⛰️#34 - Girl Power, DIY Stoves, Deals, Coalitions, & Lots More.

And we are back with the 34th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday/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.

Oh, random thing I learned. A group of kea is called a circus or conspiracy. Very fitting.

Alright, let’s get into it.

🛖 Hut News

With the days getting cooler and shorter, the hut updates are getting fewer. I’ll need to come up with a new section next week 😮 

• Komata Hut (Kawekas). I was late to the ball on this one, but there’s a neat write-up and video on what has been dubbed The Wahine Job. Komata Hut (Kawekas) was relocated and more or less rebuilt by an all-female team over a few years. Despite the setbacks encountered, the result is epic.

  You can read the blog here…or watch the video below.

• Mid Pohangina Hut (Ruahines). If you’re aiming to take on the Mid Pohangina Saddle Track from this hut, you’ll have a much easier time thanks to some hard yakka from a team of 7. The team of 7 split into groups and it took them 5 days too meet somewhere in the middle of the 10km track…that’s a track that was well over due for some loving. There was some great clean up work done on the hut itself in between the track clearing, fresh and ready to go for the hunters. Details and photos here.

😹 Hiking Funny

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

• If you’re looking for a reasonably priced pick up, Nomadic.co.nz has/had 500 ex-rental Marmot Catalyst 2p tents for sale. I came across them via this post, and if you click the link above and they’ve paused the sale, check back in a few days when they’ve caught up on shipping.

• An interesting follow on Instagram is Alexander Campbell, who is nearly 800 days into his walk around the world. His reels are rather captivating (he’s quite far behind on posting these). He’s currently in Kazakhstan, near the Caspian Sea.

• Over in the US, there’s a lot of fear about public lands potentially being sold off etc. In what’s a positive step towards fighting back against the paper shuffler who have never seen a tarn in their life, the Conservation Alliance has worked to launch a coalition, Brands for Public Lands, of which 60 outdoor brands have joined. These are some big brands too, and it’s something to keep in mind if shit hits the gan over here. Competition can band together to fight for their customers. Full story here.

  • We might need to band together to persuade the powers that be to have more natives planted as per this story…they want to plant pine trees just to meet the goal.

• This is one for the tinkerers and gear nerds. The team at Flat Cat Gear (great company name) posted a quality thread on Reddit with instructions on how to make your own cook system that's cheap, light, and can boil water efficiently in windy conditions. I won’t do this, but I know some readers will enjoy the ins and outs and give it a whirl. Read the post here (no login required).

• LINZ has released a pretty sweet hill shading map, with very high resolution. It’s pretty to look at, and useful for figuring out potential routes off track. Check it out.

• Easter’s a bit later this year, so LandSAR stay sensible regarding timings and changeable conditions if the weather is good for the Tongariro Crossing. This year LandSAR will have people out sweeping the track to ensure they get everyone off the track safely. More details and info here.

• To or not to use the PLB…it’s always a tricky one if you’re okay, but not okay (you got that right). This story recaps why the rescued man was glad he did in the end, but talks through his thought process at the time in a way that we can all relate to. Full story here.

• I feel like everyone has seen this video by now. But if not, here’s a couple of kiwis having a fight (not unusual) that Karen Matthews caught on camera.

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🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

Last weekend made it five weekends on the trot for epic weekend adventures.

Fiordlands, Mount Titiroa was the destination for this latest weekend, and chuuuur, it was as epic as I had hoped for (a rare occasion when high expectations meet reality).

It would seem that most people do this as an out-and-back but we chose the point-to-point option (Manapouri to Borland Lodge), and if you can make that work…100% do it. The section of the ridgeline beyond the summit goes good. While most people say the photos look like it’s snowing, I felt like we were on the beach more than anything.

If you want to read the blog post, here it is, the Mount Titiroa blog post on Chur New Zealand.

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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