It’s been a while since I’ve been out with the WTMC, largely due to other things happening. I decided it was time to change that, and found a scheduled trip to High Ridge. I hadn’t been to High Ridge for around 12 years. The previous time was a memorable experience for multiple reasons. It’s a navigation trip, and also one that can work in moderately wet weather as long as it’s not prohibitively windy, so a forecast for some rain in the Tararua wasn’t a huge concern. The forecast had rain clearing about mid Saturday.
Dates: 11th – 13th January, 2019
Location: Tararua Forest Park, Holdsworth Road End.
People: Peter, Heather, Tony and me.
Huts visited: Holdsworth Lodge (0 nights), Mountain House Shelter (1 night), Powell Hut (0 nights), Totara Flats Hut (1 night).
Route: From Holdsworth Road up to Mountain House Shelter on Friday night. Then beyond Powell Hut to .1330, and south-west along High Ridge to Flaxy Knob, and nav down to Totara Flats Hut for Saturday night. Then follow the old track north-east of Totara Flats Hut, along Totara Creek. Near the headwaters of Totara Creek, navigate up spur to above Mountain House Shelter. Then back to Holdsworth Road.
[Photos]
[Download GPX] [LINZ Topographic Map in new window]
We arrived at the end of Holdsworth Road at about 7.45pm, combining transport with another group who were aiming to navigate up the Atiwhakatu river catchment.
I pulled my camera out and quickly discovered that not only were the recently charged batteries flat, but my spare camera batteries were also flat. That served me right for grabbing and charging some random batteries I’d found lying around, and trying to use a camera I’d not tested for a couple of years. My weekend with electronic devices was not going to be simple, but right now there was no time to figure things out.
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