Waiaua Gorge Hut

 Overview: an overnighter on Mt Taranaki's less visited western slopes to Waiaua Gorge Hut via the Ihaia Track.

The Ihaia track begins inauspiciously at the end of Ihaia Road, a short distance inland from the coastal town of Opunake. There's a small area to park the car and a DOC sign telling you to follow the markers over farmland to the Te Papakura o Taranaki National Park boundary. It's a quick 800m over open paddock to the wall of trees that delineate the national park.

The track is often muddy and there is frequent tree fall and storm damage. There's a fair bit of limbo-ing and scrambling over and under fallen trees at times. It's beautiful forest though, especially farther in from park boundary.

There's an untamed quality to the track that lends it a certain charm, despite the fact I was frequently grumbling to myself about having to circumnavigate yet another fallen tree and/or bog.

After winding gently up through the forest for ~3km, a signposted junction is reached. I turn right, following the sign directing me to Waiaua Gorge Hut. This section of track is a recent diversion not yet shown on Topo50 maps, cut due to what is apparently irreparable storm damage to critical sections of the old track.

The track had been a bit on the rough side up until this point, but this diversion is on another level. It's muddier and scramblier, but still not without its charm. Less than a kilometer later, the track has brought me to the broad, open bed of the Waiaua River.

Ghostly, lichen-covered skeletons of long-dead trees dominate my view while a take a quick break. Further up the river, a small side stream is crossed and swaths of young tutu plants are colonising the otherwise vacant expanse. Marker poles guide the way and it's mostly easy going.
After the river bed, the forest is re-entered and it's a muddy slog up a steep slope before eventually arriving at the hut. A clearing outside the hut affords fantastic views over the densely forested and steep-sided gorge that gives the hut its name.

It's a great spot, even with the mountain obscured by cloud. The hut itself is cosy and well appointed, with two separate bunkrooms off the main area. As the evening progressed, the cloud around the mountain began to clear, revealing the peak illuminated by the golden dusk sun.

Despite a forecast that predicted cloud and showers, the next day brought sun and clear skies. This cemented my potential plan for a side trip to Brames Falls.

A signpost points the way to Brames Falls and more distant destinations such as Syme Hut and Lake Dive. A short distance from the hut, a ladder descends the near vertical drop part the way down into the Waiaua gorge. The remaining descent is a steep scramble before arriving at the river, and after crossing there's a steep clamber out of the gorge onto the bluffs above.

Once on the bluffs, the track is relatively easy-going, though overgrown in places. I had read somewhere that the falls were about an hour from the hut, I naively thought this was a significant over-estimate. It was not.
A signposted viewpoint of Brames Falls is reached about 1.5km from the hut. The falls are quite distant from the viewpoint, there might be other closer view points further up the track but I decided here was good enough.
From here the falls are a white streak dropping over a cliff face into the densely forested bowl below.

After returning to the hut to retrieve my pack it was time to return to the car. Better weather today meant the peak of Taranaki made a striking view from the Waiaua River.

After retreading the muddy steps of the day before, it was time to farewell the mountain after a refreshingly un-tamed (but still accessible) tramp.

Times and Distances:

Inbound:

Road end to park boundary: 800 m, 12 min; to junction: 3.86 km, 1hr 15min
Junction to start of riverbed section: 900 m, 24 min

Start of riverbed to hut: 1.24 km, 40 min.

Total: 5.97 km, 2hr 19min

Brames Falls side-trip:

Hut to view-point: 1.50 km, 58 min; return to hut: 1.50 km, 44 min. Total: 3 km, 1 hr 42 min.

Outbound:

Hut to road end: 5.97 km, 2 hr 17 min.

Map:

Elevation profile:

Ruapehu Part 2: Mangaehuehu & Friends

 Overview: hot off the heels of Whakapapaiti, I drive round to Ohakune for an overnighter to Mangaehuehu Hut, with a spot of hut bagging on the return journey.

It turns out that a 40-ish minute drive is not quite the rest for weary legs that one might hope. Nevertheless, after driving around from Whakapapa Village to the Waitonga Falls parking area on the Ohakune Mountain Road, it was time for tramp #2 of my Ruapehu trip.

I've written about the hike in to Mangaehuehu Hut before, so I'll try to be brief. The only real difference was improved weather this time around. The track to Waitonga Falls is well graded and easy-going.  Shortly before reaching the falls, a tussocky bog home to the tarn named Rotokawa is passed. From here, it's a fairly quick descent down many stairs to the falls.

