There was the time where we tried to make it, got as far as Lancaster, but we turned back and went to tarn ridge hut instead …
The time where we ran out of daylight and had to camp on the tops …
The time where the weather changed our plans and we went to cow creek and arete forks - to meet others who had to turn back when the wind blew them off a ridge …
Those other times where the weather just kept us at home …
But not this weekend.
We had a plan - get to Carkeek Hut by the easiest way. No distractions, no side quests (at least until the mission was accomplished). Complete the mission.
- Thursday: leave Wellington 1630, go to Poads Rd, hike about 2 hrs and camp at the flat section near the turnoff for Te Matawai - the base of Gable End
- Friday: hike from the base of Gable End, past Te Matawai Hut to Arete Biv
- Saturday: Arete Biv to Carkeek Hut
- Sunday: return to Arete Biv
- Monday: return to Poads Rd via Te Matawai Hut and Gable End.
Post-mission side quest: We are also hopeful we can get to the two >1500mtr Bannister peaks near Arete Biv on the Sunday.
It sounded doable, but so did the previous six attempts. I packed my backpack, as light as I could, and ignored the anxiety.
Day 0 (16 Jan): Poads Road to base of Gable End
Thursday afternoon saw Janine and I driving out of Wellington and heading to the infamous Poads Road. Nobody really likes Poads Road road-end - but it's the best access route into much of the northern Tararuas so it is a necessary evil. Just the two of us, as Andrew was waylaid with GWNB doing track clearance and hut maintenance.
Janine had texted, "I'm worried we won't be tired enough to sleep with that short walk" so I'd made plans to get us further - up Gable End, maybe all the way to Te Matawai Hut. But no, that's not what she meant. We bought beer and chips to keep us entertained at our campsite.
A quick dinner at the road end, and off we set. My pack was heavy with six beers and lots of water (we weren't sure if we could get water close to the campsite) but we made good time, including over the two "impassable" slips that were perfectly fine (one had ropes to help you). 90 minutes later we were enjoying the hot setting sun and enjoying supper.
The weather was so good that we left the tent in my pack and slept under the stars. Well, not quite, under the tree ferns to keep the dew off. Tree fern litter made for a nice comfy sleep. I'd done this before here many years ago, but it was a new and slightly unsettling experience for Janine. I think that we didn't encounter any wētā or possums overnight - though I slept very soundly (with vivid dreams) so I don't think I'd have known.
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| Camping sorted |
Day 1 (17 Jan): Base of Gable End to Arete Biv
We woke up at 6am as the sun trickled into the campsite. We knew we had a long day, so we wanted daylight on our side. 7:15am saw us walking down to the Ohau river to collect water. It was just 5 minutes away so there was no need for me to lug in all that water from Wellington.
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| Breakfast in bed |
I find this Waiopehu / campsite / Ohau river / Gable end intersection pretty confusing - possibly because you double back on yourself when you cross the bridge, and because the stream forks just downstream which is quite disorienting - you're not crossing the Ohau, you're crossing the Blackwater stream which divides Gable end from the Waiopehu ridge. Here is a handy diagram I put together on my favourite CAD tool.
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| Something like this! |
We started up Gable end sometime just after 7:30am. It was not nearly as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind - maybe too because it was hot and sunny and the track was very dry. The infamous boggy bits were not too bad at all, apart from one bit where I left the track and discovered myself calf deep in a swamp. I was in my trusty Zamberlan tramping boots, Janine had chosen trail runners for this weekend and they worked well on this terrain.
We stopped for an early lunch somewhere between gable end and Richards knob.
The hours started to show on the way to Yeats track as the tiredness began to set in. We met a mum dad and 10yo kid coming out of Yeats track, happy and enthusiastic. The kid told us all about her adventures which is a sure sign of a happy kid enjoying her adventure.
We made Te Matawai hut around 14:45 ish, to find it empty! This is a popular Te Araroa hut so it's normally absolutely heaving with bodies. The hut book was full of dozens if not hundreds of TAers from the season.
We took a 45 min rest stop here. Daylight was on our side, so we may as well take the opportunity to recharge. While we were hanging out, a Canadian TA'er appeared. She said that the Whanganui River part of the TA doesn't take bookings a few days over Christmas - we were in the downstream lull that that creates.
It was very, very tempting to just stop here, but we knew that we had to make Arete hut to give us any chance at Carkeek. So we wearily put on our boots and packs and set off up the ridge.
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| Getting higher |
We soon passed a sign saying 'Dracophyllum hut 2h', and slowly made our way up the ridgeline to the main range turnoff - Dracophyllum to the right, Arete and our destination to the left. The track was in good condition but the constant uphill was sapping us and it took three hours to get to this turnoff, with the sign on the skyline clearly visible and beckoning us along.
To find that Dracophyllum hut was now 3-4 hours away. We had walked minus two hours according to the sign.
