Day 60: Finally Into the Tararua Range
December 9, 2019
Kilometers: 1536.3-1549.8 (~16 actually walked)
Levin Holiday Park to Te Matawai Hut
Our alarms went off at 7am and we were all quick to pack up. Ethan and I had... yup you guessed it, breakfast bars. We also had a bag of popcorn that we had bought yesterday and watched some NFL redzone as the others made and ate more substantial meals.
We had about 9 kms from town back to the trail. All of us wanted to hitch so we decided to split up to increase our chances. Matthew left first, after a bit Ethan and I left together, and Charlie and Peter left together a bit after us.
Ethan and I walked about 3 kms down the highway and turned off onto Tararua Road. As soon as we turned off onto the side road I tossed up my thumb and the first car pulled over for us. We tossed our packs in and introduced ourselves to the three older Kiwis in the car. They were headed to the same trailhead as us for a day hike.
They drove us the 6kms to the trailhead and we hopped out and thanked them. It was only the third time I’ve been in a car since starting the trail, which is crazy to think about. I still have yet to hitch any part of the trail itself, neither has Matthew.
Today’s hike was short in distance but bound to be tough with massive ascents and descents through the Tararua Mountains. The trail started on a gravel road which quickly turned into farmland for about a kilometer.
The trail then went into the bush. It started climbing but not very quickly. It was dense forest and the rain from the last two days created a bunch of mud. Matthew, who had also had good hitch luck, Ethan and I all walked together. We crossed a suspension bridge and a few streams, making our way to the ridge junction. Ethan also got a pic of me climbing over a downed tree like a buffoon.
We took a quick break at the ridge junction. I ate a snickers bar and was off first. The next 5.5kms were straight up, ascending over 800 meters. The climb was definitely one of the toughest we’ve done so far. The mud was thick and there were many slippery spots.
About halfway up I caught two German TA hikers who we hadn’t met yet. They saw they great weather window and skipped ahead from Palmerston North to tackle the mountains. After talking to them for a bit I continued towards the top. About 1.5kms from the top the trail exited the forest and we were on the ridge line, surrounded by shrubs and shorter trees. We had awesome panoramic views in every direction. To the south and west was the rest of the Tararua range, to the east we could see Levin and the Tasman Sea and to the north we could see the smaller hills and ridges we had climbed over just a few days before.
I waited for Ethan to join me at the top. When he arrived we ate lunch. Matthew wasn’t far behind and had a quick snack as well.
From the top where we ate lunch we only had 3kms left to our hut for the night. With plenty of time left in the day we weren’t in much of a rush. Ethan and I took some photos of each other with the mountainous background while making our way down the ridge.
I arrived at the hut just before 3 with the others not far behind. After sitting on the hut porch for about 15 minutes Peter appeared out of the bush. Him and Charlie hadn’t had as great of luck hitching and they ended up starting about an hour after the three of us. Soon after Charlie arrived at the hut as well.
The Belgians weren’t sure if we were ahead of them or behind them the whole day. Charlie thought we might be behind them because he didn’t see my shoe prints anywhere. My shoes leave very unique footprints. Charlie jokes that they allow him to track me, “homo Americanous,” my Latin name.
Ethan and I both took our signature liter showers and claimed our spots in the bunk room. The hut is able to sleep 18 people, has a fire place thing, cleanish water and a large table.
Although we only went 13km on the trail today everyone was exhausted. After attempting to make a fire, Peter joined Ethan and Charlie in a pre-dinner nap.
Late in the afternoon it began to rain. Hopefully the rain disappears by tomorrow morning as we have a big day ahead of us on the ridge and it would be nice to walk without any wind or rain. Our hut has a nice view of the first peak we will be climbing to tomorrow.
Everyone woke up and started cooking around 6. Ethan and I had a very easy meal. We made instant rice with a packet of dehydrated chicken tiki masala and a pita. It was our first dehydrated meal on the trip, something that we utilize a good amount when camping back home. It wasn’t bad, but doesn’t have quite enough calories so needs to be supplemented by something else.
We all retired to the bunk area early in order to get up early tomorrow and climb both of the summits in the range in one day, which many people split up into two days.
-Alex