TARARUA PEAKS

TARARUA PEAKS – Debbie Mansfield, Glen Warner, Jenny Cossey, Miriam Jones, Gordon Balfour
Saturday 20 Jan 7pm to Sunday 21 Jan 6.35pm

With the long weekend forecast predicting fine weather, we teamed up with Miriam Jones and Gordon Balfour to complete the Tararua Peaks and bag the 7 huts along the way. We started at 7pm Saturday evening as Glen had been out Kayaking for the day still training for the C2C. While the weather forecast said fine weather, we started in a very light misty rain at Otaki forks. We passed thru YTYY at 10pm and up onto the tops around midnight where the weather was typically “Tararua” - Rain, wind and clag made for slow progress, losing the track a few times. Arriving at Anderson, we decided to hole up for the night as further progress would have been too dangerous. With 5 people already in the hut and only 2 sleeping bags amongst the 5 of us, this made for a very ‘cosy’ and uncomfortable night. Jenny shared a mattress with a stranger who cuddled her feet all night (Still wondering if he was helping to keep her warm or stop from being kicked in the head.) Glen and I shared the floor where we realised how bony our hips really were, how much draught comes up through the floor of a hut, and how 2 people really do not fit in one sleeping bag! Up again at 6pm with not much sleep amongst the 5 of us, back on with the wet clothes for another 6 hours of trudging through the wind, rain and clag!!! Aokap was easy to fine in the daylight and we thanked our decision to stop for the night. It would have been near impossible to find in the dark as there is nothing to indicate where the bivvy is in the treeline. On to Maungahuka for a quick soup to try and warm up, on with another layer of clothing, making for 6 layers on myself including my jacket, and still cold!!! And wet!!!!

Across the peaks and down the Pakahore ridge to finally get out of the wind and clag and slowly warm up. Penn Creek Hut was a welcome rest, be it very short as we only had 4 hours remaining to complete the trip. The climb back up onto the main Southern Crossing track would have been quiet pleasant, if the legs weren’t so tired and time didn’t allow for too many rests. Finally down past Field Hut and back out to Otaki Forks with 25 minutes to spare.
I wish to thank Gordon, Miriam, Jenny and Glen for a great trip. Every time I head into the Tararuas I learn something new. It is always such an unpredictable environment that you can never take for granted. It was amazing to head home and have the kids tell me the weather had been fine for those 2 days, while we had been travelling through some pretty shitty weather, at times feeling pretty cold and miserable. Lets hope we strike some better weather for the next hut bagging trip!!!