I
went on an overnight walk to Waiopehu Hut with the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering
Club (WTMC). The hut is situated in the northern Tararua's right on the bushline at 900m.
The Tararua range and was taken on the way to the (Poads Road) roadend.
On the way up we went via the Waiopehu Hut – Ohau track and
on the way back via the Gable End Ridge track.
This shows the middle part of the walk.We came up via Bush Corner and Back along the yellow track from Richards Knob.
The weather in the few days before the walk had been
absolutely foul with ice cold southerlies and snow down to low levels.
Come the day of the walk however, the weather had miraculously turned with wall
to wall sunshine and not a breath of wind. It was still cold though.
The walk up to the hut was quite long, but not
particularly steep, and as we ascended the odd patch of snow appeared and
gradually increased in depth to 30cm or so at the hut. This is a nice depth to
be walking in as it is enough to make it fun. Any more than this and the going
tends to become hard and tiring.
The start of the walk.
Just about to enter the bush.
As we ascended we started to see a few patches of snow.
Further up and more snow.
Up at the treeline.
Above the trees, close to the hut looking over to the main range.
The hut had some rather stunning views over to
the main Tararua range on one side and the Kapiti coast on the other. Mount
Taranaki and Mt Ruapehu, both several hundred km away, were clearly visible and
resplendently capped in snow.
Waiopehu Hut.
Sunset.
The hut itself was nice enough, if a bit chilly. There were
nine of us in the party and by the time we had finished cooking and with a bit
of collective body heat the place warmed up nicely. Mind you our gas stoves were
on a fair bit, as the hut’s water tank was frozen so we had to melt a lot of
snow for cooking. Snow typically, by volume, is about 90% air to give you an
idea of how much you need, even for even a cup of tea.
Unsurprisingly, the next day started off freezing cold. One
of my least favourite tasks is getting out off a nice warm sleeping bag and
putting on cold, damp boots, but there was walking to be done.
Starting out the next day.
From the hut the track climbs steeply up to the memorial on
Twin Peak (1097m) which marks the highest point on the track. From here the
track follows the Gable End Ridge taking in the splendidly named Richards
Knob. As is so often the case with ridge walking, this part of the walk involved
lots of ascending and descending and was a lot tougher than the first days
walk. The snow, and then lower down the mud (lots of mud!) made things a little
tricky at times, but around 7 hours after we left the hut, we arrived back at
the roadend.
Walking along Gable End Ridge.
Richards Knob.
You can see the track zig-zagging its way along the ridge.
Apologies, but I didn’t take any pictures beyond this
point. I had a splitting headache, most likely due to dehydration, and had lost
any interest in taking pictures. From this point on you will have to use your
imagination. If you imagine another 5 hours of slogging through the snow and
mud, you will be on the right track.
