12-14 November 2021

Leader: Owen Cox

I planned this trip to bag my last Ruahine hut. Two of us headed off on Friday morning to the Sixtus roadend so we’d reach Toka Bivvy before the rain forecast that evening.

We ground up Knights Track, stopping for a snack near the tussock. From here we had a short distance over Toka and along the ridge in wind. Just windy enough to make it hard work. We then dropped down the ridge and across the soggy basin to the Bivvy.

After a coffee we had a bit of an explore and checked from the top of the spur down into the Pohangina valley. The leatherwood didn’t look as nasty as it does from across the valley. So going down that way looked a possibility if the weather was not perfect the next day. The bivvy was nice and dry but the door has swelled so doesn’t shut properly. A bit of string worked as a temporary door catch overnight.

The morning was not bad but the cloud was down so we opted for dropping down the spur. It was good at first and to our joy we found the first bit had been cut. However, part way down we spotted a saw on a small rocky knob and arriving there we found that whoever had cut the route had given up at that point. So we had a few hundred metres of leatherwood. Just above the beech trees the cut track restarted so the bush edge was easy. Once in the bush it ended but the bush was open. Lower down there was some old wind damage which made for slower going before we dropped into the river. With brilliant talent we landed in the river just above one of the swims. This meant we had to regain some height to by-pass the pool. After a short stretch of river we reached Leon Kinvig for lunch. We then headed down the river to Ngamoko. The first bit is easy but we did have one downpour before the gorge section. The track around this has been re-marked. Below the gorge we waded downstream with quite a few wet crossings. About an hour above the Ngamoko it started raining. After a while this turned into another downpour. Shortly after, the river turned milky. Fortunately we got to the hut before anything dramatic happened to the river depth.

Ngamoko hut is in good nick. From Ngamoko we had an early start to avoid the front due on Sunday afternoon. The track to the top was well cut and the route along the top was relatively clear of leatherwood. The trip along the top was in mist and as we neared Shorts Track the wind became more of a trial. It was nice to get to the track down and the weather got very hot and sunny for a spell.

We stopped to check out the limestone cave on the road out. It is well worth the stop. As we left the cave the front was hitting the ridge we had come over, with a wall of dark cloud heading north. Shortly after hitting the sealed road we had torrential rain and water all over the road. Then Kimbolton and coffee before the drive home.

Those on the trip were:

Marcia Goode, Owen Cox

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.