#24 - Tongariro Crossing Stats, $20 Back Country Showers, Tampered Traps, & More.

And we are back with the 24th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday or Friday.

I'll let you know what’s going on in the hiking scene in New Zealand, along with other related bits and pieces I find interesting.

Random Fact: If you have two sleeping mats with an R-value of 2, and stack them together, the R-value becomes 4 which is cool. Having asked a few people since I learned R-values add together, not many expected that…so there’s your random thing you now know.

Alright, let’s get into it.

📈 Some Stats From The Tongariro Crossing

Last week I mentioned DOC staff are manually counting visitors on the Cathedral Cove Track. Well, over on the Tongariro Crossing, there’s an automated counter near the southern crater.

I came across the image below of some stats from the counter (click the link below for a larger image) and it’s interesting how volatile the fluctuations are. With over 2,327 people on the 29th of December crossing that was by far and away the peak. The weather seems to have been a lot calmer since the 6th of Jan meaning the visitors were able to spread out over more days…so it’s all luck of the draw really how busy it’ll be when you go?

It’s getting more traffic again every year since Covid…when will that trend stop?

I’d be interested to see the stats on Roy’s Peak. A friend was running down from the peak a few weeks back, and in 1km (~5 minutes), he passed 71 people. The carpark has been bonkers the few times I’ve been past this summer.

If you’re a stats guru, there was a great amount of time put into compiling the stats from 764 people who completed the Pacific Crest Trail last year (then did a survey). Have fun. This would be interesting for the Te Araroa too.

😹 Hiking Funny

I’ve been watching way too many of this guy’s videos this week, so had to include a hiking one. They’re so good. He’s an interesting lad too, I ended up listening to him interviewed on this podcast (he does love hiking in real life).

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

• Stuff like this makes me…BLAH! Someone (or several people) rendered 150 pest traps in Aspiring National Park useless by either disarming traps or placing rocks in front of them. The terrain these traps are in wasn’t a walk in the park so they’ve gone out of their way to do this. This statement might be out of line but it’s like an an act of terrorism for our native wildlife? Not to mention heartwrenching for all the volunteers who put all the work into setting and monitoring the traps. I do hope the perpetrators are somehow tracked down (*Not that all traps are perfect).

• And stuff like this makes me….STOKED! Titled ‘Cutting a new path’, the article by Victoria Bruce in Wilderness Magazine highlights the amazing work Andrew Buglass has done in forming Permolat (31 years after his first backcountry experience as a 15-year-old) and the awesome Remote Huts website. He learned a lot along the way and was inspired by many such as Frank King and Honora Renwick who adopted Koropuku Hut. He took this inspiration and wanted to save as many huts as he could. It’s fair to say he has succeeded and will continue to save many huts from being removed.

• If you Leave No Trace, this will annoy you. There are hundreds of cairns near Fantail Falls (the start of the Brewster Track) constructed by people over the summer. In theory, Leave No Trace means you don’t build cairns for decorative purposes (for navigation purposes, sweet). I feel like many are built by families who have never heard of Leave No Trace before…maybe it’s an easy win to put a sign up about the potential effects you’d have by building a cairn…then they can still make one if they like?

• The huts on the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track charge $20 for 3 minutes. Say what? Luckily that does include a towel! It better be soft and fluffy.

• A couple of cool events coming up over the next week:

  • Kauaeranga Whanau Day (Coromandel) on Waitangi Day

  • Celebrate World Wetland Day (Saturday, Feb 1st) at Matuku Link (Auckland)

• If you enjoy rescue stories, there’s another couple via Alice Adventuring. Regarding the first story, I’d be the same way and look to self-rescue first before putting others out…

• If you’re sitting at your desk twiddling thumbs, throw in a quick application to this gig with Kathmandu…you’ll travel the world on your itinerary. Sure you’ve got to create content but it’s a good chance to get those epic bucket list overseas hikes done in a short time. Applications close 5 pm on Jan 31st…can you be impulsive enough given I’ve sent this out a few hours before the deadline?

• Well-known Kiwi hiker/YouTuber and now writer, Elina Osborne, has started writing on Substack. If you’ve enjoyed her videos in the past, you’ll no doubt enjoy her writing.

• Like 2nd hand/imperfect clothing and Cactus Outdoor Gear? I just came across their FB group where they list some items that have small blemishes or returns at a discounted price. Others also list Cactus Gear from time to time.

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

This weekend I made it to a new peak for me, Black Peak just outside of Glenorchy. I failed at getting there a few years ago when I missed the turn-off before McIntosh Hut. But this time I was good to go, with the topo50 aap and track notes in hand. It was a reasonably easy summit thanks to the perfect conditions…but if the final slope before the peak was wet/icy, it would not have been fun!

Again, awesome views and yet another moment where I wish Mount Alfred was open to the public.

I also tried using the peak finder on the Topo Map App I mentioned last week. It’s not super intuitive, and I wouldn’t trust the GPS to line up the mountains 100% unless you know what one peak is for sure to base the rest on…apparently, I should have zoomed in so I wouldn’t see so many peaks.

Have a great week, hike it up.

As always, reply to this email (or message me on Whatsapp +642041702764) with anything and everything…I’m happy to chat.

Chur,

Jub

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