So, the media are finally showing outdoors people in a good light, and there has been an exceedingly positive article on stuff today about a hunter being rescued in the Ureweras.
He was well equipped, and SENSIBLE - waiting for rivers to subside while in the safety of a hut, before returning to the hut where his gear was (his base hut), which is where rescuers found him, healthy and well, but still stuck by high river levels.
Thank goodness there are still some people out there who make it to the news for what are really all the right reasons!
Good gear + good decision making = postive SaR outcome. That being said though, I would be curious as to what the weather reports had been when he went in, and therefore whether going in AT ALL was a good idea... But I cant remember what the weather reports have been like this week.
Saturday 12 June 2010
Thursday 10 June 2010
Wet concrete and a good fall
5 - 6 June 2010
Totara Flats Hut, Waiohine Gorge Road End, Tararua Forest Park
Party: Myself, Mark
Queens Birthday long weekend, 6 weeks of unemployment for me, and a variable, but not BAD weather forecast saw Mark and I getting up at a reasonable time on Saturday to head for the hills for a night, just to get away.
Our original plan had been to complete the Jumbo - Holdsworth circuit, but the weather report indicated that the best way to do this would have been to complete the tops on Saturday and be on our way out on Sunday, which would have been do-able, but we didnt feel like the early start that would require!Instead we decided on Totara Flats Hut, somewhere neither of us had been before, and therefore another hut to cross off our list - sweet - and a reasonably flat tramp to a reasonably large hut, so hopefully not too hard (since I havent tramped since Easter), and fingers crossed not a full hut!
Reading up the information we could find, all indications were it would take about 3.5 hours, so we allowed for over 4 hours of afternoon daylight and left the road end at about 12.30. An hour later, we rounded a corner to a spot that looked like it would be great for lunch to find it already occupied - by Megan S from club, and a friend of hers! Small world!
A quick lunch was had and we continued on, reaching Clem Creek after only a short stint. It wasnt too bad to cross, but getting down to it and back up again was a challenge, as access was very steep. In very bad weather, it would be impassable, and so we had a very brief discussion here about returning to the car, given the weather report. We decided to press on and hope that the weather report was right, and only light rain came through overnight and on Sunday morning.
There wasnt much memorable along the next part of the track, until the point where we first came down to nearly river level. This involved a short clamber down a slightly slippery tree root "ladder", and after one good step I lost my footing and started falling headfirst down the bank! I had enough time to realise that this was NOT a good place to do this (just on 3 hours from the road end, and we believed about 45 minutes from the hut), before I landed somehow feet first, jarring my neck a little and rattling my teeth together, Marks hand wrapped tightly around my upper arm, where a long graze and large bruise was already showing. (Photo taken later that evening at the hut, where the bruising is starting to become evident under the graze. This later turned black, then deep green for a couple of days, before fading within 10)
Thank god I landed feet first and not head first... Sunday night at home I kept having nightmares of the fall, and the aftermath if I had landed badly - pitching tent on a narrow bit of track, having to send the next people through back to the road for help (we knew they were there), a helicopter ride back to town, ringing my parents with the news...
At this point we could see river flats ahead, and instead of pulling out the map, we assumed that these were the last flats before the hut, meaning the hut should be about 2km along the valley - perhaps 45 minutes. So I put on a thermal top to limit shock and we kept going. My first aid kit was somewhere in my pack, and when a moments rumaging didnt dislodge it, I gave up on finding a bandage and pain killers in preference for moving on towards the hut.
A short way further on was a decision point: The high-river track or the river-side track? The river was low, so we took the river-side option and clambered down the rocks to it. Ambling along the riverbed, we suddenly found ourselves starting to sink into concrete-like mud with every step! Looking away from the river, we saw the obvious scars of a fresh slip (Megan said later it must have been that week because DoC didnt know about it). We were about halfway between the river and the bank, and so wound up with no option but to start running from large rock to large rock across the face of the slip until we got to the other side and out of the quick-sand cement!
Going in to Totara Flats from here there is a LARGE orange triangle that marks what is obviously a track people have created by trying to get back to the track from this marker, as at that point it is not at all obvious that there is another route back to the track. There is, however, a much easier track to get back on to the main track about 20m or so beyond this marker triangle. Trust me on that one.
At this point we thought "yay, we MUST be nearly there". Not quite. We were back in to bush and climbing away from the river again... So once at the top, the map came back out and we realised that only now were we at the point we thought we had been at over an hour earlier. Getting across the bottom of the slip had taken quite a while. It was well on to 4.15 and we were down to less than an hour of daylight left. By all accounts, we should have already been at the hut by now, and the map indicated another 2km to go!
