David’s plan for this EM nav trip was to investigate rumours of an alternative route into the YTYY hut. This route was purported to depart from the track somewhere in the vicinity of a large slip, which has already forced a short re-routing of the original track, and ascend towards the summit marked with a spot height of 876 (about 1.5km NW of the secondary summit marked as Waitatapia, 862). The route would then descend northwards to rejoin the main track at the watershed between Saddle Creek and Plateau Stream. At least I think that was the plan!
So after a Friday night in Parawai Lodge we headed YTYY-wards looking for tracks. The first possibility came about 30 minutes in, and lead upwards from the first spur after crossing the Otaki, just before we would cross the first stream marked on the map. After a brief discussion, it was decided to carry on, as it seemed a little early in the day to be going off-track, and we weren’t anywhere near the location of the aforementioned purported track.
After about another km there was a second spur, shortly before the second stream. From here, a patch of relatively clear hillside was visible on the far side of the second stream, which looked like another potential off-track option. This would lead up directly to 862, but again, it seemed a little early in the proceedings.
A further 1.5km or so further on, and between the third and fourth stream crossings, Debbie spotted some pink tape tied to some trees. I would have walked straight past. Only weak evidence of a track associated though, so we decided to carry on a little until we found the slip.
This came only 5 minutes or so after, and just after the fourth stream. Here there were large orange triangles directing us up from the original track, so up we went. Around the top of this diversion around the slip, we decided to have a go at bashing up the hill (no evidence of a track though). This proved to be rather unsuccessful, as after just a few metres of ascent we hit a more or less impenetrable wall of supplejack.
Back to the track with the pink tape then. We followed this for maybe 20 minutes. After initially ascending, it then started to work its way round the hill, crossing the fourth stream. There was then evidence of pink tape carrying on around the hill and red tape going up the hill, so we went up for a bit, before the red tape also started working its way around the hill. Best guess was that we then weren’t far from the top of the slip with the supplejack. After a bit of debate, the general mood was that we could quite easily run out of time exploring all of these tracks, so we beat a retreat to the main track, with the aim of looking for a track from the saddle.
Following the main track was then pretty straightforward, and we took our lunch at the remains of an old log hauler (think stationary steam engine). Hard to imagine just how they managed to get it there. Shortly after this, we met Saddle Creek, which the track follows up, spending about half the time in the creek and about half the time on alternate banks.
At the saddle there was pink tape leading off to the right, just before dropping down and crossing Plateau Stream. We did a brief recce on this, and it seemed to be a half-decent track, the general plan then being to potentially use that route on the way out. Interestingly (for the cartographic pedants out there) there is the best part of 1cm i.e. 500m of the Plateau Stream missing from the Topo 1:50k map around this point.
With the hut now as the clear goal for the day we made relatively quick progress to the plateau marked with a spot height of 530m and then started to descend down towards the Otaki. Where the track meets the Arapito Creek we had the option of either the dry route or the wet route, with the wet route being the one you want if you want to keep your feet dry. Now, I have to say, not being a Kiwi I don’t feel that I need to be thigh deep in water before I’ve had a good day out, so I was for the wet route. Motion carried and we were at the hut in about 45 minutes (against an alleged 10 for the dry route, which is to say the one where you get wet).
No one at the hut when we arrived, but a party of 6 + dog arrived soon after. Following a delicious meal of salmon and pasta and then banana dumplings in caramel sauce we retired to bed, but sadly it wasn’t to be an early night due to some later commotion … I could elaborate, but I’ll spare you the details – suffice to say too much alcohol for someone in the other party, or was it food poisoning? Whatever it was, it was on the floor. [Dave: I would love to elaborate, come and talk to us at club night.]
We awoke to rain on Sunday, although not as heavy as it could have been given the forecast. First decision of the day was a repeat of the wet/dry choice, with David and Alastair feeling the pull of knee deep water and the rest of us opting for dry. We, which it to say the dry party, arrived at Arapito Creek in a little under 40 minutes, but no sign of the wet party. 10 minutes eh? David and Alastair arrived about 5 minutes later, claiming that they missed the Arapito Creek and therefore had to double back. Obviously this wouldn’t be a problem in the opposite direction…
Back up at the Saddle/Plateau watershed we had a confab regarding the pink tape, with the general mood being that the over-the-hill option mightn’t be so much fun in the rain; that and the fact that we still weren’t sure whether the pink tape went all of the way through, and the prospect of descending into supplejack.
So, back on the main track, with a couple of short excursions up the third and first spurs near the end. Both of these seemed to have tracks, but no markings. Both were pretty steep too, and would be hard work up or down. My suggestion would be to explore all of the options on a day trip from Otaki Forks.
All in all a good weekend out with great company, and some interesting explorations!