20-22 March 2026

Leader: Tony Quayle

This trip was a chance to partake of the new, relatively easy, Leon Kinvig Hut access track I’d helped cut back in October. An added bonus was staying Friday night at Jim Warren’s Edelweiss Hut and having his company on the climb to Toka on Saturday morning.

Jim, a former deer culler of considerable renown, commenced his Ruahine hunting career in 1966 - coincidentally the same year I began tramping there. Although he’d never even seen a deer before coming to the Ruahine, Jim quickly became one of the most successful cullers of his era: in 1969 field officer Henry Dorrian (Jim’s boss) recorded that of the seven hundred and ninety-two deer killed in the northwest Ruahine during the October to May culling season, five hundred and eighty-three were shot by Jim. With his hunting days long since behind him, Jim and his wife Sandy, now run a small farm and horse trekking business right at the foot of the range.

Jim was fine company as we made our way to the tops, with anecdotes about his Ruahine experiences and pointing out interesting specimens - including tiny carnivorous sundew plants - along the way. We parted company after lunch beside a tarn a few metres below Toka, Jim heading back down Knights Track and the rest of us turning south in beautiful sunny weather to where the new Leon Kinvig track commences. Although the signposted time from Toka to the hut via this route was three and a half hours, even the slowest of us (me, for instance) completed it in under three hours.

Fortuitously, the hut was empty, clean and tidy. Although we didn’t need it, most of the huge stack of firewood I’d help cut after we’d finished building the track last year, was still there, seasoning nicely for winter.

Mark and Gordon, hardy types that they are, opted to sleep on the porch, while the remainder of us spaced ourselves out in the hut - three on each sleeping platform and me on the floor. A comfortable night for those of us inside, but Gordon and Mark endured dripping condensation from the Nova Light porch roof.

Bagging the 1,519 metre summit of Toka on Saturday was our first contribution to the Parawai peaks and rivers challenge, and we nailed the Pohangina River later that day. That left Whaingapuna (1,405 metres) for Sunday - a challenge energetically fulfilled by chief guides June and Peter, supported by Julie and Petr (those whose names don't start with J or P were excused) while Gordon, Kate, Mark, Sue and I relaxed for a bit and ascended a couple of lesser bumps. Whether those unnamed bumps qualify for the challenge will be up to the chief guide's officiation, as will the question of whether Coal Creek - where we cooled our feet after descending the rather overgrown Shorts Track - qualifies as a river.

A fun trip with a great team in stunning weather.

Those on the trip were:

Gordon Balfour, Julie James, Kate Livingston, Mark Robertson, Peter Davis, Petr Kure, Sue Pate, Tony Quayle, Yingjun Shelton, Jim Warren

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.