The stomp down the valley across the plain was slow and tedious going, and by the time we reached the bushes near the hut, it was dark enough that we pulled out my head torch to light the way. Arriving at the hut in the just-darkness at 5.15 we were exhausted, having taken over an hour longer than we had anticipated (4hr 45 min as opposed to 3hr 30min). AND we were worried, as we knew there were two other parties a good distance behind us in the dark.
At 6.30, the group of 4 girls who had left the road end at the same time as us arrived, reporting that they had last seen Megan and Ruth at the river more than an hour previous, as the light was fading. Megan and Ruth finally stumbled into the hut at 7.30pm, having been walking in full darkness for 2 hours, including some interestingly steep scrambling, and having had difficulties finding their way off the river in the gloaming.
Dinner was a yummy rice risotto with canned chicken and carrot, followed by steamed pudding for dessert! Then after re-dressing my graze, and taking a couple of painkillers it was off to bed fairly early. Every time I rolled over I woke up because that arm was dead, and I had to consider my sleeping position carefully to ensure minimal pain...
At some stage overnight it started raining. Just a steady drizzle, rather than an intense downpour. So we were out the door not long after 8.30am, aiming to get back past Clem Creek before the rain got any heavier and caused any issues with crossing. Thankfully it did. Getting across the slip was easier on the way back too, as we stayed closer to the river, where the mud was less sticky. Another group went the long way around the top of the slip and found it only just passable.
Clem Creek was up, but only by about 5cm or so, and crossing it was made more fun by having 10 of the 12 of us coming out that way all arrive there within a few minutes of each other, and therefore crossing together.
The road end was reached in just on 4 hours, with only about 5 minutes of stops (apart from the 10 minutes it took to get everyone across the creek), with the party of 4 leaving the carpark as we arrived, and the four girls arriving at the shelter as we were re-packing to leave.
Pizza and Chips at the White Swan for lunch was the next order of business, and this attended to, it was time to go home!
Totara Flats Hut, Waiohine Gorge Road End, Tararua Forest Park
Party: Myself, Mark
Queens Birthday long weekend, 6 weeks of unemployment for me, and a variable, but not BAD weather forecast saw Mark and I getting up at a reasonable time on Saturday to head for the hills for a night, just to get away.
Our original plan had been to complete the Jumbo - Holdsworth circuit, but the weather report indicated that the best way to do this would have been to complete the tops on Saturday and be on our way out on Sunday, which would have been do-able, but we didnt feel like the early start that would require!Instead we decided on Totara Flats Hut, somewhere neither of us had been before, and therefore another hut to cross off our list - sweet - and a reasonably flat tramp to a reasonably large hut, so hopefully not too hard (since I havent tramped since Easter), and fingers crossed not a full hut!
Reading up the information we could find, all indications were it would take about 3.5 hours, so we allowed for over 4 hours of afternoon daylight and left the road end at about 12.30. An hour later, we rounded a corner to a spot that looked like it would be great for lunch to find it already occupied - by Megan S from club, and a friend of hers! Small world!
A quick lunch was had and we continued on, reaching Clem Creek after only a short stint. It wasnt too bad to cross, but getting down to it and back up again was a challenge, as access was very steep. In very bad weather, it would be impassable, and so we had a very brief discussion here about returning to the car, given the weather report. We decided to press on and hope that the weather report was right, and only light rain came through overnight and on Sunday morning.
There wasnt much memorable along the next part of the track, until the point where we first came down to nearly river level. This involved a short clamber down a slightly slippery tree root "ladder", and after one good step I lost my footing and started falling headfirst down the bank! I had enough time to realise that this was NOT a good place to do this (just on 3 hours from the road end, and we believed about 45 minutes from the hut), before I landed somehow feet first, jarring my neck a little and rattling my teeth together, Marks hand wrapped tightly around my upper arm, where a long graze and large bruise was already showing. (Photo taken later that evening at the hut, where the bruising is starting to become evident under the graze. This later turned black, then deep green for a couple of days, before fading within 10)
Thank god I landed feet first and not head first... Sunday night at home I kept having nightmares of the fall, and the aftermath if I had landed badly - pitching tent on a narrow bit of track, having to send the next people through back to the road for help (we knew they were there), a helicopter ride back to town, ringing my parents with the news...At this point we could see river flats ahead, and instead of pulling out the map, we assumed that these were the last flats before the hut, meaning the hut should be about 2km along the valley - perhaps 45 minutes. So I put on a thermal top to limit shock and we kept going. My first aid kit was somewhere in my pack, and when a moments rumaging didnt dislodge it, I gave up on finding a bandage and pain killers in preference for moving on towards the hut.
