This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
By Eric Blumhardt This was to be a Fit trip to Waterfall Hut during the weekend of 25 - 27 February and I had four keen punters signed up - Don Goodhue, Chris Collyns, Peggy Christianson, and Daniel Meares. As usual we met at the Railway Station on Friday night for the trip to the Waipawa roadend. When we arrived at the roadend it was a beautiful night, so rather than spend the night in the truck with all those other snoring bodies, we put our pits out under some trees nearby.
The weather was good, not a cloud in the sky, and we were all keen to get away by 7:30. We headed towards Smith Stream Hut for morning tea. The track heads off over some farmland before heading into the hills. It soon became apparent that not many people go this way because the track is a little hard to follow in places. Not to worry, after a while we came to the first decent stream and could see a marker on the other side. We crossed okay, but no track; we found the track again further up the hill again.
The sun was up and it was a lovely morning as we headed for the bush, up the hill past the old sign post. Pretty soon the fun began; the track got harder and harder to follow, and for the next hour or two we crashed around in dense regrowth. Yes, we were on the track, exactly where it was marked on the map. We eventually made our way up onto the first saddle to find a new sign post on the track intersection. This marked the intersection of a track that barely existed, and one that might have existed 13 years ago.
We made our way down to the creek and out to Smith Stream Hut. For those of you who don't like being on tracks that are like highways, and huts that are full of people, we found the perfect place for you. No entries in the hutlog book for 2 years, and the hut, well it was up in the bush becoming overgrown. By the way, the next trip should take a spade, DOC have got a good sign that needs to be put up down by the river. It was lunchtime now and starting to rain a little. After lunch, we headed off up the hill past the hut, heading for the tops. We didn’t get very far very fast, the track hadnt been maintained here either. The ferns were waist deep and almost impossible to walk in. Eventually it got easier and the ferns thinned out a bit. When the ferns ran out, the leatherwood and the rain started. Under, over, and around 15' high leatherwood we went.
We finally made it above the bushline, exhausted (except for Chris, he just kept going up). The rain stopped and it was incredible to see clouds forming in the valleys and lifting up to the tops. We got to the top of the hill about 4:30 pm and decided that we would follow the tops along to Waikamaka Hut instead of going down to Waterfall Hut, aand then along the valleys.
You might have thought we’d had enough fun, not yet. The trip down from the tops involved climbing nearvertical faces, walking across narrow ridges (almost as wide as your boot), with steep scree slopes either side, and more leatherwood and Spaniards; don’t you love leatherwood?
About 6:30 pm we made it to the hut to find the “Not Mediums” had the fire lit, thanks guys.
Youmight be wondering what the “Not Mediums” means. Tod and friends kept telling us that the Medium trip had been cancelled and they were just a group of Club members out for the weekend.
The next day it was a good stroll up to Waipawa Saddle, over Te Atuaoparapara, Armstrong Saddle, Sunrise Hut, and back to the truck. These tops are as spectacular as anywhere in the Ruahines. There are a couple of steep climbs up scree slopes and over sharp rocks on the peaks. The views, well I can’t really say, but they say every cloud has a silver lining, although we didn’t find it.
Not to be out done, our friends the “Not Mediums” decided that if they went down the valley to Waipawa Forks Lodge, dropped their packs and ran up to Sunrise Hut, they could make out they passed us in the mist on the tops. The Easys found them just down the hill from Sunrise Hut just after we got there. I hope you enjoyed your run, guys!
When we got back to the truck it was sunny, however, I was pleased to see the cloud was still hanging around the hills as we drove off. And just remember, NOT everything is marked on a map, and what is may not exist!
AN UIRSIINIE TAILE or...