Monday, November 5, 2012

Round the Mountain

Day 0 – Whakapapa Info Centre to Whakapapaiti Hut

Track &Terrain: Easy uphill, lots of track work. Walked last bit in the dark without any worries – track markers have reflectors easily picked up by torchlight so finding the track is easy. Whakapapaiti River can be unsafe to cross if its raining but no problems today.
Estimated walking time from DOC: 2-3 hours
My walking time: 3 hours
Weather: Clear skies, sunny until the sun went down, then full moon!

Journal: Today wasn’t really part of the plan, but I started walking anyway leaving the Whakapapa info centre at 7pm with the plan to suss out the track with the knowledge that I’d be soon walking in the dark by full moon and headlamp.

The first section of the track was really good and I was feeling like I was on a real tourist route the track work was so good (especially after the amount of untracked walks I’ve been on in SEQ!). I didn’t lose the sun until 9pm so only an hours walk in the dark. Trusty head torch on my head and even whent the track quality deteriorated a little, theres heaps of reflective markers so it didn’t feel too crazy at all. Full moon shining, some sections I didn’t even need the torch! Boots and feet got wet crossing the Whakapapaiti River – not quite sure if there was a better place to cross somewhere further up/down stream which might’ve been easier to find if it wasn’t dark. Whakapapaiti Hut is a cute and cozy little place. The hut warden and another walker are still up with the fire going. Feeling fit and strong after last weeks walks in Egmont NP and to Zekes Hut.

Day 1 – Whakapapaiti Hut to Mangaturuturu Hut

Track and Terrain: Not much track work. Lots of up and down all day. More difficult than yesterday.
Estimated walking time from DOC: 6 hours
My walking time: 8 hours (lots of stops and photos)
Weather: Sunny – clear skies. Hat, sunnies, sunscreen essential.

Journal: My day starts with a sleep in. I don’t crawl out of my sleeping bag until 9am after my late night the previous night. This means that I’m not walking until 1030am. I’m not sorried though. Lovely day, sun is shining and there’s plenty of daylight to play about with! I’m in no particular hurry. That’s the thing about going solo. No one has to wait for me, I don’t need to wait for anyone.

The track undulates and I stop multiple times, gazing u at the mountain admiring it as the angle changes as I start to move my way around it. I take lots of photos. I talk to the grasshoppers. I don’t see another human all day. I don’t get to my destination until 6pm. Once I get there I decide to make some rules. Shower before dinner.

I jump in the Mangaturturu River and splash about. The water comes off the mountain so it’s FREEZING and I don’t get the top half washed too well because it’s too cold. I’m such a pansy!

Now it’s time to sleep. I’m here by myself and can’t get the fire to start. I’ve used a third of my roll of toilet paper and a fifth of my bottle of cooking fuel. I think the wood is wet. I’m tired.

Day 2: Mangaturuturu Hut to Mangahuehu Hut

Track and Terrain: Awesome section of track straight up a waterfall (easy scramble), down the Ohakune Mtn Rd, then good track work all the way to Mangahuehu Hut = easy walk day.
Estimated walking time from DOC: 5hours 30mins
My walking time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Weather: Sunny

Journal: Oh my gosh – WOW! The route up to Wanganui corner is phenomenal. An awesome walk straight up a waterfall – an easy scramble. Amazing views all the way out to Taranaki! Todays hike is easier than yesterdays. I wake at 7:15, have coffee and orridge for breakfast. All set to go with my rucksack on my back at 9:15 and arrive at the next hut at 1530 – not a bad effort considering the number of photos, and multiple stops admiring the views, and the fact that my left Achilles tendon hurts. Ouchie!!!

Unlike yesterday – today I wee multiple people as I hike. First I see some friends I made last weekend heading up the hill for some skinning time and I’m frustrated at myself for not organising myself better so I can join them! I see some day walkers checking out Waitonga falls. I see the park ranger who has been out doing some track work on this section of the mountain and repairing one of the bridges – we have quite a long chat. I think he must’ve been feeling lonely too!

I see a couple of day hikers (oldies) speeding along to the mangahuehu hut and back on a day trip. I love speedy oldies and hope that when I’m that old I’ll have the same level of health and fitness to be like that too! When I get to the hut I meet a girl, Karen, from Guatemala. Also walking around the mountain but it’s her day 1. She hurt her knee on our side of the mountain skiing. I apparently processed her knee brace refund!

Another couple of oldies turn up for a night at the hut too. Plenty of friends and company tonight. Nettie and Donna who are on a photographic mission. I make a fire with no worries tonight!!

Day 3 – Mangahuehu Hut to Rangipo Hut

Track & Terrain: Comparatively difficult. Not much in the way of track work. Just marker poles across rocky, sandy dessert. More uphill than downhill.    One quite steep gorge to get across – more difficult going down than going up.
Estimated walking time from DOC: 5 hours 30 minutes
My walking time: 8 hours
Weather: Sunny

Journal: Clean socks!

