I was originally inspired to start bagging plane wrecks in the Tararuas at a club talk back in 2021, so I am happy to report that four years later I have now ticked off two plane wrecks. The first was near Mick, on the western side of the range, so it is appropriate that this trip took place on the eastern side.
We banded together with an EM group of club trampers who were heading to Roaring Stag Hut, and they dropped us off at the Kaiparoro Road end. As we boosted up the track (initially a messy forestry track, eventually turning into a well cut track through native bush) we theorised about the possibility of reaching Roaring Stag Hut before the EM group did (heading in from Putara Rd). This did not eventuate.
The turn off to the plane wreck is close to the summit of Kaiparoro, and very obviously marked. It must get a lot of traffic. It took us 45 minutes to drop almost 200 m down to the wreck, have a look around, and get back to the track.
I find it an odd feeling visiting these wrecks. It is fascinating to see the wreckage, looking out of place, but also slowly getting covered by the bush. But there is also a sadness around knowing the events that lead to the wreckage being where it is. In this case, the pilot was David Mark Leary, who crashed here on 5 July 1952.
Back on the track, we passed the Kaiparoro Trig (at 808 m elevation), which is right at the end of Kaiparoro Track. We then had to push desperately through tall scrub until we reached refuge under the bush leading along the ridge to pt 815. The route we followed then continued along past pts 835 and 858, before joining the Roaring Stag Track by pt 713. It is incredible how many different bush walking (and bush bashing) experiences you can have in such a small area.
I particularly liked the sections where we followed clear animal tracks through relatively open bush. I particularly disliked the sections where we ended up in dense new growth or had to pop through the scrub near pt 858.
That being said, there is a shockingly large amount of decent animal/hunter tracks along the ridge – especially sidling on the southern side of the ridge from 835 to 858, and the last kilometre before joining Roaring Stag Track. It took us just over 4 hours to get from Kaiparoro Trig to Roaring Stag Track. This is much better timing than we had expected.
We did not reach Roaring Stag Hut before the EM group, but ultimately this was a good thing because they had cut firewood and started warming the Hut.
The original plan had been to head back to the Kaiparoro Road end via Tawhero (a peak at 981m elevation). However, taking advantage of a shared van, we opted for some variety, and headed out to the Ruamahanga River instead. This was an excellent decision.
We crossed the swing bridge and headed off down the true right at 8am, with a chilly fog still sitting in the valley. We mostly managed to stay in the riverbed, with small stints in the bush. After the large slip marked on the topo map, we crossed the river 4 times. The river was cold, but not cold cold. You probably could have taken some high routes through the bush and avoided these crossings, but I doubt it would have been worth it.
About 400m before the river’s confluence with Cleft Creek, I stopped to scope out a route down stream. James very kindly pointed out the orange marker I was standing right next to, and we followed these markers up the bank into the bush, and then promptly lost the track in a sea of ferns. The contours around Cleft Creek were a bit deceptive – living up to its name, it was quite a chasm. We wandered a few hundred meters upstream before finding a delicate route down and up the other side.
The rest of the walk down the Ruamahanga River is marked as a route on the map, but was indistinguishable from a track to me, so we made good time. At the Tararua Forest Park boundary the bush dramatically changes to regenerated Manuka, before slowly evolving into farmland.
We reached the Ruamahanga Gorge Road much earlier than expected, but fortunately the EM trip was speedy too, so we didn’t have to wait much more than an hour before getting picked up.
Times
Saturday
Putara Road end -> Kaiparoro peak: 1 hr
Side trip to plane wreck: 20 mins down (45 mins return)
Kaiparoro peak -> Roaring Stag Track: 4 hrs
Roaring Stag Hut Track -> Roaring Stag Hut: 45 mins
Sunday
Roaring Stag Hut -> Cleft Creek: 2 hrs
Cleft creek -> Ruamahanga Gorge Road: 3 hrs 15 mins