A short way further on was a decision point: The high-river track or the river-side track? The river was low, so we took the river-side option and clambered down the rocks to it. Ambling along the riverbed, we suddenly found ourselves starting to sink into concrete-like mud with every step! Looking away from the river, we saw the obvious scars of a fresh slip (Megan said later it must have been that week because DoC didnt know about it). We were about halfway between the river and the bank, and so wound up with no option but to start running from large rock to large rock across the face of the slip until we got to the other side and out of the quick-sand cement!
Going in to Totara Flats from here there is a LARGE orange triangle that marks what is obviously a track people have created by trying to get back to the track from this marker, as at that point it is not at all obvious that there is another route back to the track. There is, however, a much easier track to get back on to the main track about 20m or so beyond this marker triangle. Trust me on that one.
At this point we thought "yay, we MUST be nearly there". Not quite. We were back in to bush and climbing away from the river again... So once at the top, the map came back out and we realised that only now were we at the point we thought we had been at over an hour earlier. Getting across the bottom of the slip had taken quite a while. It was well on to 4.15 and we were down to less than an hour of daylight left. By all accounts, we should have already been at the hut by now, and the map indicated another 2km to go!
The stomp down the valley across the plain was slow and tedious going, and by the time we reached the bushes near the hut, it was dark enough that we pulled out my head torch to light the way. Arriving at the hut in the just-darkness at 5.15 we were exhausted, having taken over an hour longer than we had anticipated (4hr 45 min as opposed to 3hr 30min). AND we were worried, as we knew there were two other parties a good distance behind us in the dark.
At 6.30, the group of 4 girls who had left the road end at the same time as us arrived, reporting that they had last seen Megan and Ruth at the river more than an hour previous, as the light was fading. Megan and Ruth finally stumbled into the hut at 7.30pm, having been walking in full darkness for 2 hours, including some interestingly steep scrambling, and having had difficulties finding their way off the river in the gloaming.
Dinner was a yummy rice risotto with canned chicken and carrot, followed by steamed pudding for dessert! Then after re-dressing my graze, and taking a couple of painkillers it was off to bed fairly early. Every time I rolled over I woke up because that arm was dead, and I had to consider my sleeping position carefully to ensure minimal pain...
At some stage overnight it started raining. Just a steady drizzle, rather than an intense downpour. So we were out the door not long after 8.30am, aiming to get back past Clem Creek before the rain got any heavier and caused any issues with crossing. Thankfully it did. Getting across the slip was easier on the way back too, as we stayed closer to the river, where the mud was less sticky. Another group went the long way around the top of the slip and found it only just passable.
Clem Creek was up, but only by about 5cm or so, and crossing it was made more fun by having 10 of the 12 of us coming out that way all arrive there within a few minutes of each other, and therefore crossing together.
The road end was reached in just on 4 hours, with only about 5 minutes of stops (apart from the 10 minutes it took to get everyone across the creek), with the party of 4 leaving the carpark as we arrived, and the four girls arriving at the shelter as we were re-packing to leave.
Pizza and Chips at the White Swan for lunch was the next order of business, and this attended to, it was time to go home!
Wednesday 2 June 2010
Raindrops kept falling on my head
5 - 7 October 2007
Boulder Forks Hut, Leatham Conservation Area, Marlborough
Party: Myself, Geoff
Friday
After rushing home from work early so I could park my car in Johnsonville and then catch a bus to Thorndon Quay / Old Hutt Road to walk to the ferry, it turned out I didnt have enough money on my bus card to cover my fare... Thankfully the driver took pity on me and let me on anyway, since my wallet was buried somewhere in my pack (which weighed a tonne!), behind the ice axe, crampons and helmet.
The walk from the south bound bus stop to the ferry terminal was very straight forward - as is the walk from the north bound stop, if you negate the fact that stop requires you to cross four lanes of traffic with a speed limit of 60kph! - and a lot faster than I anticipated, so I was at the ferry early
The ferry trip was a bit rough, as it was exceedingly windy.
There had also been a lot of rain leading up to our trip (not uncommon for spring), and so discussions were had about alternative options for the easy group. The plan was for them to follow us up to Boulder Forks Hut for the night as their entire tramp, while we were planning to go on from there to climb Bounds Peak.
