We met at the Wellington Train Station carpark for an 8am departure. We were sharing the club van with the medium group of four who were planning to go to Cattle Ridge Hut via Roaring Stag Hut. With heavy rain forecast for later in the afternoon and for much of the following morning, we were well prepared for a wet weekend and were keen to make the most of the sunny conditions that prevailed as we made our way into the Wairapara.
We arrived at the Putara road end just before 11am and took note of there being 14 vehicles already parked up. Our chances of getting bunks at the 10 bunk Herepai Hut seemed pretty low, but we were well prepared with a range of tents and flies.
We were a group of 7 – with Lulu, Kaia and Ethan on their first overnight trip with the club. We set off walking a few minutes after the medium group.
From chatting to a few walkers coming off the track, we got the impression that most of the groups out and about in the area were day walkers and that those who weren’t were all heading for Roaring Stag Hut.
We quickly reached the first of the swingbridges over Mangatainoka River. On the track, on the true left of the river, we encountered the usual amount of springtime slush and mud. And we also needed to clamber over a few fallen logs and negotiate a few rocky creekbeds.
We arrived at the second (and much longer) swingbridge after about 1/2 hr of walking. We met a largish group of school age trampers who’d stopped for morning tea and established that they were heading to Roaring Stag Hut for the night and would then venture up to Herepai Hut if the weather held. For the first time it seemed reasonable to assume that we might secure a few bunks at Herepai Hut – and this provided a bit more incentive to get up the hill.
The second swingbridge was in poor condition – there were many pieces of wire sticking out from it which could easily catch any loose clothing or gear hanging off a person’s pack. After crossing the bridge we commenced a 370 m climb (from 400 m to a track junction at 770 m). This steep section requires a few hand holds and is a fairly unrelenting workout.
We arrived at the track junction at around 12.30pm, having gained most of the elevation to the Herepai Hut. While the rain was still holding off, the track junction provided a pleasant, if chilly, lunch spot.
The track from the junction to Herepai Hut began with a gentle descent before a final push up the hill to reach the hut perched at the 800 m elevation. To our surprise, the Hut was unoccupied and we wasted no time claiming bunks. There weren’t too many camping spots in the area, the best one was about 30 m away from Herepai Hut (on an elevated bench). With conditions looking benign, Kaia and Lulu pitched their tents on the elevated site. But they still had the option of retreating to the hut if the rain turned out to be as heavy as forecast.
Matt suggested we take the opportunity to do the short walk to “Herepai” – a high point on the Tararua Range at 1125 m. One of Lulu’s boots had blown out on the walk in and was being held together with duct tape. But the rest of us were keen to get out on to the tops.
After a short and steep haul through some dense subalpine forest, we broke out onto the tussock and enjoyed views of the large catchment containing the Ruapae Stream and farmland to the north. We followed the gentle ridge to the west and finally arrived at “Herepai”. From here we had a view of the Ararua Range and Haukura Ridge. We lay out a topomap on the tussock and came up with ideas for other possible routes for exploring the area in future.
On our descent from the tops I sprained my ankle after stumbling on a rock outcrop, which made for a slow trip back to the Herepai Hut. We were all a bit mud splattered from the day’s activities, and without a natural water source, there weren’t any options for an immersive clean up.
It was time to get the club billy boiling for a warm drink and dinner. We had opted for individual meals, so there was an opportunity to share feedback on how satisfactory people’s dinners were. Kaia and Lulu gave high marks for a cheesy pasta and Kirsten did the same for a bean chilli dish. Ethan lamented his cardboard-esque Thai Chicken dehydrated meal.
Kirsten had our evening’s entertainment sorted, having brought along the card game “Ono”. We initially started playing the game on the porch, but with the wind building and the start of the rain, we quickly opted for the handy table and benches inside. Soon after, the rain started tapping hard on the window and offered a staccato beat on the roof. Kaia and Lulu finally made the call to move their sleeping gear inside, to prevent running the risk of having to deal with leaky tents.
Early the next morning, an earthquake at 5am caused the hut to shake briefly. But luckily this was not accompanied by ominous rumblings from the hills above. It continued to rain heavily throughout the morning and anything left outside was sodden. Kirsten commented that if we didn’t have to walk back to the club van in the heavy downfall, it would have been a fairly relaxed Sunday morning at the hut, with nothing to do but enjoy a hearty breakfast and catch up on some reading.
When we were finally ready to leave Herepai Hut at 11am, it was with all of our wet weather gear on and with the expectation that we’d get fully drenched walking back to the van. However, once we entered the forest canopy we were protected from the worst of the rain, and were more preoccupied with skirting the mud pools that had swollen between the Herepai Hut and the track junction.
By the time we reached the track junction, the rain had stopped and we took a morning tea break to prepare for the slippery descent. With so much water having fallen, the first part of the track was a watercourse until we hit the steeper part of the track.
We successfully maintained a careful (but steady) pace on the most challenging part of the route back to the van, and once we reached the first of the two swingbridges we were able to look forward to the more straightforward track beside the swollen river. We finally reached the road end – not too far behind the medium group.
To our surprise, we ended the tramp taking off dry clothing and getting into alternative dry clothing for the drive home. We stocked up on drinks and snacks at a dairy in Carterton and arrived back at Wellington Train Station shortly after 5pm.
It then started raining heavily again not long after most of us had arrived home – suggesting we’d managed to have a charmed run with the weather.
Timings:
Putara Road end to Herepai Hut – 3.5 hours (easy pace)
Herepai Hut to “Herepai” (1125 m highpoint on topomap) – 2 hours return (easy pace)