I've always wondered about that lonely
meandering track from the Orongorongo valley, that finishes in the unfashionable backwaters of the South-West
Wairarapa. And I see that Kate Cushing must feel that way too, since she's leading a trip here on 29 June. Two of us took a look last month on the spur of the moment and it is well worth it. Here's a sneak preview of why you should sign up for this trip.
When:
Saturday 5 May, Sunday 6 May 2012
Who:
Mike Gilbert and Andrew Bichan (scribe)
Weather:
Cloud at about 800m with light South-Easterlies both days. Scattered showers predicted but none
eventuating.
Access
See “Driving Instructions” below.
The trip starts as a Friday morning inkling. The forecast is settled and at least one of
us has always intended, but never quite got around to knocking off this
Rimutaka Range crossing.
We leave Catchpool at 10am on Saturday and it is easy going over the
Orongorongo track and up the river to Papatahi Hut (about 3hrs). The hut is new and in fantastic condition but
locked with bookings essential (link below).
From here, you need some map reading skills. About a kilometre upstream from the hut the
track heads up North Boulder creek then into the first tributary (true left) before
launching itself up a steep 500m ridge climb (some kindly soul has left a rope
in one particularly gruesome spot). It
eases for the last 100m before topping out at just over 900m.
The view expands as we climb until, just as we identify the Makara wind
farm, we ascend into mist. The mossy
condition of the forest shows that the clouds scrape along these hills a fair
proportion of the time. We reach a small
clearing with a survey pin at the top about 3pm and just manage to send a text
to our driver. We’re in cloud and it’s a
bit chilly so we don’t stick around. The
track drops gently to about 700m then plummets to 300m, before easing us down
to 200m. The descent is fairly tricky in
places; the track is not always easy to find and it’s loose or slippery
underfoot.
Wharepapa hut is on the other side of Wharepapa stream (true left) but sign
posted: “Joe’s Hut.” At 5pm it’s already
quite dim and we light candles as soon as the door shuts. The hut is well looked after and the log book
indicates relatively light use with a lot of hunters.
The next morning we follow the track from the door of the hut (not quite
what the map shows) about 140m up to a saddle which drops us into the Battery
Stream catchment. The track from here is
fairly rough in places and easily lost but we don’t have too much trouble
working our way out into gently shelving beech forest which fades away for a
last 2km walk along a farm drainage ditch to the road; about 3hrs after leaving
the hut.
All up it took us about 10 hours; we aren’t super fit and weren’t
pushing it, but I suspect a bigger party will be slower. Track conditions are variable and a little
challenging in places. I thoroughly
enjoyed this impromptu trip; tested some new gear and didn’t waste the weekend
mowing the lawns; definitely one for the bucket list.
Useful
Information
More photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108814469832492095035/2012_05PapatahiCrossing?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvS2Mvb1PPIuQE
https://picasaweb.google.com/108814469832492095035/2012_05PapatahiCrossing?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvS2Mvb1PPIuQE
Map:
DoC track description:
Papatahi Hut:
Wharepapa Hut:
Driving
instructions
West end: Catchpool stream off
the Coast Road from Wainuiomata.
East end: From Featherston, turn
South onto the Western Lake Road (also the way to Cross Creek). Follow this for ages until you leave the lake
behind and see the “East West Access Road” coming in from your left. About 2.5Km past this there is a barely
visible pull off on the right with a faded DoC sign. There is a farm entrance labelled “Devon”
about 200m earlier. If you go around a
sharpish right bend and a bridge you have gone 500m too far.
Cellphone
coverage
Mostly none. Some patchy cover at
the top of Papatahi; intermittent coming down to the farm land and at Western
Lake Road. I wouldn’t rely on it.
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