The Tramping Report

Getting to Ranger Biv

The route to Ranger Biv (Dampier L33 198 163) has been a bit challenging in recent years. It's been quite a battle to get there through the extensive patches of wind-throw and regen beech. It wasn't always that way of course. Before the big wind-throw event it used to take not much more than an hour to get up from Fenwick Stream.

When Honora & I had been up there we were always pressed for time, and never explored for a better way through.

We wanted to spend a couple of days clarifying the route up the spur from the Fenwick Stream gorge.

It was near 3.00 pm when we started up the Andrews. Our packs were heavy. Extra cold weather gear, the equipment we needed, and 4 day's food made for big loads.

At Halleluja Flat it was snowing lightly. By the time we crossed Casey Saddle it was dark. We got torches out at the end of the boardwalk.

We've tramped to Casey in the dark so many times now that it seems just the normal way to do it. We've gone there in the dark and rain too, but this was the first time in the dark while it was snowing.

Just as we emerged onto the flats near the hut there were a series of rifle shots.

When we got into the hut the explanation was that the guys had seen a cat and had decided to shoot it.

The guys were Ross, Keith & Paul from Fish & Game. They were up there for a few days doing a salmon survey in the Poulter.

Winna and Penny were there too, on a tramp.

It was great to arrive at a warm and friendly hut.

In the morning we walked up the Poulter and crossed to Fenwick Stream. There were half a dozen cattle grazing in the riverbed. I remembered seeing angry comments about them in the hut book. I've got to admit I'm more concerned about stoats.

The guys were already ahead of us in Fenwick Stream. They were cutting up a wild pig they'd shot the day before.

Up in the bush we spent the day linking up deer trails up the spur.

Where they existed, the deer trails were very well defined. But every so often they would fade when they came to a dense patch of regen through wind-throw or tangled coprosmas in soggy areas.

We called it a day when the sun went down behind the western mountains.

Just as we were about to cross the Poulter in the dark my maglight bulb died. I'm sure glad I always pack a spare light, plus spare bulbs for both lamps.

The next day there was a particularly hard frost when we set out.

The day went pretty much to the same routine.

Higher up, the spur runs into an easy angled face. The whole slope is covered entirely with an extensive stand of thin pole forest. The poles are solid enough and grow so densely it's difficult to walk through with a pack.

We followed a new deer trail sidling off high on the Fenwick Stream side. It went quite a long way off the spur, but eventually it turned up a rib. Higher up the rib flattened out and the deer trail faded again.

We spent quite a lot of time scouting all around the hillside but couldn't pick up a new one. The beech poles weren't as bad as earlier and I think we were maybe only 100m horizontal short of the ridge were the biv is. However time was against us exploring further.

As sun dropped behind the hills, back down we went to Casey in the dark again.

The guys cooked a magificent chicken dinner for us, and followed it up with a very rich chocolate pudding.

Tuesday morning came too soon and we had to head out. We had lunch in the weak sunhine at the Andrews Biv, while the Fish & Game guy's helicopter shuttled their gear out overhead. The walk out down the Andrews was even nicer than usual and added to our sense of satisfaction of some good work done.

Harringtons track tidy up

In the darkness we arrived at the main highway at Mt White turnoff. The tail lights of the cars on the CTC trip turned for home. We turned toward Arthurs Pass. How satisfying it felt.

We decided to call into the Bealey for tea. Paddy and Rochelle came over. It was good to have a chance to say hi. Rochelle is not long back from a very hard trip to Cho Oyu in the Chinese Himalaya. She'd climbed higher than anyone in her party to 7500 m through heinous winds and cold.

After a meal we carried on to the Pass, to stay at the CMC's Kennedy Lodge. This is my preferred place to stay in the village, both for its ambiance and for the people you bump into there. This time it was young Luke, up for a climb and some quiet study time. He's at Canty U, studying and concerned about the oil depletion crisis of the coming generation. Peter Cleary arrived later for a climb on Rolle.

In the morning we drove over the Pass to Harringtons Creek (Otira K33 764 260).

We wanted to finish our new track bypassing the Fitzgerald farm. We had some work left over from May when Honora got a bad bang in the face from her loppers.

