THE INEXHAUSTIBLE TARARUAS.

Shannon News, 30 November 1928, Page 3

THE INEXHAUSTIBLE TARARUAS.

TRIP FROM MT. DUNDAS TO MT. CRAWFORD VIA MTS. LANCASTER AND CARKEEK. (By S. G. Mclntosh.) The phenomenal run of fine weather over the proverbially boisterous Labour Day period was largely responsible for the success of our trip over the above route —one not. hitherto traversed so far as can be ascertained. On Saturday night we—Messrs S. G. Mclntosh (loader), G. B. Wilson and J. A. Milroy—camped up the Oh.au River at Tongue Flat (14 hours from the Pipe Bridge). Departing nextmorning at 5 o'clock, we were at the Ohau confluence in another 1J hours. Misty rain accompanied us all of the 27) hours occupied in climbing from the Ohau to Deception Ridge., On reaching the top, the weather cleared and we w'ere down at Avalanche Flat in another hour. Four hours' steady tramping took us to Mt. Dundas, ■where a grand vie>v of the whole range was obtained. Patches of melting snow, rapidly disappearing under the warm rays of the summer sun, still lingered on the slopes of Dundas and Bannister. Ruapehu, although somewhat indistinct, stood out unmistakably in the far north. We proceeded south for about an hour and decided to eaiffp on a small flat 100 ft. below the crest of the ridge on the eastern side. The tent was pitched by means of poles brought from the bush-line on Dundas, and made fast to several stout .rocks. ■ Intermittent ,-gust3 of wind and rain during the night disturbed us not, and we reposed in comfort on a liberal bed of snowgrass. - Monday broke fine with fog clinging to the mountain-tops. Continuing the tramp at- 7 a.m., vve left the LevinMasterton route a little distance north of the Waiohine-iti Pinnacles and commenced on the high and interesting ridge which forms the watershed between tlie Park and the Waiohine-iti rivers. We were soon over Lancaster, Thompson, Oarkcek, and two knobs further south. There is a deep track all the way, there is no exhausting leather-leaf scrub to negotiate, and the. going was excellent. Occasional deer were-im evidence browsing on either side of the ridge. All morning the fog hung above us like a gigantic halo; below the sun shone brightly on the rich green of hill and valley. Occasionally, between the fringe of the mist and the crest of the foothills on ITomwhenua side, we caught glimpses of sunlit plain and sea-coast with Kapiti Island studding a sea of azure blue. A break in the east revealed the long, grim top stretching from Mt. Girdlestone to Iloldsworth. Ever and again Mt. Crawford, over which our route lay, loomed sharply upward in the distant south.

Four hours after deserting the LevinMastertmi route, we came to the tongue of the ridge and entered the region of stunted beech growth. The deer track continues through the bush until the ridge drops sharply' in its final descent to river-level. Three hours after entering the bush wc were at the confluence of the Park and Waiohine-iti rivers, which junction picturesquely in equal volumes of water at an elevation of 2000 ft. above sea-level. Below the junction the river flows swiftly along a bed strewn with huge boulders. In a corner near-by, a jumble of sturdy logs on the western bank bears potent testimony to the torrential nature of ilie river iin flood, time. Wc made a comfortable camp on a small terrace on the western bank a few yards below the junction. Next day,. Tuesday, the route lay up a steep ridge commencing at. the pile of logs and leading up to Mt. Crawford. This ridge, which was picked mt the previous day as the most suitable, provided 'an excellent route, and the bush-lim was reached in two hours. Another half-hour brought us through a narrow belt of leather-leaf to the . meadow-land. An occasional light mist caused no difficulty, and wj were able to follow with case the spur which takes a somewhat, circuitous route to Mt. Crawford, which was reached in two hours. After a sojourn of one and a-half hours on the summit, during which time we Avere rewarded Aviih fragments of the glorious panorama which is to be had from Crawford in ideal conditions, wc followed the suiwcy route to the Otaki River, coming out on that-river half a mile below its junction with t.he'Waitc’AvaeAvae 'Stream. Here the river opens cut in beautiful flats and parkland, unfolding a scene of luxuriance surely unsurpassed in the Avhole Tararua system. Deep pools shaded by graceful boughs drooping fantastically overhead add to a picture of infinite beauty; Next clay marked the concluding stage of tiie journey to Otaki Forks, which Avas reached by crossing the divide betAveen the Otaki River and the Waitatapia Stream and then following the stream to the Forks.

Although a fairly strenuous trip and longer than the Leviu-Masterton tramp, the route presents no difficulties to tit end experienced trampers. Obviously it is a trip for the fine months of the year. We had sufficient provisions to last a week or longer if necessary; and our packs weighed 40ibs each at the commencement of the tramp. The route traverses or pusses near by the most interesting section of the Tarnmas and is rich in the vajriety of mountain, river, and forest scenery ~t .affords.