EXPLORING THE TARARUAS.

Shannon News, 13 March 1925, Page 4

EXPLORING THE TARARUAS.

ASCENT OF! MT. CRAWFORD. (By F. J. Boyd-Wilson). The main range of the Tararuas i;u»mnx north from Mt. Htefttor to lit. Vwdaa is rarely visited by trumpets. Tracks and huts now make the crossing ofthe range via Table Top, Hector and Alpha an easy week-end trip, but the northern part of the range requires more time, bigger packs, and better training. The weather is here the allmportfnt factor. Only sow progress can be made with the tops clouded over, and there is certainly no enjoyment to. be had in fog. These hills are not so C \f' ford is 4800 feet, Dundas 4900 feet. Hector it can be seen that the uncertainty of the weather makes climbing on the range quite a sporting proposition." To the keen tramper? however, the very fickleness of , the weather adds zest to any expedition he undertakes, and if defeated he still hopes to see his dream realised—three days in succession of clear, light southerly weather. Mt Crawford is situated about midway between Hector and Dundas and is the brown top which, from Otaki beach, is seen just peeping over the green bush a little to the north of Tautogata. The writer climbed Taungata C3ooof t) to have a look at the country between it and Crawford, in preparation for a trip to Crawford, planned for the end of January in company with J. S. Yeates, of Victoria University College. For three weeks southerly weather had held and the ranges nad been clear for days on end. But on

Monday evening, 26th January, as we tramped up to the Otaki Porks, a north west change was imminent and witn ■only four days in hand we felt doubtful from the first of doing all we had P We bad a copy of the Horowhenua County survey and proposed to go up •the Waitatapia stream from the lories, cross the divide into the Otaki River, co upstream some miles to the base of a likely spur, climb on to Crawford and tfchen follow the main range south to *West Peak, Dennan and the, new (Field's nut. , . 4ll „ On Monday night we camped at tut Forks and on Tuesday morning under a cloudy north west sky, set out up the Waitatapia. It was las creek work goes, for the stream bed is fairly wide and tree-barrages ' are rare. After three hours' tramp steady rain set ill and, fearing a rise | in the creek, we camped in comfort under a big rinra. Wo I \ Wednesday morning was misty, we pushed on for an hour up the creek, blazed frees on both bank s at the spot where we left the creek, and went up a spur on the right, going east. A climb of ninety minutes in easy bush bi ought UB to the top. The sky was clearing and we saw we were almost south east of Taungata and had therefore lotr the creek at a convenient point, we proceeded along the top for about hali-a-mile north to a knob and then struck down on an easterly spur into the Otaki. The bush here is rough, Ibe Prince of Wales' Feather fern growns in masses waist high, vegetation is tar more luxuriant than on the western side and progress was slow. We came out into a broad easy creek which runs into the Wflitewaewae River, about fifty yards above the junction of that river with the Otaki proper. This creek is not marked on the survey map. Time from top of divide, two, hours. We -then, followed the Otaki upstream for an hour and camped in a big b'end. The Waitewaewae and Otaki proper seemed to have an equal amount of water and the fording of the Otaki was here knee to hip, mostly hip, but the rope was not needed. Beautiful river scenery, pigeon, kaka, goats standing on picturesque bluffs, an easy and interesting day. < Next morning, Thursday, at 6 a.m., Ave began to climb up through the bush on a spur leading to a bare knob, which is connected with the mam range by a grassy ridge. It took five hours heavy work to reach the bush line, lho first hour was spent in fair beeehforest, but soon the spur steepened and was covered. with rotten trees, deep moss and rock-masses. The stunted beeeh, stink-wood and mutton bush forms here a tangled thicket too low to creep under and not low enough to ) walk over. We were constantly caught up or wedged between limbs by our heavy packs and were spent and thirsty when finally wc came out on the bare knob, altitude about 4000 feet. Here wc boiled-up, using one of our two precious bottles of water. The mist bung just above us in a straight line all along the range, covering Dundas and Crawford and sweeping round to submerge West Peak. Dennan was -just visible and, far in the south west, in the hollow below Table Top, the flew iron on Field's hut shone brightly. I Beneath the mist, over the lowest part of the main range just north of West Peak, we could get a peep at Palhser Bay and the east coast ranges. To our joy the mist began to roll away about midday. The summit of Crawford appeared. We now followed the ridge from our knoll and in twenty minutes reached the main range. Another ten minutes brought us to the •summit. There is here no cairn, as on Hector, only a piece of iron-p.piug driven into the rock and the wooden pole lies rotten beside it. Water is obtainable in a tarn or spring lying some '3OO feet bolow on the east «de o:t 'Crawford,

To the east lies the loug grim line of bare tops stretehing from Dundtts to ■Holdsworth. The upper Waiohine runs below in a wild jumble of busby gorges. To the west are the headwaters of the Otaki, in another jumble of bush-clad hills. North west is seen the Manawatu plain* and the glitter of lake and fiver. To the west one traces the line of the Otaki Gorge and notes how the big white clouds roll in from the sea 'on the north west wind. They se'em to follow the line of the river inland and pile up on Hector, so that Hector Jh misted over even when the northern *««ks are clear. A glorious panorama in the sunshine—but we cannot stay. The mist may envelop us at any moment and we debate the question: Shall we go on south along the main

range, aiming at Field's hut or return ■to the bush and drop again into the. Otaki. On the range the going is easy —snow-grass and moss—but the tarns seem all to be dry, the next waters is an unknown quantity. What is more, an hour ahead there is a patch or tangled bush, joining Crawford to the next big knob. We visualise that piece of bush; we make take hours to battle through it and the time left us is short. We decide for the Otaki, return to our knob, cross some dead bush and take a .spur which will bring us into 'a big bend in the river, a couple of miles south of the junction of the Otaki and the Waitewaewac. After a four hours''descent we campod most comfortably in the big bend and next morning, Friday, crossed the river and took the spur between the two creeks which empty into the bend. This proved an excellent spur; m one and a-half hours wo reached the top, in ram and mist, and found a ridge Tunning south then west down to the Waitatapia. Three hours' travelling down'stream brought us out at the Forks. We were now more than glad we had not followed the main range. The bush was soaking and even the lower hills misted over. Conditions on the tops would have been decidedly unpleasant. From this account it appears feasible in fine weather, to follow the Toute we took and reach the upper Otaki m one day, climb Crawford next morning and •proceed along the main range southwards, camp on bush line, and on the •third day, reach Field'» hut or even the •Forks and West Peak. If the weather did not hold fine for the third day one could always drop down, into the Otaki and either follow the river down or vross over into the Waitatapia. Excellent work has been done by the different Tramping Clubs in opening up tracks across the range. Men of vision, however, see the day when the mam range from Hector to Crawford to iduAvill be marked out and dotted with ihuts a day's march apart. As said above, the going on'the tops is easy; ith-e main ridge is well defined. The essential task will be to cut tracks along -the chain through the patches of stuntled bush which here and there creep over the main ridge from side to side. These arc at present the biggest irfbstaclo to progress along the range. When this work is completed there will (exist one of the finest walks m the world, a permanent asset to our country.