Sunday 26 January 2025

Leader: June, David and Peter

We met up at 7:30am and travelled in three vehicles to the track behind Shannon. We drove past the Mangaore Village for around 5km and past the Mangahao Power Station.

A very winding metal road took us past the lake where the track starts. We parked a truck at the Upper Mangahao #1 Reservoir and Dam and drove two cars to the Lower Mangahao #2 Dam where we started the loop walk around 9:45am.

We walked over to the far side of the dam (another side of the river) to beautiful bush; it was sunny and hot on this part of the track. We walked along the Mangahao River for a wee bit. The easy river crossing was fun and refreshing in the hot day. We reached the beginning of the Macks Track. The sign at the river said 3 hours from this point to Burn Hut. The track climbed 400m through native bush to the open tops which are pretty much covered by leatherwood.

The faster group went on ahead after arranging to wait for the rest of us at the hut. It started to rain by the time the second group stopped to have lunch in the sheltered spot around 1pm. After lunch we followed the track to the hut and reunited with the faster group.

The Burn Hut was tidy and could fit 8 people. There was a small bench but no tables or seats in the hut.

After we took photos for our Tararua Challenge, the drivers (JP, Rob and Mike) went on ahead, planning to finish the trip first so they could get the two cars and meet us back at the Lower Mangahao #2 Dam.

From the hut, the downhill section was steep and difficult in some places with slips, and a particularly big tree which blocked the track which everyone on the trip found challenging to navigate around. It rained heavily too as was expected. Most of us reached the end of the track soaking wet. We had a chance to get changed and have some snacks while waiting for the last three trampers to arrive (two brand new club members and Peter who took good care of them. (Thanks Peter!)

The last car left the dam around 6pm. It was a great fun trip with everything: hot and cold, rain, river, climbs and descents, bush and open tops… we had it all! Thank you, June, Peter and David, for co-leading this trip.

Those on the trip were:

Clive Kayser, David Williams, Geoff Scrase, John Peterson, Nisa Promchot, Peter Davis, Rob Dey, Sigi Scrase, Yingjun Shelton, Sai, Simon

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.