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It’s been a while since my last tramp, and looking at the weather forecast for the weekend, we decided to make the most of it and get up in the mountains. Jono wanted to find a spot up on the tops, while I was content to enjoy the luxury of a serviced hut. The forecast was for 0-degree nights, with wind chill taking it down a few more degrees into the negatives. Not quite snow weather (which we’re keen to get out in for some snow camping), but a few days of sunshine and clear skies.
As I mulled over what to pack, I realised I didn’t have any decent winter clothing. This was on Wednesday, so I only had one day to sort that out. I ducked out to the shops and came home with two new pairs of leggings and two thermal long sleeves. A review of these is on our Facebook group here.
Jono was content with noodles, but I need a bit more sustenance than that, so I went down the freeze-dried route. I decided on Real Meals Mac n Cheese, and an OMeals Southern Style Chicken. The latter isn’t freeze-dried but rather a pouch inside the bag, so a bit weightier. My pack weighed in at 12.1kg, which I was stoked about. Even without weighing it, I know it’s good if I can pick it up with one hand and swing it onto my back.
Off we went, stopping at Z Remutaka for a Subway footlong. Any time we head out this way, we often get one, having half for breakfast, and saving the other half for lunch later on. We then continued on to Holdsworth and donned our packs, not quite sure about the slog ahead. Gentle Annie track is currently closed, so the detour is via River Ridge track instead, which joins the track to Powell just before Mountain House shelter.
The first hour we meandered along the Atiwhakatu Track until we reached the junction with River Ridge. Looking up a steep set of stairs, I readied myself mentally for the uphill ahead. No matter how many times I look at the elevation graph, it’s not until you’re at the base looking up that you realise how steep it is.
As we ascended the track, I admired the typically charming Tararua goblin forest. The track was a lot of tree roots and some quite muddy sections, but nothing too crazy. We stopped a couple of times to admire the view and catch our breath, and made it to Mountain House shelter after about 1.5 hours. The signposted time was 2 hours, and I always get a kick out of beating the DOC times, especially going uphill.
We stopped for the other half of our Subway here and chatted with some other trampers also headed to Powell. After that, we began the last leg of the journey and were soon faced with stairs.
So. Many. Stairs.
The elevation gain for the last leg was ~450m, which for me, when it’s climbing or scrambling, is fine. But the stairs were brutal. However, once we emerged from the trees, the view was absolutely breathtaking. We stopped at the rock for a minute to take some photos, then pushed on (up even more stairs) to Powell.
We arrived at the hut a little after four hours walking and were hanging out for a coffee. Jono left his pack on the deck to go suss out a suitable spot to pitch his tarp, while I headed inside to claim my bunk and get changed.
Now all freshened up, I headed up to the helicopter pad to see if I could spot Jono. He’d pitched a bit further up the tops, and soon headed down for that coffee. Powell is a serviced hut, and more luxurious than I’m used to while tramping. Solar lighting and gas cooking was quite a novelty. The fire was going, and the hut buzzing with everyone making their dinners. Jono finished his coffee and then went on his merry way to his camp, and I thought I’d make a start on dinner and relax for the evening.
I was pretty impressed with the mac and cheese from Real Meals, and it went nicely with the Southern Style Chicken. I tend to make my own food and vac-pack it to bring with me, but this was a quickfire trip, so I went with premade packs. I spent the rest of the evening doing my puzzles and decided to head to bed about 9pm.
I conked out pretty quickly and slept reasonably well. I did wake up a few times worried that I’d encroached on my bed-mate, but she told me in the morning that I didn’t accidentally kick her or anything. I’m a bit of a toss-and-turner so it does worry me when I’m sleeping communally!
I woke up about 6:30am to a stunner of a sunrise. The view from my window was an intense line of orange separating the still-dark sky and the landscape below. After admiring the view for a while, I got up and made myself a coffee, and sat on the deck watching the sun rise above the horizon.
As I was washing my coffee cup, I heard an almighty noise that sounded like a freight train coming. A helicopter approached the hut and landed on the helipad. I wondered if it was for a rescue, but they were there to bring in some gravel to fill in some of the stairs close to the hut. Even as an adult, it’s so cool to see a helicopter up close!
At this point, I decided to head up the ridge and see what Jono was up to. If he wasn’t awake before, he’d surely be awake now. The sun had risen well above the horizon by this time, so I got some photos while he was packing up. Even after seeing this view since the day before, it’s so easy to just be taken aback by the beauty.
I headed back to the hut and slowly packed up. We had some breakfast and watched the helicopter coming and going, and chatted to the people doing the maintenance. There was no rush to get going, so it was nice to just sit and relax for a while.
A little after 10am, with knees strapped and boots on, we began the descent. Downhills are my Achilles’ heel, so I wasn’t looking forward to this. It took an hour to get back down to Mountain House shelter, where we stopped for a drink and braced ourselves for going back down River Ridge track. It took just over an hour to descend, and I was super impressed by how quickly I got down without freaking out about falling and slipping. The last few hundred metres hurt though, my knees were crying out for a reprieve from the constant downhill.
Suddenly, we were back at the base and trudging along Atiwhakatu Track, eager to get back to the car. We ran into a friend on the way, then stopped at Donnelly Flat for a chocolate bar to fuel us for the last 20 minutes or so. It was an hour less on the return trip, so just over 3 hours back.
One of the best sights when tramping is the carpark! Boots off and Crocs on, we headed back towards home, stopping at our usual café in Featherston for a pie and a cookie slice.
This was such a fun trip. The weather was perfect and the views were incredible. The bones are a bit sore, but I’m never discouraged. I’m always excited for the next tramp and already researching where we’re going next.
We are always happy to help with all of your camping questions! Feel free to contact us on our Facebook group HERE and ask for Jono.
If you love what we do, please consider “buying us a coffee” to help us fund our endeavour of helping New Zealander’s get outdoors! All donations go towards the running of NZFA.
Happy adventuring!
Jono & Chloe
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