Awatere Hut – Ruahine Forest Park

Friday We left at around 4.45 pm from Wellington train station and had a dinner and supermarket stop in Palmerston North before continuing on to Anzac Park campground (arriving at around 8 pm). We all set up our tents, except for Bogdan, who took the opportunity to try out his tarp. The campground is next … Read more

Triangle Hut Traverse – Ruahine Forest Park

Highlights and top tips Friday 5 September Saturday 6 September  Deliberations The adventure begins The adventure gets real The evening Sunday 7 September All in all, once back in the van and warm and dry, we all reflected on what will be a truly memorable trip and the awesome group of people we had shared … Read more

Top Gorge Hut – Ruahine Range

Top Gorge Hut Ruahine Forest Park

Top Gorge Hut – Ruahine Range A two-day hike to the seldom visited Top Gorge Hut in the Ruahine Range, including a route map. Top Gorge Hut is right in the middle of the Ruahine Range and doesn’t get many visitors because it’s not really on the route to anywhere in particular. Anne was very … Read more

Leon Kinvig Hut Ruahine Traverse – Ruahine Forest Park

The plan for this weekend was concocted because we were unable to access Ruahine Forest Park from Mangakukeke Road end. Anne de Ferron suggested an inspired alternative: a traverse via the newly relocated Leon Kinvig Hut. This idea would allow enable two Medium Fit (MF) club groups to do a key swap and enjoy excellent … Read more

Riddles in the Ruahines and Crackle Conundrums: an eventful weekend trip to Iron Gate Hut!

Our group of 8 kicked things off as usual by departing Wellington Train Station at 5pm on Friday – piling into the van with 3 Medium-Fit (MF) trampers. Day 1 After a 3 hour drive, we were up past Feilding and winding around the back-roads heading towards Petersons Road end. One of the crew had … Read more

Te Atuaoparapara – Ruahine Forest Park

We met at the Wellington Railway Station and were heading north in the club van by 3pm. After stops in Levin to refuel and Palmerston North for dinner, we made it to the North Block road end at about 8pm. Donning headtorches, we started up the hill to Sunrise Hut at 8.15pm. The track is … Read more

Sunrise Hut – Ruahine Forest Park

On Friday evening the five of us met at the traditional WTMC meet up point at Wellington Train Station for a weekend getaway to Ruahine Forest Park, located in Hawke’s Bay. We were joined by the Medium-Fit group, who were travelling in the van with us. Our group was a mix of new and more … Read more

Te Atuaoparapara peak – Ruahine Forest Park

It was timely that the Wilderness magazine had an article on negotiating scree, given that our descent from Te Atuaoparapara peak involved just that! We left Wellington train station at 5.30 pm on Friday and arrived at the road end (North Block road) at around 9.30 pm. It was then a 10 min walk to … Read more

Minimum effort, maximum gain: Sentry Box, Parks Peak and Upper Makaroro Huts – Ruahine Forest Park

Unfortunately, our original plan to do a return trip to Triangle Hut from the western side of the Ruahine Range was not to be, owing to the high winds and soggy weather forecast for the weekend. However, it looked like the Eastern side of the Range would have a better weather profile, so we opted … Read more

Sunrise Hut – Ruahine Forest Park

We met at Wellington Train Station at 5pm and piled into the van for the trip north, stopping in Levin for dinner on the way. We’d neglected to heed the notice on the DOC website that Fletchers Crossing Bridge was closed, so we unexpectedly came across a very-much-not-there bridge and had to backtrack to the … Read more