Rangiwahia Hut – Triangle Hut, Ruahine Range

7-8 August 2021

Leader: Owen Cox

We had an interesting weather forecast for the trip. Rain before the weekend and on Friday night. As a result we headed in Saturday morning to avoid walking up to Rangiwahia Hut in the dark with heavy rain.

It was misty and moist heading up the hill to the hut. After some food we then headed up through mist to the Whanahuia Range. At the top we made a call to go down the spur off Mangahuia which runs towards Irongate Hut. Heading over Mangahuia it got winder and colder with a bit of rain.

Trip Report Photo 1 — Bridge on the way to Rangiwahia

The spur down was less fun than we expected. First some hard snow in long tussock, followed by windy open bits and finally some wet scrub. It took a while to get to the cut bit through the leatherwood belt. We stopped for a snack once we hit the beech forest. From here it is easy through open beech forest to the track from Irongate Hut. This track is steep, and with the rain was pretty slippery on the drop down to the river. The river was big enough to require some care but not difficult. Our front runner got to Triangle Hut around 5.30 pm and the last three about 6 pm with a couple of crossings by torchlight.

On Sunday we were up early as the forecast was for fine weather until mid-afternoon followed by heavy rain. At the top of the plod up to the bush edge we were greeted by the cloud disappearing and a blue sky. The night had been cold, so the tussock and ridges further north were white with the ice. The tops over the range were beautiful though the air had a bit of a nip to it. We decided to head down to Rangiwahia for lunch then walk out early. Storm clouds to the south said we weren’t going to have all afternoon in the fine. At Rangiwahia we found the other trip had also scarpered to avoid the rain. We enjoyed fine weather from Rangiwahia Hut down to the cars. Light rain started just as we packed the cars and by the time we hit the tar seal the rain had turned into a deluge, just as forecast.