Darren and I have been itching to get out to a hut with the kids. So, yesterday morning, after looking for this weeks forcast, we decided that it was time. We got out of bed and packed our bags with spare clothes, food for all meals plus a reserve, water, and sleeping bags. Then we headed out toward Rangiwahia, about an hour drive north. Below is a topographic map of the track we did. The red line is the portion that we did, up to the hut. There is a bigger loop track shown on the map that returns back to the starting point as well as to other huts. We really would like to do these someday when the kids are older and spend several days to complete it.
When the track was first put in, it was a pretty gentle climb up to the bridge, then much steeper up to the hut from there. Since then, a slip has occured and the track has been remade to go up and over the slip. This has almost doubled the length of the track before the bridge and has made it much steeper, since you must go up and over to find a solid, safe path. It’s interesting looking back across the valley to where the slip is, once you have passed over the bridge, because you can see markings of where the original track went.
Anyway, like our last hike, Boy carried his own water in his new pack, and this time he also carried his own clothes, and plate. It was about 4.4 km to the hut, which was projected to take 2 hours. It took us 5 hours and we were so glad to finally see the hut come into view. My favourite part of the journey was seeing the change in foilage as you get higher in elevation. Boy needed a bit of encouragment, such as a promised meusli bar at the bridge and at the hut, but overall he did great! He was all along looking forward to getting to pick out his bed when we got there. We enjoyed speculating what colour the mattresses would be. Girl did get a little grumpy near the end as she wanted to get out and play, but did well too. She enjoyed waving leaves and bits of grass we found along the way.
We were the only people to stay in the hut that night, with one other man camping outside the hut as he didn’t make a booking. He had a lovely Weimaraner dog along with him to the delight of Girl, who loves any animal. We enjoyed a nice fire before bed as well as a meal of noodles with peas, and tuna. In the morning, we had some meusli with coconut milk and hot water, then cleaned up and headed back down. Boy was a little apprehensive and said, ‘My legs are going to hurt again…’ So, we told him all about how sometimes pain is a good thing, like when your muscles are working hard and getting stronger.
Going down was faster, and we arrived back at the car in 3.5 hours. Just before the bridge, we took Girl out and she walked over the bridge with us. She thought this was so much fun. She kept walking for about 100 m, then was happy to return to my pack. The clouds covered the mountain quite a good way down so much of our journey out was amidst fog. This gave things a whimsical and magical feeling. It was really quite cool.
All in all, it was a great first hut experience for the family. We look forward to doing more, and also to taking what we learned and making the next trip better. Some things we would do differently: Bring soap, rubbish bags, ziplock bags, more meusli bars for snacks, and a sheet for Girls bed. (she slept in her sleep sack, and didn’t like the cold plastic mattress on her face).
Oh, and an interesting side note are these alpine daisies. Aparrently, they were used by the Maori people to make weatherproof cloaks. Also, the early mountaineers in the early 1900s would pick the leaves and stuff them into the legs of their pants for insulation. Quite cool!