- Date: 28/04/2018 – 29/04/2018
- Party: Gerry, Larry
- Night location/s: Roaring Stag Lodge
Leaving Putara Roadend at 12:30, we cross five minutes of farmland before reaching the first bridge (320m), over a tributary of the Mangatainoka River outside Eketahuna.
From here we follow along the banks of the waterway, climbing slowly to 400m and another bridge, much bigger at 1:10 (40min from roadend).
A steady 380m climb follows, before reaching the track to Herepai hut at 2:15 (1hr 45 from roadend). We head south along the ridge, dropping down to the Ruamahunga river valley. It’s a very clear but boggy route, lush with ferns and Rimu.
We cross a couple of streams, and are able to keep our feet dry despite the rain.
We reach Roaring Stag Lodge at 4pm (3.5hr from roadend), encountering a group from the Tararua Tramping Club, complete with adorable pug. A nice night and a good enough sleep.
The rain is heavy overnight and persistent in the morning. We’re just going in and out, so we leave at 9.15am and navigate the much larger streams!
Our return journey takes 4hrs. A great hut cared for by the Deerstalkers; pretty accessible too.
Not much of an entry I admit; mostly I’m posting this for the walk times and photo memories.
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