26-28 January 2024

Leader: Tony Quayle

Right from the start our plan to circuit the tops from Rogue Ridge, over Kaweka Junction to Back Ridge and Kiwi Mouth then travel the river to Kuripapango was looking dubious, with significant rainfall forecast from Sunday afternoon. What we hadn’t expected was being battered by strong westerlies above Studholme Saddle on Saturday.

Friday was the stunner we were expecting, with no wind and hot humid conditions making it a sweaty grind up the Rogue Ridge from the Tutaekuri River.

For Kylie, conquering The Tits was an ambition fulfilled, and several other ladies joined her in a special salute to those twin peaks from the summit of Kaiarahi. After that bit of hilarity we dropped down to camp at the former Studholme Saddle Biv site, a pleasant spot with plenty of tent sites.

A dewy full moon Friday night morphed into a breezy Saturday morning, drying out the tents nicely. Katrina and Kylie, who were only out for one night, farewelled us here, heading out via Macintosh Spur back to civilisation. Chris, Glenda, Kate, John, Solly, Sue and I continued on, with hopes of making it all the way around Back Ridge to Kiwi Mouth. It was a short easy walk up the creek to Studholme Saddle Hut, then a strenuous climb to Mad Dog Hill, where the wind was more than a little brisk. With several hours of tops travel ahead of us we reviewed the forecast and our options, then decided bail to Mackintosh Hut for the night. For the record, Mackintosh Spur is a delightful route on an excellent track.

With no one else at the hut, a relaxing afternoon and evening ensued, with raging wind gusts vindicating our decision to get off the tops. Kate and Sue put the time to good use, locating the resident geocache, but Solly was the only one to venture far from the hut, heading along the track towards Lawrence to see if he could spot a deer his dog had spooked a few weeks earlier. His description of that track being rather overgrown put us off the idea of filling in Sunday with a walk in that direction.

Sunday dawned calm and overcast so we got away early to beat the rain. The re-routed track down to the Tutaekuri Bridge was pleasant at the top, but steepened towards the river. Fortunately there was plenty of vegetation to hold onto. Back on the forestry roads we split into two groups, with Kate, Sue and I bagging another geocache, before meeting up with the others back at the Lakes Carpark. A quick lunch, then we headed down to inspect the very picturesque lakes, where Kate and Sue - completely clueless in this case (i.e., without the requisite clues of its whereabouts ) - nonetheless managed to find their 3rd geocache of the weekend.

The forecast rain set in for the journey home, accompanying us all the way to Foxton, leaving us all very satisfied with our flexible decision making.

Those on the trip were:

Brian Solomon, Chris Keating, Glenda Robb, John Glover, Kate Livingston, Kylie Gilbert, Sue Pate, Tony Quayle, Katrina Overton