28 – 30 June
Departure time was 30 minutes late due to driver becoming muddled over departure time. In off SH50 onto Salisbury Road, Kereru Road, Big Hill Road, Mangleton Road. There had been very heavy rainfall in days leading up to our tramp and parking on farm track for Masters shelter resulted in the club van getting stuck on wet ground. . No other vehicles were present so we left van in stuck position and continued with tramp, wondering how we’d get the van out later.
Just before Masters Shelter, unseen cattle were spooked by the noise of us and appeared moving at speed towards us, but fortunately turning and crashing through a fence. Next was the gate with a sparking metal chain latch due to nearby electric fence. The gate was earthed so no shock was felt when unlatching. A brief stop at Masters Shelter to view the information board showing tracks. There was also a sign indicating Aranga Hut was unusable. Up we climbed over wet, slippery & steep ground. The tramp had commenced in mist and low cloud, but about 3 hours later, at 1100m, we just started to breakout of the cloud and stopped for lunch.
On the top of the Golden Crown Ridge and moving south westerly / south on the lower, most easterly Ruahine range (Parks Peak Ridge) we stopped at the track junction leading to Aranga Hut to review our plans. The thought had been to traverse the main Ruahine range in a south westerly direction down to Upper Makaroro Hut, Parks Peak Hut and out via Masters Shelter. By now it was approaching 2pm, the weather forecast was marginal, temperature was expected to be just below zero due to wind chill and cloud was starting to cover the main range. None of us had been along the main range before. The decision was made to only go as far as Aranga Hut (1340m) and see if it was possible to stay in it for the night. Folk on the tramp had brought tents just in case.
A little over an hour later, having traversed very boggy ground, we arrived at the Aranga Hut. No one else was there. The water tank worked. Long drop frame was on it’s side and had not been put into use. The hut fire place no longer existed, two cut down bunks still existed with no mattresses, there were small holes around the door and some walls. No insulation on the hut frame. Could six people stay the night inside the hut ? The outside area was very wet, boggy, sloping and not conducive to tenting. Within an hour of arriving, two male Korean trampers arrived and decided to move on (where they went, we found out the next day).
Talk about a tight squeeze, two on the bunks and four on the floor, plus packs, with one person’s head next to the draughty door. With what little heat our party generated, the underside of the roof started to drip with condensation. Fortunately for those on the floor a large sheet of building paper was found in the hut and was used as a water proof cover. After tea what else was there to do other than stay warm in sleeping bags and talk about the days events and previous trips. In sleeping bags by 6pm and awaking around 6am. The longest sleep any of us had had for awhile !
On Saturday morning there was a hard frost and clear skies. However, the wind picked up and cloud and light rain appeared from the south west. Today’s tramp was back out to the east and south, down the lower most easterly Ruahine range, to Parks Peak Hut. Most of the way the bush sheltered us from the worst of the south westerly weather, but there were plenty of boggy sections to contend with. Arriving at Parks Peak hut, we found it to have two occupants, the Korean trampers. We found out they had come in via Sentry Box track to Aranga and backtracked to Parks Peak Hut, arriving around 8pm. So Parks Peak Hut had 8 people that night, 1 on the floor, 7 on six bunks. It was good to be in a well insulated hut. A fire was got going but only for an hour due to a lack of dry wood. In talking with the Korean trampers, they told us they were part of a Korean tramping club based in Auckland.
During Saturday attempts were made by mobile phone to find folk who might be able to assist getting the club van unstuck. On Sunday our tramping party decided to backtrack north along Parks Peak Ridge and down the Sentry Box track to Mangleton Road. We were anticipating bad weather later in the day and thought it best to get down to a lower elevation even if it meant walking along Mangleton Road to Masters Shelter carpark. The morning was clear with a slight frost and a great sunrise. There were views to the north through the bush of the wind turbines on the Maungaharuru Range. A brief stop was made just south of the Sentry Box track turnoff at a lookout point to the west with a red folding chair.
Further attempts were again made by mobile phone to get assistance getting the club van unstuck. One offer of help was found. The tops of the Ruahine’s again clouded over and once down to Mangleton Road via Sentry Box Hut it was a long 7 km walk back to the club van. Two of our party managed to get a ride some of the way to the Masters Shelter carpark along Mangleton Road. Another attempt was made at moving the club van off wet ground which proved successful as the ground had dried out during the intervening days. Our offer of help was notified of our success and thanked for their willingness to help. Driving back down Mangleton Road towards Sentry Box track, the remainder of the tramping party were picked up, having nearly walked the whole distance back to the van.
John M, Paul D, Nic W, Jude H, Paula K, Simon W