Arriving at the road end in the pitch black of midnight in the pouring rain, a decision was made that our party, and the other climbing party of two, who were aiming for Pinnacle, would cross the river in the dark and head to the hut for the night to get a head start on the climbing. I really wish we hadnt. The river was high and unpleasant to cross. My head torch then started running out of battery, and I struggled to keep up with the guys as they missioned their way at full speed towards the hut. About 5 minutes from the hut there was what appeared on the map to be a minor side-stream that would need to be crossed. When we arrived, it was a raging torrent and you could HEAR the rocks being moved in the dark brown current.
Being now nearly 2am, the decision was made to link up and try it anyway. Even with no runout. Talk about a scary experience for me, who was on my first ever club tramp! We made it, and arrived at the hut in the dark a few minutes later. The family that were already there woke themselves up and volunteered to squeeze into a couple of bunks so we could have enough space, and the eight of us hunkered down for the rest of the night.
Saturday
Saturday dawned beautiful and clear and Geoff and I decided we would make a go of getting to the peak and back from the hut. So day packs were shouldered and we headed off. The ground was super saturated, it was like walking on marshland. Waterfalls had sprung up everywhere
and the gully Geoff had marked out as a way to climb up to the ridge was now a substantial river and very slippery.
After the night before, I was really in no mood to take risks as I was completely freaked out, so early on in the piece I abandoned the climb to the ridge and returned to the hut, leaving Geoff to his own devices.
I then went exploring in the direct area of the hut, including down to the river we had crossed the night before, which had dropped a bit since the rain had stopped at 4am or so.
I also clambered about in the old Boulder Forks Hut, which is in antique condition, but with groundsheets and mats would make a suitable emergency shelter if the main hut was full
the sun stayed out all day, and the ground around the hut was surprisingly solid considering how wet the next valley was. The family group who had stayed the night headed out about lunchtime, and so I pulled out my mat and sleeping bag and napped / read my book in the sunshine outside the hut for most of the afternoon.
Geoff returned about 4pm, announcing that the ridge would really need a long weekend to get up, and the easier access is from further back down the river towards the road.
The other two (Stuart and David I think) returned from Pinnacle at about 6.30pm, bang on the time they told us not to start worrying before. The easy group never arrived at the hut, so we had to assume they had decided to go somewhere else instead.
A nice dinner was had, followed by an early night.
Sunday
Overnight it had started raining again. The river we had earlier crossed had been down quite a bit the evening before, so we werent hugely concerned. Until we got up and saw it starting to rise very rapidly! (Obviously a rather large catchment area!), but it stopped raining by about 9am, so we thought it should go down again fairly well, forgetting it had taken all day Saturday to get as far down as it had...
We got to 11am and realised we really needed to get going if we wanted to meet the van at 2 for the drive back to the ferry. It was decided that we would try to true right of the river, as there were apparently large "River Flats". Yeah, they were flooded, and we wound up scrambling along rain-soaked hills on that side till we were bluffed out. Then we had no choice but to cross the river because going back against the flow wasnt really an option.
Crossing here was actually the easiest part of the day. The river was wide and slow flowing and only really ankle deep. We were now running late though, and had to mission along the 4wd track to the next river crossing to get back to the van.
We arrived on the far side of the river just as Paul was about to give up waiting for us and head the 3km back to the van for them to all go home without us. The river here was wide, fast and deep. An area which had been a puddle on Friday was now part of the main river. The spot the van had parked in had also dissapeared into the river. We could see why the easy group hadnt arrived at the hut!
We then discovered from Paul that there had been a washout on the road that the van had been unable to get past, they had been lucky to get it out Saturday morning. So we had to keep walking. It was cold, I was soaked to the skin and we were all miserable. Thankfully Paul was in good shape and offered to take my pack so I could keep up. Then even more thankfully, a local farmer came past and offered us all a ride on the back of his ute. Even with that, we still only just made it back to the ferry on time, and very WET!
Lesson: Dont sign up for trips beyond E/M. They will likely be beyond my capability!
Boulder Forks Hut, Leatham Conservation Area, Marlborough
Party: Myself, Geoff
Friday
After rushing home from work early so I could park my car in Johnsonville and then catch a bus to Thorndon Quay / Old Hutt Road to walk to the ferry, it turned out I didnt have enough money on my bus card to cover my fare... Thankfully the driver took pity on me and let me on anyway, since my wallet was buried somewhere in my pack (which weighed a tonne!), behind the ice axe, crampons and helmet.
