TARARUA TRIP ENDS BADLY.

Shannon News, 22 April 1927, Page 3

TARARUA TRIP ENDS BADLY.

ONE MAN FALLS DOWN A BLUFF. MEDICAL AID SUMMONED. ESCAPE FROM EANGE THEOUGH SWOLLEN EIVER. An arduous experience awaited a party of members of the Victoria College Tramping Club, who left Shannon on Good Friday for the purpose of traversing the Tararua range in the direction of Levin. The party consisted of Messi-3 Stewart Wilson (leader), Beaglehole, Grocott and Whitehead, and Misses .Downes, Carr, Fowler and Seatenby. > On Friday they reached No. 3 Gorge dam, Mangahao, and. stayed there overnight. Next morning they followed up the course of the Mangahao and by nightfall reached the upper end of the main gorges and camped in the more open part of the valley. Resuming their trek on Sunday, they travelled as far as Avalanche Clearing, at the base of Mt. Dundas. It was then evening, and they .made their camp on the clearing. On Monday the party passed over the divide, known as Deception Ridge, between the Mangahao and Ohau Valleys. DISLOCATED SHOULDER.

Coming down the f-pur to the Ohau, about half past three on Monday afternoon, Mr Beaglehole met with an aceir dent which brought the expedition to a stop until relief could be procured. While negotiating a steep portion of the route he stumbled and fell down the face of the spur has arm being doubled under his pack when he struck ih.?. ground, so that his shoulder was dislocated.

The trampers, assisting the injured man, pushed on as fa#as ,the confluence of the main and branch streams ,cf the Ohau, and camped by the stream aboux six and a v -half miles above the Borough intake. Mr Wilson continued on down the Ohau with the object of seeking assistance. He .readied the clearing 'and as he did not then know his whereabouts, he stayed there the night. Yesterday morning he met Mr Hudson, a fencer, and went, with him to Mr D. Hair's farm, where '.hey met Mr Skilton, and Mr Rockell,- who was.working with him on a fencing contract. Mr Skilton set off for Mr G. L. Adkin's place, while Mr Wilson waited at the whare on the edge of the clearing. The message reached Mr Adkin about 10 a.m., Mr Skilton asking him, with his intimate knowledge of the river, to lead a party to the relief of the trampers. After ringing up Dr. S. J. Thompson, of Levin, who was to be met by Mr Hudson, Mr Adkin left in company with Messrs Skilton, Rockell and Wilson, and proceeded right up to the site of the camp ju'st below the forks of the Ohau. To Mr Wilson's astonishment the tramping party had gone, and .as they had not been encountered during the journey up the river, the searchers were puzzled' to know what had become of them. However, thev left the camp 3ite -and retraced their steps, giving calls in case the others had got" into the bush. Eventually it turned out that this was what had happened. DOCTOR REACHEw INJURED MAN In the meantime Dr. Thompson and Mr Hudson had got into touch with the party by calling, and ihe doctor set Mr Beaglehole's shoulder. Mr Adkin's party had entered the bush at -10.40 a.m., reached' the camp site at 12.30 p.m., and came up with the party at 1.30 p.m.. All came av/ay together down through the phau,but with many difficulties on the way, and it, was not until 4.10 p.m. that they reached thy clearing. Their tiials on this stage or the journey were chiefly due to the sudden ' and unexpected' rise of the river, which changed from a comparatively normal condition to that of a foaming 1 orient several feet higher while they were away in the bush. Both rescuers and rescued.had to go through a. nerve-trying ordeal before they reached the clearing, and had it not been for a rope "which Mr Adkin took with him they would have fared badly indeed. The current was strong, and the depth of water had become so great that it was a matter of much difficulty to find a route round the rock faces. Fortunately the journey out was accom-' plished without mishap, and it was-with much satisfaction that the combined parties found that Mr'W. Stewart, having heard of their predicament,, had brought his car to the pipe bridge and walked on to the whare to await their coining. Consequently, instead of having a meal and drying their clothes at the whare, the travellers came straight iii to Levin by the cars- The erstwhile tramping party divided up, and the'members were kindly taken to the residences of Dr. Thompson, Mr Adkin and Mr Stewart, where they were refreshed and made comfortable, and afterwards they were conveyed to the railway station, where they joined the 040 train for Wellington. The rescue of the party from a serious quandary and the relief of the injured member were achievements which will stand to the lasting credit of those who took part in the expedition yesterday. Mr Beaglehole bore up wonderfully under the painful circumstances, and was able tc travel with confidence after receiving medical aid. On the steep places he was held up by means of the rope, and throughout the arduous trip his demeanour was ahec-rful. WOULD HAVE ATTEMPTED DUNDAS. The Tramping Club party had origl- ] naily Intended to climb Mt. Dundas, but this was, relinquished because the journey up the Mangahao had taken longer than was anticipated. They were able to make the stage from the Mangahao to the Ohau by means of information which thev had obtained as to the lay of the' country, and they accomplished this part of the journey, fairly comfortably,. They also derived help from the markings left by the Levin party which crossed to Eketahuna! last month and which cut arrows to indicate several turn-off places. The students' party were not .lost, and but for the accident they would have found their way out by the Ohau gorge. The loute which they subsequently took through the bush, when the river was rising was impracticable however, and, with the relief party, they had to return to the river. \■. . -