Prizegiving

Awesome effort everyone! The Hutbagging Rogaine of 2006-2007 was wrapped up with the prizegiving held on Sunday 20th May after the City Safari. A huge thanks to Mainly Tramping whose sponsorship allowed us to give out some great prizes including day packs, drinking systems, torches and a sleeping bag.

Graham Peters and Janet Wilson were the overall winners with an impressive total of 1564 points gathered over 4 hard days in the Tararuas. It was a hard call judging the best photo and trip report - very inspiring and well worth a look and read. Thanks to everyone who took the time to post something here. Janet Wilson won the photo competition with 'Looking South from near Shoulder knob' and Debbie Mansfield won the prize for best trip report (posted on Friday, 26th January), both of which can be seen below. Spot prizes were awarded to Brent Smith, Richard Davies, Jo Holden and Miriam Jones. Could the spot prize winers who were not at prizegiving please contact the organisers to arrange the colection of your prizes. Prizes will be redrawn if not collected by June 15

Prizegiving will be at the City Safari on Sunday 20 May at 4 pm.

The Safari is based at Frank Kits Park.

Janet and Graham's Hutbagging Trip 4

1.31am 23 March to 00.47am 24 March 2007

Firstly, I'd like to thank the organisers of this event – we certainly felt inspired by the idea and it gave us a good opportunity to push our limits .

Last trip – the forecast looked really good for this one. However, with only 13 hours of daylight to use, this was going to be abit more difficult than our earlier trips.

We slept for a few hours in the car at The Pines Rd end before heading off, at 1.31am, up the easy track towards Mitre Flats. Even though this is easy and well marked, it was good to be quite familiar with the route. We hadn't been up there since the new bridge was built so it was nice to find it is a lot closer to the hut than the previous one. No one was in residence at the hut when we arrived at 4.14am, so we loitered for awhile and had a cup of tea. We were headed for Mid -King Biv and knew that we wouldn't be able to find it in the dark.


Looking towards Jumbo from above Mid-King Biv

It took us awhile but we made it up Sth Mitre Stream to the foot of the spur with dry feet – the true left seems to be the way to go. It got light part way up the easy to follow spur and we didn't have too much trouble finding the biv at 7.40am – would be easier coming down though. After abit of a rest, we climbed up to the top of the ridge, spotting deer on Sth King along the way. It was an absolutely stunning day to be on the tops and it would have been easy to spend lots of time looking at the views. We carried on over Nth King, Adkin and Girdlestone to reach Tarn Ridge hut at 11.01am. Quick stop and then we backtracked to Dorset Ridge Hut – easy to find on a clear day. By the time we'd climbed back up from the hut to Dorset Ridge, we were ½ way through our day.


Dorset Ridge

Decision time – to go or not to go to Carkeek Ridge Hut. Neither of us had ever been there and our planned route was to drop off Dorset Ridge to the N/E into the upper Wiohine, then climb directly on to Carkeek Ridge to a point above the hut – a route shown on some old maps. However, we also wanted to be clear of the bush on McGregor Spur by the time it got dark and we came to the conclusion that we probably didn't have time to get Carkeek – not an easy decision at the time but in hindsight, more than likely the right one. We'll have to do the route some time and see. At this point we could have retraced our steps back over the Kings etc but didn't want to do this so headed off down Dorset Ridge – the worst decision of the day as this is a horrible overgrown difficult thing to follow, going down hill anyway. There are various old intermittent markers but it's probably best not to follow these and to use your compass. We did the last 400m or so as a bush bash but hit the stream as planned right on the forks – never did find the track on that last section. I'm not sure how many hours it took but it was too long!!


The Big Tarn, Dorset Ridge

The river down to Dorset Creek was a nice change to the bush and we easily found the start of the track up McGregor Spur. It's rather overgrown and poorly marked but wasn't too hard to follow uphill .We still only just cleared the bush before dark – the scrubby, leatherwood zone would have been difficult in the dark. The track is well worn in the tussock but we couldn't find any sign leading to the Biv so, at 7pm, it was out with our faithful copy of Tararua Footprints for last minute instructions on how to find it. Easy when you know how!!. We then climbed up on to the ridge again in still perfect conditions to look down on the lights of Masterton. We were back in familiar territory here and didn't have too much trouble following the route over Angle Knob to Jumbo and then down to Jumbo Hut (9.22pm). The hut was crowded and we didn't stay long. Dropped down the well worn trail to Atiwhakatu Hut (10.43pm), and then with a rather overwhelming sense of relief that this
was nearly over, walked out to the Holdsworth Rd end (00.47am), where we'd left our 2nd car. Time for a well earned sleep.

A total of 31 huts for us - 12 of them new huts for me – one less than I had planned for. We did the planning around an average of 3 hours per hut. We're both really pleased that we did this and also that it's now over. We're going to do some slow tramping now – maybe, one or 2 huts a day and plan to go back to some of the new places we seemed to have rushed past.

Janet and Graham's 3rd trip

Hutbagging Trip 3 – 1.11am to 11.22pm 22 February 07
Janet Wilson and Graham Peters


We were off again, only 1 week after the last trip. The weather seemed good and settled and the conditions underfoot in the Tararuas ideal and anyway, I was going to be pretty busy over the next few weeks with the rogaine champs and the TMR.

Back to the eastern side, where we left a car at the Kiriwhakapapa Rd end and started, after takeaways in Eketahuna, at the Putara Rd end at 1.11am. Another lovely but dark night.

Fortunately there was no one at Herepai Hut when we arrived at 2.55am but back down the hill at Roaring Stag (4.40am) the place was crowded with sleeping bodies all over the veranda. We crept around and found the hut book, but judging by the amount of wine bottles on the table, the group there should have been soundly asleep.

Over the river, we spent a few minutes hunting around for the Cattle Ridge track, but we'd done this before and it wasn't too difficult. We reached Cattle Ridge Hut just on dawn (6.31 am) and stopped for photographs. Then it was on towards Dundas – we hadn't done this part of the trip before but it wasn't hard to find the route down to the Ruamahunga – just remember to go down the gut, not long after you start to sidle – look for the marker some way down. Down down down to the river, then up up up to Dundas Hut. We were out in the sun part way up and it felt like it was going to be a hot day. However, as we approached the hut (10am), cloud started blowing over from the west through the saddles and by the time we were on the tops of the ridge it was starting to obscure our route.



Cattle Ridge Hut at dawn



Dundas Hut - left of centre


Cloud on the Dundas Range

Getting to Logan and Dundas isn' t a problem, although the ground trail on this part of the tops isn't quite as well worn as in some other areas. The cloud was coming and going as we dropped off Dundas, following the line of cairns that leads to towards Arete. However, at a critical point where the ridge split, we lost visibility altogether, and chose a slightly wrong spur to the west. We realised our mistake and came back up to retrace our steps, found a line of cairns again and set off. After dropping for a while in the cloud,we checked the altimeter and realised something was wrong – about 100m lower than we needed to go. Checked the compass and realised that we were going 90 degrees wrong towards the west – indeed, this turned out to be the marked route towards Triangle Spur which leads to the Mangahao. Bad,bad, bad navigation. We headed back up and before the top of Dundas, the mist cleared enough to pick the correct route.

The weather was deteriorating with more cloud and the wind picking up. We reached Arete Biv at 1.40pm. This wasn't hard to find as we had been there via the Bannister crossing last summer. On that trip, after 3 awful windy nights stuck in the biv in a storm, we baled out to Arete forks via Arete Stream – not a trip I really want to repeat. So we went along to Pinnacle spur which wasn't very pleasant in the wind, and the spur with all its little up and downs made us rather grumpy. It was good to reach the bush again and Arete Forks Hut at 4.14pm.

After a short rest, on good advice from Tony Gates we went down the river to Cow Creek. This was the best part of the day and was really pleasant – it's abit sporty with plenty of bouldery bits but no deep pools. Saw quite a few trout. We didn't rush and it must have taken about 2 hours. We got into Cow Creek Hut just after 6pm. Tony had also given us good route directions for the next bit to pick up the track to Blue Range. This went well, and we were nearly on the ridge before it got completely dark. Into Blue Range Hut at 9.38pm – the little drop into the hut felt just abit too far at this stage - as did the trip out which is all down hill and not at all hard to follow. Back to the car at 11.22pm -our shortest trip. Good to bag another 8 huts.

Janet and Graham's 2nd Trip

Hutbagging Trip 2 - 2.17am 14 Feb to 1.59am 15 Feb 07
Janet Wilson and Graham Peters

Following the formula from trip one, we left 1 car at the Poads Rd end and drove on to Otaki Forks for a short sleep in the car, before heading of at 2.17am, for Parawai Lodge (first easy points) and WTYY Hut. It was a lovely clear early morning but very dark with no moon.

We may still have been half asleep as the walk to the hut seemed to take ages, especially the section in the stream. The route over the active slip on the track was also interesting at night. What seems like a overly well marked track in the daylight becomes much harder to follow at night and the small number of flourescent maker were appreciated. We went the long way around the sidle track rather than drop into the Otaki as it was still dark and reached the hut at 6.40am. We enjoyed the climb up to Junction Knob, and the easy tramp along to Andersons, arriving at 10.25am. Cloud was blowing through the low saddles, from the east and that side was covered in low cloud.


Looking Sth from near Shoulder Knob

We backtracked to Junction Knob and headed over Crawford which was in cloud as we reached the top. This is a good spot to have a check of your map and compass as the obvious ground trail straight ahead isn't the way to go! Nichols Hut took a long time to appear – infact, at one stage I was starting to believe we could have walked passed it – must have been getting hungry. Got there at 1.15pm and had a rest for a short time – we were becoming abit concerned as up until now, we'd taken longer than planned and I was doubting whether we could complete this trip in time. Neither of us had been beyond Nichols and so wern't familiar with the track. We contemplated other possibilities, such as dropping off Dracophyllum Ridge at Kelleher and going to Oriwa Biv. However, the track was really good and easy and very nearly dry and we made good time along to Dracophyllum Biv (3.43pm) and then over Pukematawai to Te Matawai hut (6.53pm). The weather, which had been threatening to clag in, luckily backed off to the east. Stunning views in this area and it was great to be there.


