⛰️#64 - Shuttle Company Suspended, Best Socks, Sinkhole Closed, & More.

And we are back with the 64th weekly NZ Hiking Newsletter.

There’s just over a week left of the Love Our Huts campaign for the summer. Check the list to see if you can get to any of the 287 huts unassigned before March 15th.

It’s another mediocre weather weekend for the hut I’m signed up to…so I guess next weekend, I no choice but to commit 💃

Anyway, as usual, 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.

Alright, let’s get into it.

🗒️ Track News Etc.

• Shuttle Company Suspended. During Waitangi weekend (Feb 6th - 8th), Tongariro Expeditions broke the conditions of their DOC concession. How? By dropping people off at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing trailhead despite the DOC-issued Hazardous Weather Advisory.

  It took a few weeks, but DOC has determined the penalty. Tongariro Expeditions have had their DOC concession suspended from March 9th to 22nd (press release here). Interestingly, DOC doesn’t mention the company in their press release…but it’s easy to find that it was Tongariro Expeditions. Given this is the second time they’ve breached the concession, it would seem as though if it happens again, it’s three strikes and you’re out. Two weeks seems like a reasonable time…that’ll hurt their pocket.

  In a Facebook post, Colin Baker from Ruapehu Scenic Shuttles was asked what he thought of the penalty. His response:

  • “Personally it should have been implemented immediately. But it has sent out a very clear signal which is long over due. What makes it worse is that this operator ran against revised weather triggers that were manipulated by their last breach! An issue those revised parameters caused was shuttles would cancel but public still had no warnings on marginal weather days. Genuine penalty? We shall see. But it is a very clear warning!”

  *Since writing the above blurb, I’ve been getting spammed with Tongariro Expedition ads on Facebook 🙊

• Mt. Taranaki Summer Is Over. On March 3rd, the Taranaki Alpine Cliff Rescue team (unofficially) called an end to the summer season on Mount Taranaki. So if you want to summit now, you should bring the gear mentioned in the previous link.

  In 2025, this announcement wasn’t until March 21st, which I guess reflects the mediocre summer the weather gods have given many of us.

• Sinkhole Access Sunk? NZ’s largest sinkhole, Harwood’s Hole (Abel Tasman), has been in the news this week after DOC permanently closed access to the track. It’s been judged as an overreaction by many, with DOC stating that a potential fall would be fatal plus regular “unrealistic” online promotion threatened visitor safety. Those pesky influencers!

  I’ve not been there, but it seems many do each day and no one has fallen into the hole (yet). Weirdly, you can still access the area at your own risk…so essentially DOC are saying they won’t be maintaining the track. That seems fine to me…is this a case of everything being blown out of proportion?

  You can see about DOC website for the closure and more details here. Nelson Mayor Nick Smith called the ordeal “...an overreaction to health and safety concerns and needs to be rethought.” No doubt Nick gained a few fans with the full tirade.

  😹 Hiking Funny

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

• 🚁 Chopper Gets A New Winch. The Manawatu region got a boost for future recovery operations thanks to the fundraising efforts for a winch on the Grassroots Trust Rescue Helicopter. The heli services areas like Tararua Ranges, Whanganui National Park, and Ruahine Forest Park. More details here.

• New Paint For An Alpine Hut. Barron Saddle Hut got a great upgrade this week. While most of us won’t be making it there (Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park), a team of 5 went in there to strengthen the hut (it didn’t seem like a fun hut to be in during a storm), and gave it a new splash of paint. More details and photos here.

• Sock Chat 🧦🧦 For gear nerds, here’s a video evaluating the quality of socks relative to their price. It’s only one mans view (he’s a solid YouTuber with good hiking content) so take it with a grain of salt, but it would appear that there’s some correlation between the quality of a sock and price.

  The key takeaways:

  • aim for socks with 40%+ wool…though synthetic is generally more durable

  • the longer your hikes, the more you should be investing in sock quality

  • silver can help prevent odor resistance (antimicrobial)

  • try a variety to find ones that work best for you.

    Something I hadn’t thought about either…if you are wearing toe socks, all the fabric between your toes is going to fill in space at the toe box. That can cause rubbing and other second-order effects.

  Let me know what socks you use! And your thoughts on anything sock related: [email protected]

• Camping Pillow Upgrade. This 203-second video is a good watch if you are still looking for a way to make a super comfy camping pillow. It shows how you can take a camping pillow and modify it with gear you’ll likely take on your hike anyway.

  The result? A pillow that looks (at a stretch) like your home pillow. The biggest breakthrough for me was the neck gaiter he used as a pillowcase…I’ll give that a whirl!

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

The weekend was a goodie. While everyone heads up the West Matukituki Valley, a few friends and I went up the East Matukituki Valley towards Dragonfly Peak. The road into Mount Aspiring National Park was packed, but with 95%+ of cars heading to Raspberry Creek we didn’t share the other valley with many.

We didn’t go to the summit this time around, but managed to find a nice wee campsite ⛺ next to the small tarn west of Albert Burn Saddle (seen here on TopoMap).

I was a little worried about kea during the night after seeing one lurking around in the afternoon, but they decided not to bother us. Woohoo!

After an early wakeup call, I was at work later that day. Success.

It’s an awesome camping trip, and if you’ve got time, it’s definitely worth heading up to the saddle or the peak. Just be prepared for some hard yakka once you veer off the East Matukituki Track.

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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