25-26 May 2024

Leader: Kate Livingston

This trip involved a circuit beginning and ending at different road ends, with an overnight at Cow Creek Hut.

We left early on Saturday morning: Elisabeth, David and Kate driving from Kapiti and Rex arriving from Lower Hutt. We met up at 9.30am at the Ruamahanga Gorge road end, off SH2 (this turn-off is not signposted, but a short distance down that road there is a DOC sign indicating the car park and start of the track across farmland). Leaving one vehicle there we headed in the second car to the Kiriwhakapapa road end and were on the track by 10.00am. The weather was cool but fine at this stage. The first section of the track is lovely and has massive redwood trees. After that it is a steady climb upward, past the Blue Range Hut turnoff and sidle to the summit and the start of the steep descent to Cow Creek Hut. This was a good spot for a lunch break.

At that point Kate put the proposal to the group that as she was a bit of a slow-coach, it would be better for her to back-track, spend the night at Blue Range Hut, and meet the others at the road end next morning. Elisabeth decided she would also do this. So after lunch the two groups said their goodbyes and set off in opposite directions.

Blue Range (Kate’s report): For Kate and Elisabeth it was a straightforward walk to Blue Range Hut. At the hut we were soon joined by a couple of young women and then a Dad with his two young sons and dog. Around 8.00pm another couple arrived – but on seeing how crowded the hut already was they decided to go back down. Next morning, after a leisurely start we also made our way down, hunting for a couple of geocaches as we went. Back at the car, as it was still only midday, we decided to have coffee and lunch at the Kaka Café, Mt Bruce, before driving to the Ruamahanga Gorge Road end to wait for David and Rex.

Cow Creek (David’s report): After lunch at the summit, Rex and David made the descent to Cow Creek Hut, walking the last hour in drizzle, arriving around 3.30pm. Shortly after 5.00pm a group of three joined us, and we had a good night in the hut despite not being able keep the fire going (due to wet wood). The next day, we set off at 8.30am, once again in drizzle, crossing the Waingawa River and tramping up to Cow Saddle. Once we gained the spur it was well marked and easy travel. At the top of the saddle we descended and followed the Ruamahanga River back to the road end. It was easy travel, with the odd stream crossing. There was the odd bit of tree fall, and we lost the track a couple of times, but as we only had to follow the river we just kept walking, and soon picked it up again. We eventually hit some old forestry/farm track and not long after, arrived at the private lodge and farmland, for a late lunch. An hour later, 4.15pm, saw us at the road end where Kate and Elisabeth were waiting for us.

Those on the trip were:

David Williams, Elisabeth Hynes, Kate Livingston, Rex Benbrook

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.