Quite a few big tree ferns parasitised by rata had come down in a storm. The tangle of rata vines makes them harder to clear with simple hand tools. That's how Honora got her bang in the mouth. But we cleared them all without problems this time.

That done we spent the rest of the day bringing the near kilometre of track up to a standard we're happy to put our names on. I hope people enjoy walking it more than going across the farm.

And I hope it encourages anyone else thinking of adopting a track. There's plenty to do out there and the best places are still unclaimed.

It was 5.00pm when we packed up and headed for home. On the way over we'd noticed that the Jacksons Tavern had reopened under new management so we thought we'd stop in there for tea.

A log fire was blazing and a cat was stretched out on the mat. We were a bit early for the kitchen to open. While we waited we took in the decor which extensively features the history of the area.

The menu is one to fit with the rustic style of the place and the ample servings leave you knowing that you've eaten. I'm sure it will be popular with the increasing numbers travelling the road to the Coast now.

I didn't get the sadness on this drive home. I'd had a satisfying weekend.

Mt White

The CTC swarms up Mt White

We went along to join up with a CTC party on a day trip to Mt White (Puketeraki L34 256 978). The trip was graded Moderate, but most of the eighteen that turned up looked more toward the Hard end of the spectrum. However there were a couple of newcomers too.

The whole team were: Steve Bruerton, John Henzell, Joy Bryant, Adrian Sullivan, Lynnette Hartley, Jeff Hall, Alan Ross, Jenny Harlow, Ian Dunn, Bernard Parawa, Todd Ellis, Clive Marsh, Peter Langland, Paul Beaman, David Ellison-Smith, Andrew Tromans, Honora and me.

Honora and I had packed for the whole weekend, rather than just for the day trip. Driving 160 km each way for only a day seems such a waste. We were going to carry on and do our own mission when the others headed home to their couches.

At Mt White station we got a friendly welcome. This was especially appreciated as there was supposed to be some sort of Federated Farmers' political protest involving locked gates this weekend. Federated Farmers had told property owners to lock their gates to 'townies' and hang an orange ribbon on them. Apparently this was to put pressure on the government to pay them to let the public continue crossing their farms to get to rivers etc the way they have for generations. However it can't have been much of a success as none of us saw any orange ribbons on the long drive to Mt White.

So off we went up the hill. Quite a serious pace was set right from the bottom too. The field was soon well spread with about 300 m from front-runner to tail-ender. Tramping with the CTC is definitely more for sport than recreation. I wondered if anyone had a chance to notice the changes in the varieties of vegetation they were rushing through.

The first pause was 900 m higher at a flattening on the ridge at 1529 m. This was designated the lunch stop though it wasn't quite into the afternoon yet.

However it became a very brief lunch. After 15 minutes some complained they were getting cold and wanted to go on. I hadn't noticed anyone other than Honora and me layer up when we stopped. We prefer to make our lunch stops, and all our time in the hills, enjoyable. I think we were the only ones with hot water with us too.

But anyway, everyone rushed on again after only 20 minutes. So we gulped down half our lunch and followed.

From here to the top it started to seem a bit more like a mountain than sheep country. The slope was mostly snow covered too. I was still wearing my sandals but the snow was soft enough for me to leave my boots in my pack.

On the summit the view really opened up. Joy Bryant's smile was pretty wide too. Some might have just gone along for the workout, but Joy really looked like she was enjoying being there.

Honora and I had a great time too noting all the summits we'd been on right round 360 degrees. Even Turnbull way to the north stood out clearly. I realised I'd actually walked the entire visible sky-line for 270 degrees around us.

Honora gave a few people some snow skills refresher coaching on the snow slope just off the summit.

Adrian Sullivan is an old hand in the snow and could be coaching people in the 'self-arrest' technique himself, but he didn't miss the chance to sharpen his own reflexes.

Having got up to the summit so quickly it seems a few were keen to extend the journey into a round trip. They moved off heading further along the summit ridge. It was a while before all the laggards noticed so they had to go hard to catch up.

Along the ridge Honora and I had a good chance to look down into Boundary Stream. We'd tramped through there a couple of times in the early nineties.

The ridge ran nor'nor'east for two km to point 1604. From there a spur dropped off to the east. We followed this down, 900m over two km to Mt White station's Esk Valley road.

