MOUNT HECTOR TRACK.

Otaki Mail, Volume 26, 26 May 1919, Page 4

MOUNT HECTOR TRACK.

HUTS' TOK TOURISTS. At the last meeting of the Otaki Mt. Hector Track Gommittee Messrs W. H. Field, M.P., and G. M. Lethbridge were deputed to confer with the Wairaxapa Committee at Greytown relative to the building of a mountain hut on the Otaki side of the range, and generally improving the track so as to reader it fit and safe for tourists during the coming summer. This conference was held at Greytown, when the Greytown Committee were represented by Messrs Loasby, Webster, Humphries, and Workman, and resulted in a perfect understanding being arrived at.

The main point in difference was as to the site for the hut on the Otaki side, the Otaki Committee being of opinion that it should be at the edge of the bush on Judd's Ridge, just below Table Top, and the Greytown Commit; tee having expressed the desire to place it at Mount Dennan. In the course of the discussion it transpired that it was not Mount Dennan but the saddle between Mount Hector and Field's Peak which the Greytown Coirtmittee had chosen. This cleared away the whole difficulty, Mr Field explaining that from the beginning he had held the opinion that a central hut must be erected on or near Mount Hector, and he believed that the Otaki Committee, to which he had expressed His views more thftn once, was of the same mind. The conference finally agreed that the hut should be erected near Table Top, and another hut erected later near Mt. Hector. Questions of finance were also considered. Mr Field mentioned that he had recently obtained a further grant of £SO from the Minister of Public Works, and that there was aowprobably sufficient in hand to build the Table Top hut and to put. the track in fair order on the Otaki side. The Groytown Committee has already built huts at Tauherenikau and Mount Alpha, and in addition to cutting the track through the bush had marked it on its side as far as Mount Hector. It was resolved to apply to the Government for sufficient funds to build the MountHector hut in time for next summer's traffic. . '

Great interest is being evinced, both in Otaki and Greytown, in the matter. One Wairarapa gentleman, Mr Wall, has made a donation of £IOO, and it is hoped by next Christinas the track will lie sufficiently completed to be safe and convenient for tourist porposes. Horses have already been taken to the vicinity of Mount Hector on the Greytown side, and to Table Top oa the Otaki side, and it is confidently expected that at an early date the track may be rendered fit for horse traffic right through. In the course of his address afi the Greytown conference Mr Field said that the Otaki-Greytown track was only the beginning of the opening of the Tararua mountains to tourists. Later he hoped to see a track from Levin to Mount Dundas and the Mitre, and thence down the Mount Holdsworth branch of the range to Masterton, and another track down the main range' over Mount Crawford and connecting with the present track to Mount Hec-tor,-and also a track from Kaitoke over the Quoin connecting with the present' track at Mount Alpha. SUGGESTED TARARUA CLUB. Mr F. Yosseler, an enthusiastic mountaineer, of Wellington, has forwarded the following letter to the secretary of the Mount Hector Track Committee in Greytown. He has also forwarded a copy of the same lotter to the Track Committee in Otaki, with a request that the matter be considered bv the committee: —

< < For some time past I have been thinking of convening a meeting by advertisement of those interested in’ tramping, botany, etc., with the object of forming, if possible, a Tararua Club. I have thought it might be felt by your good and alive committee that such a club was competitive. If thefle is any likelihood of engendering this feeling I would certainly abandon the idea. My own view is that the club would be' helpful, as its principal object would, like your own, be to popularise the track by making it known to o-reater numbers, organising parties and equipping the huts with various nceessairies. > The club, too, could institute occasional chats to members on tramping. uses of the compass and maps, and the flora and bird life, and would help in the preservation of these latter. “The financial assistance the club might, render you would possibly not be great, still I do not think it would be entirely parasitical and ought to be able to do something. That will, of course, depend upon the number and the class of ,the members.

“Your track appears the finest tramp in the southern parts of the North. Island, equally so I contend in winter as in summer. Personally I feel winter bears unique attractions, as then one has snow and can indulge in the delights of ski-ing. and even to a very limited extent in the joys of iceskating. I intend testing the ski this winter, and will let you know the result of I should like to see the track used by many hundreds. provided they play the game, and particularly by young men. Suck outings, besides being extremely healthful, can do much towards build, iup up sturdy physique and engender, ing a love of out doors and nature.

“I aui glad to fee the Otaki side shows signs of animation. Personally, however, I do not altogether agree with ihe«j with regard to the site of the proposed new hut, A hut located on their side similar to the one on Alpha- (about the bosh line) would undoubtedly be a great acquisition, but I think your people’s site in the south between Hector and West Psak is the' most necessary. This latter will offer shelter in any sudden 1 storm, end will make the crossing infinitely safer. The danger point of the trip in fog or mist, and where it is easier thus anywhere

■else,to.stray, is just after leaving Hector . ( wh«re the..range branches-in difference directions. That "offers a further argument in favour ,of your hut site. I have made three crossings in very foggy weather —one of them was in a half-fledged storm, and I feel certain' that from Hector to West Peak when one cannot see there is greater danger of divergence than anywhere else on the track. Here the wandefer can go very nicely astray and cannot recover himself for some time—under winter conditions this could readily enough prove fatal.

“I wonder whether any of your members are acquainted with the fog bell or fog horn that is attached to many of the remote huts in European countries. These, when the fog is blowing, indicate refuge points. It might be a good idea to have one of these on the new hut at West Peak if it is there — it is only a question of time when we will have parties of ladies wanting to make the crossing—as a matter of fact I ’have been asked to take several ladies across, and will probably do so during the coming summer.”