Early rise this morning. I cook my porridge and make a coffee. Donna and Nettie are already up after having a sunrise photographic mission. Karen leaves before me. There’s a big difference in track condition from yesterday. The forest disappears & before long I am standing in the desert. A desert full of rocks. The lanscape is so different I fell like I’m almost back in Namibia again! I only see one other walker today. A man from Auckland. He’s walking the same trail in the opposite direction. The air is warm and dry and it really seems like this side of the mountain gets much less rainfall. I cross the gorge Nettie had warned me about – the slopes made with loose scree but it’s not as bad as it looks at a distance. I wish I had more grip left on my hiking boots!

I stop to tape duct tape on to my sore Achilles trying to give it some support. That tendon feels like it’s full of sand! Weird. I’m a big believer in duct tape and paracetamol. I’m able to fix most things with this stuff.

Rangipo Hut is 1556m above sea level – nearly the same as base elevation at Turoa. Not surprising it’s a little colder up here.

My knees feel like they are an arthritic 80 and while I walk I think about the possibility of hiking with poles… I’d always thought that they were only for oldies or otherwise something extra to carry. I’ve been told by some incredibly experienced trampers otherwise though – they help the knees, make you go faster, and are particularly useful crossing rivers! Something to think about anyway… Could probably get away with using my ski poles!

Anyhow, dinner time – salami and soup mix split peas and pearl barley! Tastey.

Day 4 – Rangipo Hut to Waihohonu Hut

Track and Terrain: Similar to yesterday but much more down than up means a much easier day.
Estimated tramping time from DOC: 4hours 30minutes
My time: 4 hours 30minutes.
Weather: SUNNY!!!

Journal: A comparatively easy day. My knees are feeling like they’re 50 (which is better than yesterday’s 80!) and there’s nothing like duct tape to fix a sore Achilles! The landscape is much the same as the previous day but not nearly as much down and up. Karen and I wake early to watch the sun come up and are rewarded with a beautiful sunrise! I get walking early and I walk up over a ridge and I’m greeted by my friend Ngaruhoe!!

I walk along and I can see the back side of the Pinnacles. Mother Nature has given me another day of fine weather. The track today is mostly loose gravel and sand – nothing too steep. Despite a long lunch stop and lots of photos, and a side trip to the Ohinepango springs – I make it to the hut by 1315. And whoa – this place is FANCY! Solar panels, big spacious areas, gas stoves, picnic tables… I meet Kayla the hut warden from back at the Whakapapaiti Hut again aswell which is nice. Turns out I left my iPhone charger back in the other hut and she figured out I’d be here tonight and brought it back!!! So now I have power in my phone again from my portable solar panel and only no mobile reception!

There’s a weather report inside the hut and I think I might be getting wet tomorrow. The hut is so fancy that it feels really out of place to be in the middle of nowhere. I kind of want to leave. I think about keeping on walking back to the car but the sign says 5hours and my knees and Achilles are saying enough walking for one day!! And it costs $32 to stay here at this time of year and I’ve already paid so I decide to stay. Instead I go and have my routine shower in the river and visit the nearby historic hut then settle down for my afternoon nap. I’m normally not really into mistorical thing but this place is cool - it used to be used by Ruapehu Ski Club back in the days before RAL… there’s a photo of women skiing in their skirts from back in 1905! So cool to see women skiing even back then (even if they are wearing skirts!)

Day 5 - Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa Information Centre

Track &Terrain: Highway! Steady uphill, then lots of downhill
Estimated track walking time from DOC: 5hours 30 minutes
My time: 3hours 30 minutes
Weather: Rainy, drizzly, cold!!

Journal: Early rise, clean socks, clean shirt - Early getaway – the sun is hiding today somewhere behind the clouds. I can’t see my friends Ngaruhoe or Ruapehu today. They are playing hide and seek under the clouds.

I try to take some photos but I’m out of battery on my camera. Outside is cold and wet and rainy. I eat, pack and go. Walking a little faster today. It takes 2 hours to get to the Tama Lakes turn off. The lower one is only 10 minutes from the track. I think about going for it but I’m cold and wet and it’s raining. I regret walking in my cotton trousers rather than my “waterproof” ones which aren’t actually waterproof but at least quite a bit warmer when I do get wet! I keep walking. With no views or functioning camera there’s nothing to take photos of, nothing really worth stopping to take photos of so I put my head down and walk. Lots of people about on a Saturday on day trips starting from the village. I make pass Taranaki Falls which are pretty cool – and with the rain probably even cooler than on a sunny day!

I walk back to the car and I’m freezing cold, and thankful to have all my stuff in my car (which includes dry warm clothes!!) I think all this sunny weather I’d been having is making me get soft!!!