Looking towards Drac Ridge and Crawford from near Pukematawai

We pushed on , trying to get as far as possible before dark. At Richards Knob I was back in familiar country, and we got nearly to Waiopehu Hut (9.35pm) before it was really dark. I'd been here the previous weekend and took 2 1/2 hours to get out so thought we had plenty of time. However, things always go slower when you're tired and it's dark.
Surprised a deer in the dark – she was very close to us and didn't know where to go. Lots of possums too. Nearly 4 hours out from Waiopehu – reached the road end at 1.59am, going very quietly here to try not to wake the noisy dogs that live right there. Had a few hours sleep in the car at the reserve just down the road, then drove back around to get the other car – a big trip.

Janet Wilsons Trip 1

Trip 1 - 2.15am 17 January to 2.36am,18 January.
Janet Wilson and Graham Peters

After hours of pleasurable pondering and planning, we we're finally off.

To overcome the problem of finishing at different roads ends, we took both our cars,leaving one at the end of Mangatarere Rd and taking the other to the Holdsworth Rd end. We got here just and dark and settled into the back of the station wagon for a few hours sleep. It was a beautiful clear starry evening. The alarm woke us around 1.30am and we emerged from the car to find the mist was right down. Hmm, we gave a few moments consideration to aborting the trip, which is a very hard thing to do, and decided quickly to carry on as planned. Had a quick feed – found that tinned peaches go down well at this time of the day - and headed off at the gentle pace, aware that we had a long day ahead of us. In five minutes we had our first points – Holdsworth Lodge! We arrived at Mountain House shelter at 3.54am, had a snack and found a previous hutbagger's sticker stuck to the wall here as there is no hut book. Not far above here, the mist turned to rain and we gave in to it and put our parkas on. Powell Hut emerged out to the cloud at 5am – we tiptoed into here (as well as you can in your boots), made a cup of tea using the gas and had a half hour break while we waited for the sky to lighten. Then it was on and up to Holdsworth Trig, where it was quite cold and there were no views,. Then is was down and up to Isabelle and then the long descent to Mid Wiohine Hut. From Holdsworth on, this was new territory for both of us.
We arrived at Mid Wiohine Hut at 8am, surprising a father and son who'd spent the night there. The cloud was almost down to the hut but the rain had stopped. We were travelling with a copy of “Tararua Footprints” which suggested using the river from here to the swing bridge but we think the sidle track is a better option. The nearly 1000m climb to Aokaparangi from here is quite efficient on a good track. We were glad to have filled up
with water at the stream near the bottom of a climb as there isn't any easy water above here for a long way. We wern't all that confident about finding Aokap Biv in the mist and did waste time here going too low before finding it where is should have been. “Any port in a storm” they say, but it would have to be pretty bad for me to choose to stay here – it's a shame some hunters leave such a mess, and it's location on the top of a bog isn't the best. No hut book here and we appeared to be first hutbagggers into here so we stuck the sticker to the sign on the door.
Its not a big climb back onto the well trodden and familiar track towards Maungahuka. There seemed to be more ups and downs than I remembered though. The hut appeared at 2.20pm, We had 20 -30m viz and still had had no views. The new hut looked OK, abit of builders mess still outside and the toilet seems very close to the hut – and tarn. We had around 40 minutes here and were still feeling quite good, although abit tired, at around the ½ way point.Then it was another long descent into unfamiliar country to Neil Forks Hut, via Concertina Knob. We reached here at 5.15pm and then, fairly slowly, climbed up to Cone Ridge and then followed a long easy track down to Totara Flats,arriving 8.30pm. The cloud had finally lifted some time late in the day and it was a nice evening and we had about an hour of daylight left. We got some advice from people at the hut on the location of Sayers Hut but somehow got our wires crossed abit and had trouble finding what isn't a difficult hut and wasted time here. However, we still had plenty of time to get out to our 2nd car and stopped here for a feed, at around 9.30pm. It was really dark by the time we left here and things started to go wrong. The track appeared to start at the back of the hut but certainly wasn't well marked and not that far along it, we realised that this was going to be difficult to follow at night – infact, we wern't sure we were really on the right track. This is the same track that, further up it, caused us grief on the Tararua 24 Rogaine and we are going to have to go back in the daylight sometime to sort out where it goes.
Anyway, there wasn't much time to make decisions, and we quickly decided, that although we would be late, the safest decision was to go back the long way via Totara Flats, Totara Creek and Mountain House to our start point. We had done this track in the dark during the Tararua 24 which is just as well as it's tricky at night at a couple of points. I must say that poor Graham, who is reluctant to go fast at any time, let alone after 20 hours on his feet, really extended himself on this section and I was really pleased, at the end of it all, to be only 21 minutes late! It was a big day out – if you add in all the ups and downs, there's over 4000m of up! It was good to travel new routes but some views would have been nice. My only advice would be to travel familiar routes at

Christian Thiemann on south ridge of Girdlestone Peak.