The walk from the south bound bus stop to the ferry terminal was very straight forward - as is the walk from the north bound stop, if you negate the fact that stop requires you to cross four lanes of traffic with a speed limit of 60kph! - and a lot faster than I anticipated, so I was at the ferry early
The ferry trip was a bit rough, as it was exceedingly windy.
There had also been a lot of rain leading up to our trip (not uncommon for spring), and so discussions were had about alternative options for the easy group. The plan was for them to follow us up to Boulder Forks Hut for the night as their entire tramp, while we were planning to go on from there to climb Bounds Peak.
Arriving at the road end in the pitch black of midnight in the pouring rain, a decision was made that our party, and the other climbing party of two, who were aiming for Pinnacle, would cross the river in the dark and head to the hut for the night to get a head start on the climbing. I really wish we hadnt. The river was high and unpleasant to cross. My head torch then started running out of battery, and I struggled to keep up with the guys as they missioned their way at full speed towards the hut. About 5 minutes from the hut there was what appeared on the map to be a minor side-stream that would need to be crossed. When we arrived, it was a raging torrent and you could HEAR the rocks being moved in the dark brown current.
Being now nearly 2am, the decision was made to link up and try it anyway. Even with no runout. Talk about a scary experience for me, who was on my first ever club tramp! We made it, and arrived at the hut in the dark a few minutes later. The family that were already there woke themselves up and volunteered to squeeze into a couple of bunks so we could have enough space, and the eight of us hunkered down for the rest of the night.
Saturday
Saturday dawned beautiful and clear and Geoff and I decided we would make a go of getting to the peak and back from the hut. So day packs were shouldered and we headed off. The ground was super saturated, it was like walking on marshland. Waterfalls had sprung up everywhere
and the gully Geoff had marked out as a way to climb up to the ridge was now a substantial river and very slippery.
After the night before, I was really in no mood to take risks as I was completely freaked out, so early on in the piece I abandoned the climb to the ridge and returned to the hut, leaving Geoff to his own devices.
I then went exploring in the direct area of the hut, including down to the river we had crossed the night before, which had dropped a bit since the rain had stopped at 4am or so.
I also clambered about in the old Boulder Forks Hut, which is in antique condition, but with groundsheets and mats would make a suitable emergency shelter if the main hut was full
the sun stayed out all day, and the ground around the hut was surprisingly solid considering how wet the next valley was. The family group who had stayed the night headed out about lunchtime, and so I pulled out my mat and sleeping bag and napped / read my book in the sunshine outside the hut for most of the afternoon.
Geoff returned about 4pm, announcing that the ridge would really need a long weekend to get up, and the easier access is from further back down the river towards the road.
The other two (Stuart and David I think) returned from Pinnacle at about 6.30pm, bang on the time they told us not to start worrying before. The easy group never arrived at the hut, so we had to assume they had decided to go somewhere else instead.
A nice dinner was had, followed by an early night.
Sunday
Overnight it had started raining again. The river we had earlier crossed had been down quite a bit the evening before, so we werent hugely concerned. Until we got up and saw it starting to rise very rapidly! (Obviously a rather large catchment area!), but it stopped raining by about 9am, so we thought it should go down again fairly well, forgetting it had taken all day Saturday to get as far down as it had...
We got to 11am and realised we really needed to get going if we wanted to meet the van at 2 for the drive back to the ferry. It was decided that we would try to true right of the river, as there were apparently large "River Flats". Yeah, they were flooded, and we wound up scrambling along rain-soaked hills on that side till we were bluffed out. Then we had no choice but to cross the river because going back against the flow wasnt really an option.
Crossing here was actually the easiest part of the day. The river was wide and slow flowing and only really ankle deep. We were now running late though, and had to mission along the 4wd track to the next river crossing to get back to the van.
We arrived on the far side of the river just as Paul was about to give up waiting for us and head the 3km back to the van for them to all go home without us. The river here was wide, fast and deep. An area which had been a puddle on Friday was now part of the main river. The spot the van had parked in had also dissapeared into the river. We could see why the easy group hadnt arrived at the hut!
We then discovered from Paul that there had been a washout on the road that the van had been unable to get past, they had been lucky to get it out Saturday morning. So we had to keep walking. It was cold, I was soaked to the skin and we were all miserable. Thankfully Paul was in good shape and offered to take my pack so I could keep up. Then even more thankfully, a local farmer came past and offered us all a ride on the back of his ute. Even with that, we still only just made it back to the ferry on time, and very WET!
Lesson: Dont sign up for trips beyond E/M. They will likely be beyond my capability!
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