2-7 March 2026

Leader: Owen Cox

There were six of us on the trip which was a medium trip.

Day 1 - Whakapapa Village to Waihohonu Hut: We started in sun at lunchtime. The sun left us after we passed the Taranaki Falls and before we got to the relatively flat Tama Saddle it was snowing. It snowed pretty much all the way to Waihohonu Hut. Two people managed a small side walk but caught the rest of us up once we were over the saddle. Just before the hut we stopped to look at the old Waihohonu Hut. There was a bit of light snow overnight.

Day 2 - Waihohonu Hut to Rangipo Hut: The weather was still pretty cold and cloudy so we set off on office hours. The track wanders across a number of gullies. The first gullies were in scrub. Less than 1 km from the hut we did the short detour to the Ohinepango Springs (these are cold). Beyond the springs the track climbed through gullies that got progressively more barren. We had lunch just before the climb to the Tukino access track. Here we met stronger wind and it snowed intermittently. We crossed the Whangaehu River bridge in snow flurries. We then climbed up and across to the hut. A couple of small gullies had quite deep wind-blown snow in them so we had a few thigh-deep wades. We arrived at Rangipo Hut mid-afternoon. We had a fire but the hut itself was a bit in need of love and attention. The pipes had frozen so we had to melt snow.

Day 3 - Rangipo Hut to Mangaehuehu Hut: The weather started to clear early in the morning. As we were about to leave, a helicopter arrived with a number of people who descended on the hut to give it a make over. The helicopter did a few more trips bringing in gear and firewood. Before we left they had already removed a dodgy window frame.

Not far from the hut we came to the Waihianoa Gorge. This is a deep gully that involves a 120 m drop, then a trip over a flat bottom and a bridge followed by a climb of 120 m. From here the track dropped through barrens before meeting beech forest. We had lunch and a brew in the barrens. The track then sidles through forest across a few gullies to the Mangaehuehu Hut. We were now in sun so had a lazy afternoon. The snow above on Ruapehu was thinning noticeably.

Day 4 - Mangaehuehu Hut to Mangaturuturu Hut: From Mangaehuehu Hut the track goes through a mix of forest and tussock, crossing a number streams. When we got to the Waitonga Falls we started meeting people, lots of them. After a short stretch through forest we got to the Ohakune Mountain Road. Here we had a 3 km walk up the road which climbs about 300 m. It was stinking hot, so I thought this road stretch was the hardest bit of the walk around the mountain. We were pleased to leave the road and dropped to the first stream where we had lunch. We then climbed over a lava ridge then descended into the wide Mangaturuturu Valley via the stream. This section of stream cascades over a series of bands of hard rock. The water is crystal clear and there are white silica deposits. It was hot enough for me to have a dunk in one pool part way down the rock scramble section. We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about in the sun by the hut.

Day 5 - Mangaturuturu Hut to Whakapapaiti Hut: We crossed the Mangaturuturu River and then climbed out to Lake Surprise and the ridge above, to above the tree line. We were back in summer conditions now and the snow on Ruapehu from the snow storm earlier in the week had all melted. The route was a bit of up and down crossing ridges between the headwaters of the Manganui-o-te-Ao and the Makatote. On the final ridge we had views down the wide Whakapapaiti Valley. We arrived at Whakapapaiti mid afternoon.

All of the huts on the trip are now in the booking system. We had managed to get bookings for all huts but only five bookings for Whakapapaiti and there were six of us. In the event, no one else turned up and we had the hut to ourselves (it was the only night with no one else). One guy we had spent three nights sharing huts with wanted to stay but pushed on because of the full bookings as did another couple. I have to say that the system is a royal pain in the arse when organising trips and when people don’t show up it just means empty beds. In previous huts we had booked and unbooked people with no problems.

Day 6 - Whakapapaiti Hut to Whakapapa Village: It was a short day and we were out in time for lunch at Ohakune. The track followed the valley for ¾ of an hour with one river crossing. The track crosses a bridge and heads largely through bush to the Whakapapa village where we picked up the cars.

Those on the trip were:

Kate Livingston, Marian Cox, Mark Robertson, Owen Cox, Petr Kure, Sue Pate

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.