Ruapehu Round-the-Mountain Track, Desert Road to Ohakune Mountain Road\
Team: Myself (leader), Mark, Mike, Annie, Lieselot, Jonathan, Tim, Vincent, Jo (part time at least)
THURSDAY
This Easter, the clubs trips were all either north island based, or flying to Christchurch and starting from there. So Helen, Amanda and I were all corralling punters into vans at a very busy platform 9 on a warm and overcast Thursday. We were headed for the club lodge for the night – the other van was headed for somewhere north of Taupo.
Unusually, we encountered no traffic issues – we were all the way to Waikanae without delays. This seemed simply too good to be true – we assumed that many people must have taken an extra day off and left early since it was school holidays.
We still stopped for dinner in Levin, where people could choose from more options and get fed faster than Bulls, which everyone was happy with. It also enabled us to stop in at a supermarket and pick up the chicken for Sunday nights roast, and some wine to enjoy with it at the lodge.
Arrival at the lodge was at a good time – about 11pm – and in good conditions. There was a bit of snow hanging around on the path up to the lodge, but there was no depth to any of it, which was good. After our usual briefing, everyone was off to bed, with alarms set for fairly early the next morning.
FRIDAY
It was an absurdly early start for an easy-medium tramp. We knew we had at least 7 hours walking ahead of us, and daylight would run out at some time around 5.30pm (or slightly later depending on the weather), and an hours drive before we could even start walking. So we were aiming to be out of the lodge by about 8.30 – which we duly managed. The drive around to the far side of the mountain was uneventful, and we duly arrived at the Waihohonu Carpark, unloaded ourselves in the cold breeze and said goodbye to Jo, who was taking the van and staying at the Lodge for the weekend.
The walk in to the New New Waihohonu Hut (as opposed to the now Old-New hut, across the river, which is being, or has been demolished) was a doddle. A slight climb over just on an hour and a half, on easy ground. The joy of walking in to a great walks hut! We stopped briefly to explore the hut and have a light morning tea while chatting to the hut warden – who happened to be the clubs ex chief guide! He strongly encouraged us to visit the Historic Waihohonu Hut on our way through, which we did – for some reason taking our packs with us rather than leaving them at the track junction…
The historic hut was cute and interesting, and well worth visiting. It would also make a good day walk in conjunction with the springs about 10 minutes further along the valley towards Rangipo Hut. A discussion was had on the merits of continuing to the springs, or stopping at this point for an early lunch. Both ideas were vetoed in favour of lunch in about an hours time.
So off we trudged. And a trudge it was! The track through here was like walking uphill on a beach – soft, sandy soil that didn’t allow you any push, and had no solid sections you could walk on instead to make it easier. By the time we stopped for lunch we were all really glad that we had covered what appeared to be most of the sand before lunch rather than having to do it after!
We were visited at lunch by a very funky coloured bug, which necessitated the appearance of my zoon lens in order to get a decent photo. By this stage I was already feeling a bit tired, and wishing I could just go home again. Why do I keep doing this to myself?? I had also buried the sauce for our sandwiches in my billy, which was buried right at the bottom of my back, next to my sleeping bag – and I was NOT unpacking my whole pack for some sandwich fillings!
Onwards we marched, eventually getting to a ridge where we could see a building that we suspected was on the Tukino Skifield access road. By this stage it had taken us about 2 hours to walk the 4km from Waihohonu Hut, and we still had 2.5km to go to the road, then another “hour or so” from there to the hut. It was in the hour and a bit over to the road that I discovered that walking directly behind Mark in marching formation, and watching where he put his feet then following it exactly vastly improved my speed across the terrain, as it saved me having to think beyond “that’s where his foot was this time”.
When we got to the road it was about 3.30pm and we were all feeling cold, tired and physically challenged. But we held on to hope that Paul was right and it would only be about another hour on from here. Because of this, we determined that the next stopping point would be the hut. Unfortunately it (again) took us longer than anticipated to get to the hut. The hardest part of the day was ahead of us – every stream we crossed from here on out involved a good drop before then scrambling out the other side, and we also had to cross the lahar path at the Whangaehu River.
The signs are ominous – “Do not stop” “Do not enter if you hear a roar upstream”. We entered the valley as we couldn’t hear anything (and there wasn’t a high lahar risk), and discovered that this was actually some of the most tricky terrain we had yet encountered – clambering over large rocks, a double dip valley before getting to safety, a single person bridge halfway across. I commented to Mark when we got out the other side that if we had heard noises upstream, I would have had to dump my pack to get any momentum, and even then I would have been lucky to get out of the valley in any hurry!
The last of us arrived at a swelteringly hot Rangipo Hut just on darkness, to discover it was about half full and very dark inside. For a popular hut, it wasn’t laid out particularly well. There is space for at least 22 bodies on the bunks, but there is one small bench and one small table that can squeeze about 6 people around it, then the fireplace is in the middle of the room. We wound up doing our dinner prep outside as it was the only place we could find space. By the time we had eaten our very (very) hot Thai Green Curry and rice, many of the other hut users had started to go to bed. Most of us were so exhausted that we skipped the Chocolate Fondue planned for dessert and just ate the chocolate instead!
SATURDAY
It was a fairly early start for all on Saturday morning after such an early night. A couple who had come all the way around from Whakapapa village the day before and were off to Mangaturuturu that night left the hut at 7am – a wakeup call for all.
To start with, we made good time – arriving at the top of the “Grand Canyon” (aka the drop down into the Wahianoa River) within just over an hour. We watched a German tramper we had met the day before ambling his way back up the far side of the valley as we pondered the task ahead of us. After fighting off a complaint from one member of the group that it seemed ridiculous to group together again at the bridge at the bottom of the gully, we headed off at our own pace. Amazingly, even with a short stop at the bottom to ensure no-one had fallen off the track, we were up the other side less than an hour after we had left the Rangipo side – a drop of nearly 200m (in just over 300m) and a climb again of about 100m before dropping back over the other side of the ridge. Talk about extreme landscapes! That said, it was nowhere near as bad as it had looked from the top, especially the sidling climb out of the valley – although you would have had issues if you had a fear of heights, as it was steep and high (and would have been a nasty run-off if you had fallen)
Most of the party was making good pace (except, of course, me), and so when the next stop was determined to be in about an hour and a half for an early lunch, they had covered quite a distance, and left poor Mark and I quite a way behind! Thankfully Tim (an angel) took pity on me and came the 15 minutes (at his pace) back to us and took my pack off me for the last of the walk to the rest of the groups lunch stop. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived and sat down, some of the faster (and more regularly complaining) members of the party had been stopped for over 20 minutes and were keen to press on. We managed to get 10 minutes rest before they started off, and I then asked them to stop an hour further along the track (having figured out that we only had about 4km to go, and I had been covering ground at an average of 2km/hr the whole tramp so far) – although I also gave them the option that if they arrived at a bridge before that hour was up, they could continue on to the hut and we would meet them there.
The terrain after we left the lunch stop changed again. It got very hot at some point along here and I had to dig all the way to the bottom of my pack to find something I could change into from my long sleeved thermal I had been wearing (I had packed it at the bottom, expecting a continuation of Fridays cold weather). We were now also walking in and out of patches of forest, which was pleasant, and patches of bog, which was not.
Parts of the track had obviously received some work in the past, but some of these changes actually made the walking more difficult – steeply angled boardwalks made of 2x2 with a 2x2 worth of space between each plank, that you then needed to step off down to another steeply angled boardwalk that was more than knee-high below you. Needless to say, I slowed down even further through much of this, and walking poles didn’t help the situation. On the plus side, walking through the forested sections at least provided a little shade! After scratching my already problematic right knee (badly injured on a CUTC snowcraft course in 2005 and never the same since) on a boulder early in the scramble through this half of the day, I eventually gave in and stopped to take my boot off and put a support on. Not that it overly helped – especially since on one of those rare patches where we could pace out, I then pinged something in the back of my other knee. Yep, you guess it. This slowed me down further again.
About 15 minutes after the next scheduled stop and regroup time, we came across the group, relaxing in the sunshine at the bridge that I knew with certainty was about 500m from the hut. We looked across the river in awe to the perfectly formed boardwalk on the other side and dreamed about it being that way all the way to the hut.
Alas, it was but a short section of nice track, before returning to the norm of ladder-like boardwalks and slippery bogs. The others were so excited about getting to the hut in the early afternoon that they powered off ahead, and by the time Tim came back and took my pack off me again, we were still 10 minutes from the hut! Arrival at the hut was heralded the same way by all (we were told we had the same reactions as the others) – you walk on to the deck on Mangaehuehu Hut from the north and look over a very awesome landscape down to Ohakune, Waiouru and the Ruahine and Kaimanawa Ranges. Everyone thought “wow, that’s gorgeous”. Then you turn around. And the view to the mountain? It is far and away the best view we had had of the mountain in the previous two days.
I couldn’t tell you what the mountain looked like from the track north of Rangipo Hut – we didn’t have any visibility of it! And then between Rangipo and Mangaehuehu Hut all you get are tantalising glimpses, where Girdlestone’s triangular peak dominates the view. From the hut, you get a gorgeous view up the Mangaehuehu Glacier, and both Glacier and Skyline ridges are easily visible (both of which mark the edge of Turoa skifield). Even more awesome was the cloud formation to the east of the mountain – a massive cloud bank rising high above the top of the mountain.
The sun was shining, so most of us took advantage of an early afternoon arrival at the hut to enjoy some time on the deck with another party who arrived not long after us. About 4.30pm we decided we should light the fire to ensure the hut stayed warm – and it was so efficient we had to leave all the windows open all night so it was cool enough to sleep!
Eventually we decided we should have dinner – Rice Risotto (cooked partly on the very hot fire) with veges, followed by packet-mix cheesecake, with chocolate sauce (all the chocolate we hadn’t made fondue with the night before), fruit and gummy bears. Talk about delicious! This, and the presence of another party who also believed that 9pm was a much more respectable bedtime (also coupled with a much shorter days walking in better weather, and good weather for trying to take long exposure star shots) meant bed was had closer to 9pm than 7pm. It was still very hot – I started the night on top of my sleeping bag rather than in it, and after getting up for the bathroom at 3am, I pulled on a long-sleeved top so I didn’t stick to the cold mattress, and wrapped the sleeping bag over the top of me instead.
SUNDAY
About 6.30am I woke again to a beautiful pink sunrise. So I struggled back out of bed again (feeling stiff, but quite awake after a good nights sleep), grabbed the camera and a warm top and headed outside. The mountain was beautiful and it was lovely to have some time to myself to start appreciating my favourite mountain again (instead of resenting it like I had for large parts of the previous two days).
Unfortunately, my quiet digging into my pack for my camera was loud enough to wake the other party who were sharing the main room of the hut with half of us. So they decided it was time to wake up and share out their chocolate. Not too long after, most of us decided it was time to get up and about, and before long the hut was a hive of relaxed activity.
We knew that we only had about 4 hours walking to do, so were in no huge rush to head off – we departed the hut just before 9am, with a plan to head back to the lodge for lunch before heading off to Tokaanu for the hot pools in the afternoon. Mark and I were again in the back, as my knees were both still causing issues – I couldn’t stride out without pain, so was forced into taking much smaller steps than I wanted.
That said, we still made excellent time. The terrain was (generally) less difficult, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze to stop it getting hot. We made it to the first bridge in remarkably quick time considering how slow I felt like I was going. After just on one and a half hours we had made it to our third of five bridges we knew demarcated our day and discovered Jo waiting with the front runners – with fresh donuts. What a fantastic treat! Jo had walked in from the road end to meet up with us and visit Blyth Hut.
The walking from here to the Blyth Hut turnoff was on very well constructed boardwalk, so I was able to maintain a better (albeit still slower than everyone else!) pace for the 20 minutes. Annie, Mark and I left the others to visit the extra hut while we continued on to the van, anticipating that we would all then end up in the same place at about the same time.
The last of the walk from here included more wonderous boardwalk, along with some bits that were still in the process of being developed with new boardwalk (stacks of bits alongside the track attested to this). We had issues finding our way across a fairly substantial and unbridged stream just shy of the Waitonga falls – the big marker for people heading in our direction was less than obvious, and we had to back track to make sure we were in the right place.
Waitonga Falls were a bit of a non-event really, as you couldn’t clearly see the best parts of the falls from the lookout. But we stopped for a look anyway, and took a few photos before attacking the substantial climb up lots of stairs to the top of the hill. From here we were excited to get to Lake Rotokewa, but this was another disappointment – a large bog with boardwalk through it. The cool breeze picked up through here and became a markedly cold wind – so we didn’t stop.
By this stage we were seeing lots of daywalkers out and about, which was interesting. It was a lot like being an overnight tramper on the Tongariro Crossing – we seemed to be carrying such an excessive amount of gear!
The final bridge was reached, and crossed with a feeling of profound relief – there was the van and our way home! The rest of the group arrived about 30 minutes later after their hour-return foray to Blyth Hut, and apart from a brief stop in Ohakune for toilets, it was straight back to the lodge where showers and food were the order of the day.
3pm saw us congregating in the bunkroom, ready to head off in the light drizzle to the hot pools. Tokaanu was exceedingly busy, and we had a short wait for our private hot pool (well worth the extravagance - $10 per person for 20 minutes in a private pool, followed by as much time as you want in the main pool). Some people went for a walk around the local thermal springs area to keep moving, and everyone loved the soak in the very hot mineral pool – certainly excellent for what ails you.
All of a sudden the lights were turning on and we realised it was time to get back to the lodge, where we arrived just on dark, in heavier rain. Jo had done all the preparation for dinner, and the chicken was in the oven, with nibble platters out on the tables, so it was time for the wine to come out and some cards to be played.
A huge roast dinner, followed by apple crumble and custard followed, and we demolished nearly all of it. A mega Jenga game was played by several people – it fell over very quickly! A later night than usual was had by all – about 10pm (early by lodge standards I guess).
MONDAY
After a bit of a sleep in and some breakfast, we followed it up by cooking up a whole pile of the leftovers for second breakfast (didn’t want to hang around at the lodge long enough to have lunch), having left Jonathan to sleep until 9am. We were packed up, cleaned up and out of the lodge just after 11am, hoping this would mean we were early enough to beat much of the traffic.
No such luck. It was pouring with rain on and off the whole trip. Our first patch of heavy traffic was in Waiouru, followed by delays getting in to Taihape. We still arrived in Bulls in fairly good time – about 2pm, and stopped here for a late lunch to tide us over. I still wish I had had a pie rather than a slice of chocolate mud cake.
We decided to try our hand at State Highway 1 from here on in. We really should have gone over the Manawatu Gorge to State Highway 2 through Masterton. It took us 2.5 hours to get to Otaki from Bulls. That’s a trip of 80km. Ouch. An accident north of Levin and traffic lights / roundabouts seemed to be the main culprits. Thankfully everyone was well rested and in a good mood – we played alphabet games with shop fronts, and registration plate cricket. Tim jumped out of the van to say hello to the people in the car in front of us at one stage while we were stopped. We also stopped and bought feijoas from a poor guy standing in the rain on the side of the barely moving highway.
Eventually we made it to a very welcome toilet stop in Waikanae. From there, traffic was busy and heavy, but moving well (thank goodness) and we made it home to the railway station about 6pm.