It was a take-no-prisoners descent. Everyone arrived at the road the same - red-faced and overheated.

The only thing left was the seven km march out along the muddy 4x4 road. After rounding the end of White Spur the end was in sight, with the light of day fading by the minute above the darkening silhouette of Mt Binser.

Crepuscular gloom turned to darkness as we packed into the cars and headed off. At the Mt White turn-off, all the cars except us turned left heading back to the city. Honora and I turned right toward Arthurs Pass. It usually seems sad heading home after a trip. But this time we could leave that for another day and head straight off on another one.

Lake Man

This was Queens Birthday weekend and the CTC were going to Lake Man (Lake Sumner L32 453 511). The weather was looking a bit iffy most places. So at the last minute we decided we'd just tag along as independents on this trip.

We turned up at the CTC meeting place at the Carlton Service Station. My plan was to give someone the chance to travel a bit cheaper than at the club's steep travel rates. However Bernard wouldn't have me deciding who got that chance and promptly appointed someone to travel with me. So to avoid an embarrassing situation for my assigned passenger I left it at that. So much for tagging along as an independent.

We drove up the Lewis Pass highway and parked at the Windy Point shelter in the Hope valley.

The first part of the Hope valley is a fairly long walk in the bush. Eventually we were rewarded with a view from a high terrace edge. This was our lunch spot.

However the view from here isn't a particularly inspiring one as all there is to look at is the long burnt off hillsides of the Poplars station.

A short time further on we stopped again for a snack at the Hope Halfway Hut. This is an attractive spot. It's only marred by having no safe drinking water available. The stream and river nearby are frequently seen with cattle defecating in them.

Next stop was the Saint Jacobs Hut. There had earlier been talk about going on up to Top Hope Hut and a visit to the hot pools, but that talk faded here as it was close to dusk.

The fire was lit to warm the hut but everyone was in bed quite early.

In the morning there was a half-hearted frost around the hut. We walked up the river and crossed into Pussy Stream. People need to check their map if they come this way as the route isn't marked nor obvious.

We travelled up the Pussy and then a side creek to the junction with the spur leading toward Kedron saddle. The foot of the spur has been washed away by floods and the track now starts 50 m up the true left branch. Someone has placed one of DoC's large orange triangles marking the start of the track, but it's only visible when you're right on top of it.

We climbed back up into sunshine on the spur. Above the bushline the snow was up to knee deep. High on the spur we sidled, following a line of marker posts, to the saddle.

A perfect lunch spot was found next to a semi-frozen tarn. I know it was only semi frozen because three people tested it and found the ice wanting. Being the first I think I have an excuse, but I'm not sure of the other two who went in after...

We had warm sunshine and there was no wind though clouds were billowing from the west. I thought this looked like the beginning of a nor'wester.

There hadn't been any previous talk about what we were going to do on the tops or where we were to spend the night, so there was much discussion over lunch. Some people suggested sidling around steep slopes to go up to Lake Man or going down to set up camp by the biv and then walking up to the lake. However Simon suggested just going up the ridge right behind us to knob 1532m for a view of the lake. This was the plan that inspired action.

When we got to 1532 the lake was obscured by cloud, but after a patient wait of 15 minutes we got our view of the lake and it's surrounding snowy basin.

Mission accomplished we walked back down to the saddle. Bernard then decided we would continue down to the Doubtful River and travel up to the Doubtless Hut for the night. So down we went through the snow covered scub and into the bush.

We paused briefly to look at the Lake Man Biv. This is now looks a very sad place to me without it's fireplace. I passed through here in bad weather in 1993. It was a very cosy and warm refuge then.

By the time we got down to the Doubtful River it was just coming on dark. Plans were changed again to camp on the flats at the bush edge. After we started to unpack Bernard announced he'd decided we should camp 100 m up the Kedron Stream.

The flat Bernard had selected seemed fairly firm and stony. Honora found a spot just inside the bush nearby where the moss was soft and deep. We pitched our fly there.

After tea Emma was keen on a campfire to toast her marshmellows. There was no good site for a fire on the flat where we were camped so Honora and I got the team to give us a hand getting a fire going at the bush edge in the main valley. The fire was a success and all Emma's marshmellows got toasted.