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| "Te Matawai 1h" after we'd walked three hours from there. Looking up at Pukematawai and Arete, our next destinations. |
Wearily we turned left and off the marked tracks, as the clag finally started to come in. Pukematawai was our first peak to climb up to, knocking off 500 vertical metres for us since Te Matawai hut. Then down and back up to Arete itself, another 100 metres of climbing from the saddle to the peak. Now we were close, but we knew that Arete Hut was not the easiest hut to find - tucked into a basin that makes it a little sheltered but not visible or obvious until you're nearly there. I knew that you followed the ridgeline off Arete before descending... "Not there Mike, Andrew said to keep going!" said Janine. I wasn't going to ignore that advice! Sure enough, a bit further on and just before the saddle between Arete and spot height 1434 was a welcoming sign pointing to "Arete Hut, 5 minutes"; and a series of rusty waratahs and cairns that guided us off at an angle to the sign and down the hill.
The route was okay to follow, but five minutes it was not. We soon found the tarn by the hut which was reassuring. Just as we neared the hut, who appeared out of the mist but Andrew! His work had been cut short and he'd hared up and over to catch us.
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| Andrew!! |
We reached the hut at 8pm - yes, we'd had a 12½ h day and it certainly felt like it.
We found the hut occupied - a chap named Joe was in residence. He was knocking off an S-K, but over five days instead of a weekend or 24 hours or something ridiculous like that.
The hut was well laid out for such a small structure, but a bit damp and mildewy and grubby. The toilet possibly earned the Worst Toilet In The Tararuas moniker, the walls covered in green algae and grime and other unspeakable substances. Luckily Joe had used the spray and wipe provided and created an island of cleanliness in the seat itself which was somewhat of a relief. I was very careful not to touch anything.
Four of us in a 2 bunk hut was ... cozy. Cooking and chatting was okay, we took turns and as long as the people not cooking stayed sitting on bunks it all worked okay. Sleeping arrangements were tight. I slept under Janine's bunk. Andrew slept under the bench with his head under Joe's bunk. Neither of us could really roll over properly and Andrew had a piece of framing less than a hand-width above his forehead. But I slept pretty well considering.
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| Janine and Joe are comfy. That's my bald head poking up from under the bunk. I am less comfy. |
Day 2 (18 Jan): Arete Biv to Carkeek Hut
We took turns getting ready and let Joe get his breakfast first. He didn't get off too quick, that meant that it wasn't til 9:30 when we headed off into the clag. No dramas, we knew we had a short but (foreshadowing) potentially difficult day to come.
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| Bye-bye for now, Arete Biv |
The clag soon burned off to give us sun with a cold breeze. I spent my time putting my jacket on when the bitter breeze hit me and then taking it off when we came out of shadow into the baking sun. Eventually I compromised with an open jacket and a beanie that could come on and off a bit more easily.
Our first target: Lancaster and Thompson. Again, I'd naively looked at the relatively gentle contour lines and forgotten that this was the Tararua tops. Lancaster was a bit of an uphill scramble but the descent to Thompson saddle was unexpectedly exciting - and worthy of a grey sidebar.
Lancaster to Thompson
From the top of Lancaster, the ground slopes very steeply away to the south, so steeply that you can't actually see the saddle you're aiming for. There is no obvious path. Take a compass or GPS bearing and trust it.
You descend down a broad, very steep gravelly surface. In clear conditions you see the saddle relatively soon, in clag you'll have to watch your nav closely.
To your left (as you descend) the slope turns into cliff, so err on the side of keeping right. On the right side there is a vertical rocky outcrop to keep left of; if you just miss the saddle you'll drop into a grassy gully so not the end of the world.
Partway down you'll see a cairn - it is not in line with your route, it marks the rightmost edge and you want to keep quite a ways to the left of it.
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| That descent at the top of the pic is tricky! Don't go too far right on the way down, definitely don't go too far left. |
From Thompson we headed over another sharpish saddle to Carkeek. In the Carkeek descent, I went right into a gully, now christened 'Mike's Folly Gully' instead of left down the easy track. It rapidly got steeper and turned into a near vertical chute before dropping me into leatherwood and spaniard. I struggled back to the track, at one point having to take off my pack and throw it ahead of myself, to Andrew's and Janine's amusement.
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| Mike's Folly Gully - the slot to the left in the photo. Don't go down there, |
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| Or you end up stuck in the leatherwood |
I was very glad the forecast clag was not present. Poor viz would make this route very challenging without excellent nav skills.
Suddenly, a glimpse of orange: the hut! Still far away but it was great to see our destination.
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| Spot the hut! |
Past where a popular spur joined the ridge, travel began to get easier as the foot track got clearer. We strolled along with skylarks flying about us.
At last, we reached Carkeek Hut around 3pm. 5½ hours' travel. Good work. Our nemesis was defeated and our mission was at least half complete.
