. She is intending to come around to Hector and down Winchcombe/Neil to Walls Whare tomorrow. The trip in reverse that saw two trampers die on the tops not so long back.

I grab a bunk and shortly after a party of three from Tararua Tramping Club turn up. They are planning a fascinating route tomorrow - up to Hells Gate, drop into the upper Tauherenikau  catchment and follow the tortuous river route back to the hut. I am frankly envious but wouldn't do it on my own. They are rightly concerned about the height of the river but have some bale out options.

Another party of four turns up but take one look at the numbers and keep on going to Tutawai.

The TTC party put up tents on the flats but socialise at the hut so there is ample chance to share notes about various routes and trips. While we are talking two more people turn up. It's the two chaps from up the hill. They are not having a great time - reading between the lines I suspect that they had not made it much further up the hill when Harriett found them and probably was pretty direct in advising that they should back track. They are pretty confused about their intentions so I suggest they pitch camp and re-evaluate in the morning. They shamble off to do just that.

In due course the hunters return and there's good amount of yarning to be had into the evening. The only fly in the ointment is that there are two dogs in a very small hut that night - I bite my tongue but seriously - it's almost as antisocial as smoking. It's a fairly disrupted sleep but warm and still.

The hunters stayed up with a few drinks and don't seem to be keen on a dawn shoot so I am first up. Over breakfast there is one of those moments that high lights a hunter/tramper difference; they notice my penny stove and compare the weight to their large bench-top primus. At a guess, their kit all up weighs three times mine.

The two chaps turn up intending to leave a whole bundle of gear before they walk out - even their tent. They are sick of their heavy packs and just want to be home. They don't get the response they expect - the chap from the hut chews them out about even thinking about leaving food and rubbish that no-one will eat, will attract rats, and will have to be carried out by someone else. I feel sorry for them - with a bit of advice they would have chosen a more doable route, carried more sensible kit and had a great time. I doubt they will be back in the bush again or have nice things to say about trampers - the interaction was pretty unproductive. As the chaps wife points out: 'They're just going to dump it all in the bush around the corner.'

Meanwhile, the hunters are thinking of heading up river - I suggest the down river true right flats might be a better prospect and easier travel. They head off and before long a shot echoes up the valley.

It's a leisurely 8.10am when I head out. This is a much traveled route - today it's 8.41 where the ridge route heads south towards Reeves and 9.37 at the Waiohine Bridge. On the way two couples and two singles pass on their way in. Busy.


Waiohine road end to Mt Dick

At the Waiohine Road end I intend to head into the bush, then up the spur on the true right of Fern Stream (Map). This is the stream that you can see as a waterfall from the bridge - my route crosses it on the terrace to reach the spur. I wander around to find a way into the bush, thrash around in supple jack, stumble across the water supply source and finally cross the stream onto the spur.

It's steep and scrambly. There is a little bit of trail and a very old barbed wire fence. The map shows that the spur flattens at 290m but it doesn't. I start to get a bit suspicious, but up is good, so carry on.

 Barbed wire fence going through a beech tree

Top of the spur

When the spur finally starts leveling out I stop to sweat and study the map and compass. Sure enough - I soon work out that I crossed one tributary of the stream and headed up a different spur. This just means a slightly different start on the route to Mt Dick. The going is hot but not too bad up to 545 by 11am.  There are signs of nearby pine plantation and a wee clearing at the top.

I take a bearing and head NE along the ridge. People have been this way and the ridge is well defined - it's pretty straight forward getting through to 632 - 45 minutes later (and back on my planned route). It's a little hard working out where the top is, and I can't see a ground trail turning off, but with a bit of compass and map work I find a way down into the saddle then climb up to 582 (1225). The ground trail is a bit stronger now.  I text my position thinking that it won't be long now and confirm that the support team are on their way.

The evocatively named 582

Holy Totara!

The ground trail is solid and the ridge top flat. I trot along until the track breaks out of the bush and I can finally see Mt Dick - it doesn't look right - it appears that I have overshot. I back track, and recheck the map, compass and altimeter. It's one of those moments when things just won't tally and I can't get a view that provides a clue. I sit down and consider the information available. Eventually
I conclude that I'm wrong about Mt Dick and rebacktrack (?). The compass and altimeter say I'm on track but my brain isn't convinced. The track starts a descent that could be into the correct saddle or off the wrong spur. Ah well - let's see where this goes.

The track suddenly pops into a clearing in the saddle and onto an old bulldozed track (shown on the topo map). It is wide, reasonably clear of scrub and takes a gentle angle upwards to drop me on a gravel road corner shortly after 1.30.

I call the support team who turn out to be up the road a bit but the road is completely blocked off. The map clearly marks where to access the ridge network on a corner a short way past (and below) Mt Dick - but it is not accessible by car beyond Mt Dick.

Sunny day in the Wairarapa

The support team wave from above the road block

Hot and bothered but no longer geographically confused

It took something under four hours to get through from the Waiohine Road end to Mt Dick. There was some quite good ground trail but also a number of places where a bit of navigation was required. A usefully challenging little route and a salient reminder about paying attention.

After all that there's plenty of time for a spruce up, late lunch, lots of hydration then a very good dinner at Pinocchio's in Martinborough.