By morning my mossy mattress had flattened a bit so it wasn't as comfortable as when I'd gone to bed. But I'm sure it was still softer than where the other tents were pitched.

The walk out down the Doubtful was easy on a good track. As we passed the Doubtful Hut it came on to snow for a bit as a front passed through. We finished the trip crossing the Boyle River to the road and walking to the Engineers Camp.

People on this one were: Joy Schroeder, Martin Brown, Bernard Parawa, Alan Ross, Janette Philp, Simon Garton, Emma Richardson, Honora & me.

June DoC/User-group meeting

I went to the quarterly meeting the Conservation Dept hosts for 'recreation user groups' at its Canterbury Conservancy offices in Christchurch.

First up Ronan Grew (Waimakariri) announced there had been an administrative change to the meetings. Previously they'd been organised at Conservancy level, but now they'd been devolved to Area level. So we just had the Area Asset Managers talking to us rather than having a Conservancy bigwig in the chair. That was fine by me as I generally find it's more useful talking to people who are involved in things at a more practical level.

Andrew Turton (CTC) however expressed his concern no-one important would get to hear anything he might have to say. I don't share his concern. Memory came to me of someone asking, at the previous meeting, what DoC were going to do about the Woolshed Creek sauna. DoC's reponse was they didn't know about any sauna. But of course once it was mentioned they couldn't pretend they didn't know. And now it's gone.

Anyway the meeting followed the usual format with reports of work carried out by each Area. Only Ronan and Dave Milward (Nth Canty) were there to talk their reports, but there were written reports for Aoraki/Mt Cook and Raukapuka.

Ronan said Waimakariri were behind in their planned work because of staff shortages. One big thing they did get done was the refurbishment of Waimak Falls hut so it could be handed back to the CMC. Another good one was the spraying and clearing of gorse from the track to Pinchgut hut.

Dave's report had quite a bit in it and was also brightened up with a few colour photos of projects in his area. One of the big ones in Nth Canty is the new bridge-building on the Little River Rail Trail. Other goodies are new stoves in MacKenzie and Steyning huts. Packhorse has firewood and it'll have a new toilet shortly. Work is also underway for 120m of new boardwalk on the St James. There's also been work on day tracks on the Peninsula.

At Aoraki/Mt Cook the biggie was the new Plateau hut opening. Other than that it's mostly ongoing development of Mt Cook as a tourist entertainment park.

Raukapuka's biggie, the new hut at Woolshed Creek, hasn't started yet, again. And the chimney in the old hut has blown down. With that and no sauna now it's making things look pretty bleak at Mt Somers.

After the round of reports there was a PowerPoint show and talk from Eric De Boer of the West Coast. Eric's full of energy and he knows how to give good value in his presentations.

West Coast and Nth Canty are working together to develop tramping facilities in the Hope, Doubtful, Tutaekuri and Waiheke catchments (Topos L32 and M32). They're developing medium to long term proposals for new huts and recutting the tracks over Hope and Amuri passes.

Key elements outlined by Eric are:

• tracks in Tutaekuri and Waiheke to 'marked route' status.
• Doubtful hut - replace with new design of shelter.
• Doubtless hut - historic - maintain as is.
• Lake Man biv - replace within 10yrs - maybe elsewhere.
• Slaty Creek hut - historic - maintain as is - new standard 6 bunk hut also.
• Tutaekuri hut - new standard 6 bunk hut - further up valley.
• Top Hope hut - maintain - eventually relocate further up valley.
• St Jacobs hut - ?
• Hope Halfway shelter - maintain as is - didn't want to add water tank.

Lesley Shand objected to the suggestion of relocating Top Hope hut closer to the head of the valley. However I thought it was a great idea, as it would make it easier to access the tops north and south of the pass, and place it better for reaching the next hut down the Tutaekuri.

But anyway they're asking for submissions/comments on all or any of this to be sent to Dave Milward at Nth Canty by the end of August.

Eric also mentioned they'd built a new 10 bunk hut at Grassy Flat in the Styx.

The meeting wound up about 10.00pm with tea and bickies. I appreciate the willingness of DoC staff and the department to support these very worthwhile updates and conversations with the outdoor rec community.