 

Departing from the falls, the track crosses the Mangateitei(?) stream and a tributary right above their confluence. After a brief walk through the beech forest, another unbridged stream is crossed followed by an ascent to the Blyth Hut Track turn off. Staying on the Round the Mountain Track, I continue plodding through the forested lower slopes of Ruapehu. A few major streams are crossed, all bridged. One crossed by an old forest service style swing bridge has some particularly neat little cliffs on one bank.

Swing bridge #1

Swing bridge #2, looking back at the cliffs

The sunny breaks in the light showers are welcome, though its brightness combined with the low angle of winter sun makes photos more difficult.
After the final of three bridged streams, the track climbs to leave the forest behind. From this point, almost 5 km from the start, the track is almost exclusively above the tree line. There's occasional boardwalk, and where there isn't the track is frequently waterlogged and the soft volcanic soil sometimes eroded.

Swing bridge #3

Later in the afternoon, the rain showers transitions to sleet and eventually snow (though never enough to settle). There's a couple of unbridged crossings of small streams and some great views up the tussock-covered slopes toward Ruapehu (if the weather gods allow).
It was closing in on 5pm by the time I reached the hut and it was with much joy that I began the arrival rituals of getting firewood and kindling ready, lighting the fire, putting on dry clothes, unfurling the sleeping bag and generally getting warm and comfortable.

The next morning, a light dusting of snow lay over the surrounds. Clear skies meant there were great views of Ruaphehu.

It was a slower morning than yesterday, it wasn't until 9:30 that I left the hut. The clear weather meant views in all directions were exceptional. The smatterings of snow and ice were a cool addition, at least visually. The previously waterlogged bits of track were now often frozen into back country ice skating rinks. Any bits of water-covered boardwalk had turned particularly deadly, this all meant it was relatively slow going along the open sections.

A further downside of such a frosty morning is that water not only freezes on the ground, but also in the pipes, meaning no topping up the water bottle for Braden.
Today's walk was not simply the reverse of the day before, I'd decided to indulge in a spot of hut bagging - specifically Lupton and Blyth huts. I would have to hope that the time it took to reach Blyth was enough time for the pipes there to defrost.

 

 

Making a right turn at the signposted junction, the track initially climbs up along a forested spur, eventually emerging into the open near a small waterfall. The track crosses over this stream a couple of times before reaching Lupton Hut.

Lupton is a private hut, owned by Whanganui High School. DOC's Blyth Hut is about 500 m further up. The track crosses the stream again, then zigs up a loose screen slope, reaching the hut very soon after. Very close to the scree slope is another small waterfall (not marked on Topo50 maps). It's not immediately visible from the track when heading to the hut, but more noticeable coming back down.

Blyth Hut is a similar construction to most other huts in the park, and has recently been re-painted and re-roofed. It's named after Joe Blyth, who lead the cutting of the first track up the mountain from Ohakune and building of the first hut on this site. The original hut was replaced by the current in the 1970s.

It wasn't long after midday when I reached Blyth, so it was good opportunity to sit down, have something to eat, and drink some thankfully defrosted water.
It wasn't long before I'd left Blyth and was back at the track junction, now on the home stretch toward Waitonga Falls.

It was closing in on 2 pm when I was finally back at my car, ready to head to Ohakune for some of their famous chocolate eclairs. Ruapehu Tramp #2 had been great, maybe even better than first time I came here. Making the effort to bag a couple of extra huts was well worth it for the scenery too.
All in all, another great tramp in Tongariro National Park (not that there was ever any doubt).

Times and Distances

Inbound:
Trailhead to Old Blyth Track: 900 m, 18 min; to Rotokawa: 1.15 km, 23 min; to Waitonga Falls: 1.93 km, 39 min.
Waitonga Falls to Mangaehuehu Hut: 5.17 km, 2 hr 14 min.
Total: 7.10 km, 2 hr 53 min

Outbound:
Mangaehuehu Hut to Blyth Hut Track Junction: 4.63 km, 1 hr 59 min.
Junction to Lupton Hut: 1.12 km, 30 min; to Blyth Hut: 1.62 km, 50 min.
Blyth Hut to Waitonga Falls: 2.01 km, 50 min.
Waitonga Falls to Parking Area: 1.93 km, 39 min.
Total: 10.2 km, 4 hr 18 min

Map:

Elevation Profiles: