⛰️#9 - Rescues, Reminiscing, Campaigns, Private Tracks & More

Author

Jub Bryant
October 17, 2024

And we are back with the 9th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday.

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.

In This Week's Edition...

🚁 Chaos On Mount Taranaki (Yay For Epic Teams)

Saturday saw some crazy rescue action on Mount Taranaki. Five people needed to be rescued in three separate parties in less than 24 hours. Here’s the rough timeline of events:

  • 4 am…3 people stuck at 2300 metres call in for a rescue.

  • 11am-ish…1 person in a party of two has fallen between 150 and 250 metres near the summit.

  • ~4.30pm, the rescue team comes across a person in distress who they help back down the mountain.

Depending on what source you read (e.g. one, two, three) the details vary, but that’s the guts of it. I’ve always thought of Mount Taranaki as a hectic mountain, and it’s not one I’d be trying to summit at this time of year. If you do, make sure you follow all the best practices which are easy to find out.

But how good are the rescue teams? A big shoutout to the Taranaki Search and Rescue, Taranaki Alpine Cliff Rescue, Whanganui/National Park Search and Rescue, and Ruapehu Alpine Cliff Rescue teams. Epic.

🫕 The Story Behind This Old Photo

Credit: Maurice White

I spotted the photo above in a Facebook Group from Maurice White. Intrigued to know more I asked if he could share more about the scene from a point during the construction of Black Hill Hut (Arthur’s Pass, Canterbury) in 1975.

In the photo is plastic poncho-wearing Fritz Jury (Assistant Ranger at the NZFS at the time) eating food cooked on what was likely a Shacklock Oven (maybe something like this - I wonder if she got it restored in the end). Over the 5 or 6 days it took to build the hut, there was only one bad day of weather.

In addition to Fritz, Maurice, and Ralph White (all of NZFS), two carpenters and a plumber helped with the hut. Noel Boyd flew the materials in with a Hiller Helicopter, though one load was jettisoned into the bush due to the wind!

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did.

p.s. Imagine the heart attack OSH would have with the load being jettisoned…and then they’d see Fritz standing in between the corrugated iron. That would be a lot of paper work to be fulfilled out in 2024. Sigh.

p.p.s. Who is going to build an awesome museum about hut history in NZ

🐝 A New DOC Track Is Coming To Thames

Thanks to a few organizations coming together, you’ll soon be able to walk the Moanataiari Lookout Track. But first, the track needs a bit of maintenance. If you’re in and around Thames, get in on the working bee. Details:

  • 🗓️ Sunday October 20th

    ⌚10 am to 2.30 pm

    📍Meet at the top of Moanataiari Creek Road

    🎒 Ideally bring a shovel, gloves, wheelbarrow, garden bags

The main focus will be on weeding and planting in and around the trailhead, with ridgeline trail clearing scheduled.

Soon enough DOC signs will be installed for walkers to walk to lookout spots along the valley, and to connect with the Waiotahi Track.

More details etc here.

🛖 November’s Love Our Huts Campaign Is Gaining Momentum

It’s cool to see the Love Our Huts & Tracks campaign getting some coverage in the media as we get closer to November when volunteers will visit the huts to give them some TLC and help provide a hut census of sorts.

This piece in THE PRESS features volunteers a few volunteers and why they’re getting involved (120 is a lot of huts visited for anyone, let alone an 8-year-old)!

If you haven’t signed up, there are still plenty of huts that’d love some TLC. No hut wants to be left behind :(

😹 Meme Break

Those with radios will forever baffle me.

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

A slip on Tunnel Beach trail. Source: DOC

  • Last week saw some hectic damage to tracks in Southland and Otago…it might pay to check the DOC website before heading out to tracks in those regions for the next few months. Example: Dunedin’s Tunnel Beach is closed after 10 slips on the track 🙀 

  • Holly Beckham is aiming to be the first wāhine Maori to summit Mount Everest. Read more.

  • A pesky Norway Rat was finally eradicated and Auckland’s Motutapu and Rangitoto Islands are pest-free again! Here’s a cool write-up of the process of eradication.

  • DOC’s Community Fund opened for applications on Wednesday (until November 28th). They get lots of applications, but with $9.2 million in funding, make yours great and you never know. Here’s the link to find out more. Hut museum anyone ;)

  • Good progress continues on the Cathedral Cove Track with vegetation control (including the removal of plant pests) currently going well. But the public needs to remain off the track!

  • Greater Wellington Backcountry Network volunteers were busy with 300 DOC markers installed in the Tauwharenikau Valley and tracks being cleared around Cow Creek Hut (and giving it a clean). Check the GWBN FB Page for details and photos.

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

Having landed back in NZ I went to Coromandel’s Kauaerange Valley to hike to The Pinnacles. A heli was due to drop supplies Pinnacles Hut the morning after I arrived in the valley so I couldn’t stay at the hut. Instead I camped at Trestle View Campground (next to the trailhead) and it rained for a good chunk of the night ☹️ After the rain stopped mid-morning, I was about two-thirds of the way to Pinnacles Hut when it bucketed down again, so I decided against going past the hut. I guess I’ll go back again some time for the full glory.

Another shorter walk nearby I enjoyed (and only rained for part of the trail) was the Cookson Valley Walk that takes you to the 900-year-old Kauri, seen in the awkward selfie above.

Have a great week, hike it up.

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

Chur,

Jub

p.s. get your friends to sign up to the newsletter: https://nzhikingnewsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe