10-11 April 2021

Leader: Kate Livingston

The key feature of this weekend turned out to be adaptability.

The plan was to go to McGregor Bivouac in the Tararua Range, completing a circuit via Baldy, Broken Axe Pinnacles and then out past Jumbo – or the other way around depending on the weather.

However, the weather forecast was for gales and rain so the entire plan was ditched on Friday.

Plan B became a tramp to Cattle Ridge Hut via Roaring Stag Hut.

Owen, Paula and I left Kapiti Coast at 8.30 am on Saturday morning and got to the Putara Rd end by 11.00 am.

By 3.00 pm we were at Roaring Stag Hut. It rained most of the way.

We sat in the hut for a bit of a rest and looked glumly through steady rain up at Cattle Ridge. In the end it didn’t take long to get consensus on Plan C – staying put in the large, dry and empty Roaring Stag Hut.

With the decision made we settled in, gathered wood for a fire that evening and got on with the reading and cups of tea. Around 5.00 pm another five trampers turned up – a surprisingly silent bunch, so reading and cups of tea could continue. The rain also continued.

We heard some roaring stags in the distance but didn’t meet any hunters.

On Sunday morning the rain had mainly stopped.

I was keen to find ‘hidden lake’ on our way out to the road end, having previously had no luck.

With Owen leading the way, we left the main track shortly after leaving the hut, passed Ruamahanga Forks and followed Ruapae Stream to a largish river terrace.

We left the packs at the stream, headed across the flat area and came to this delightful, small, and now not-so-hidden lake.

Returning to where we had dropped our packs we went directly up the ridge from there to pick up the main track. We were back at the car by 1.30pm.

After adapting various plans it ended a fairly relaxed and pleasant weekend tramp. I was particularly happy with finding ‘hidden lake’ so Plan C wasn’t a bad consolation prize after all.

Those on the trip were:

Kate Livingston, Paula Richardson, Owen Cox

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.