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| HERE IT IS |
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| How much of that green paint did they buy? |
Carkeek Hut is a very familiar NZFS hut with orange on the outside and teal on the inside, nestled just inside the bushline. There are various broken helicopter parts piled at the side of the track as you reach it, as a cautionary tale of the risks of backcountry flying, and a big heavy stolen 'CARKEEK STREET' sign (just in case you weren't sure where you were). And best of all, the hut was empty! We had visions of twelve helicoptered-in hunters in residence that fortunately did not come to pass. Still, evidence of hunters was about in the form of lots of chainsawed firewood and bags of coal. Great.
I was quite sunburned - I foolishly didn't put on sunscreen in the clag as we left, and then was more than distracted by the tops travel to do anything about it en route. Suffice to say my head peeled and flaked a lot in the following few days. Yes, foolish.
Andrew took us on a goblin forest excursion, downhill from the hut. Gorgeous. I wouldn't dispute his claim of it being the best goblin forest in the Tararuas.
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| Goblin |
Shortly, we gained some hut mates - Dan and Mon from WTMC. They were en route to McGregor biv. We spent lots of time talking about WTMC politics and gnarly tramping routes.
I had a good night's sleep even if the hut still had the old original squeaky NZFS bunks.
Day 3 (19 Jan): Carkeek hut to Te Matawai hut
We were all awake at 6am, Dan and Mon were off by 7:15am and we followed shortly after at 7:45am. Mares tails above us and heavy cloud over Girdlestone had portents of changing weather but luckily for us the threatening weather stayed put and clag over Lancaster steadily rose and burned off well before we got near it.
It felt good coming back and the hours sped by. We reached Lancaster by 12pm. The hard bony bits were done! It's always much easier going up that sort of terrain.
Lancaster to Thompson did look very daunting still, and to be honest beyond my ability if it was clagged. Very very steep and easy to miss the saddle and fall off a bluff! You have to be very confident with taking a bearing and walking to it.
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| On top of Carkeek, with Thompson and Lancaster to come. The clag kept burning off as we approached it. |
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| Looking across at Thompson, and Mike's Folly Gully |
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| On Thompson, looking at Lancaster, with Girdlestone lurking to the right |
The clag held off until we reached Arete hut around 13:30. Two people from VUWC had been through the night before as part of the "Love Our Huts" campaign. What a transformation! Clean and sparkling, the toilet amazing and pristine, cleaning products left behind so future occupants could keep it that way. Good work y'all.
We followed the steepish poled track up to the ridge, Andrew getting steadily angrier with the "decoy" cairns leading us astray. We took a rest on Arete peak as it got claggier and windier, but with glimpses under the cloud floor of the ridges and valleys.
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| Our only clag, near Arete of course. Spot the rusty pole marking our route. |
Down from the Te Matawai signpost, we emerged out of clag again as the Main range kept holding the weather back. Or is it just that Arete and Arete Hut is always clagged in? Seems that way to me.
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| En route to Te Matawai |
It was a straightforward walk down to Te Matawai Hut, a few steepish scrambles down but mostly nice track. The track was unusually dry, it was weird to pass through firm mud that clearly used to be boggy and horrible. The Tararuas are not living up to their reputation!
We were astonished to reach Te Matawai Hut and find it empty as well. We all got to work eating up all of our leftover food. I shared Janine's leftover mashed potato, with my leftover brie melted in. Yum.
Soon Michel, a solo TAer arrived, making just the four of us in the hut. Janine and Andrew swapped stories of secret and private huts. The hut bagging quest is clearly not over.
Day 4 (20 Jan): Te Matawai to Poads road and home
We had all agreed on a 6am alarm for the morning, but Michel resolutely stayed sleeping until after we'd left. The call of the Food Folk craft brewery / bbq restaurant / bakery was too strong to delay!
We were off by 7am and plodding, ready for an easy-ish but long day. All downhill, but Gable End plays by different rules. We got stunning views and blue skies as we walked. After the brush with sunburn two days before I kept my cap resolutely on my head.
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| Stunning views back to the main range. |
9:30 we reached the Gable End intersection, a bit slower than DOC time, and got in some obligatory Wordle with the few photons drifting up from the Levin cell towers.
2pm, off Gable End, past camping spot to retrieve our carefully hidden rubbish, just the last 1½ hours to go to get back to the car. Janine was fading, her trail runners having served well but after four days her feet were battered and sore.
We made it back to the cars just on 3:30pm, success! Job done. It did feel almost underwhelming, the end of just another tramp but a long and hard one with a very elusive destination. We changed clothes, leapt into cars and hurtled to Food Folk - who alas and very disappointingly were closed for Anniversary day. Now I know they exist, I'll be going finding them again soon.
What a great weekend, mission accomplished but with the Bannister peaks remaining unclaimed. Still some unfinished business in this area. We might have to visit the infamous Poads Road and Gable End just one more time.
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| Blue pin marks a BAGGED HUT. |
