IN THE TARARUAS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9052, 11 February 1908, Page 6

IN THE TARARUAS.

A .TRIP TO MITRE PEAK,

A UNIQUE AND ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY TRIP. (Specially Contributed). On Friday morning last a party composed of Messrs H. and J. Duckett, H. Chamberlain, R. Hunt, C. Bannister and tho writer, commenced a short holiday ramble in the Tararua ranges, in which was to be included an ascent of the Mitre, the high twin peak whose summit has all the other mountain tops in the range under its subjective gaze. We decided to commence our journey from tho Mild Miki, which meant that we had to negotiate the bush-clad range intervening between the Waingawa and Miki Miki rivers, known as the Blue Range, and the highest points of which almost pierce the winter snow il»6' . , , ' .. We set out from Nicholson s at about nine o'clock on Friday morning, after passing through the Miki k Miki valley, parts of which suffered so severely in the recent fires. Following the left bank of the riverfor some distance in order to negotiate the rocky defile through which the river enters the cleared country ,known as the "key of the Miki Miki," we forded the stream at the foot of Rahotahi spur, and commenced an exhilarating ascent through most delightful bush country. We were carrying provisions for four days, consequently our burdens were against fast climbing, but nevertheless we made good progress through the dense under-scrub, and tiaving experienced bushmen in the party we were not long in reaching the belt of bush which constitutes the Government forest reserve. The day was perfect for climbing, and the ahsenceof rain had made the ground also very favourable, although the effect of the drought on the vegetation' was very marked indeed. We had not penetrated far into the forest reserve when we heard the native parrakoet twittering overhead. This bird is becoming very rare in the bush, and we halted awhile, to have a glimpse at two of them. /A little distance farther on we were stopped by our leader giving a warning call. A wild bull barred our path, and we had to proceed slowly while he sauntered off down the slope, after giving us a disdainful glance. We reached the summit of the Blue range shortly after one o'clock, having ascended the highest point in the chain. The route taken by our party was an entirely new one. covering country very little traversed. Below, at a distance of probably 2,500 feet, the Wain'gawa flowed southwards to the plains, and after a rapid descent we reached its banks, emerging at a spot over the gorge. Here a magnificent panorama is presented by the peculiar formation of the slopes, which resemble the sides, of an enormous amphitheatre. Strange enough the first,object to meet our view was a wild bull—a beautiful three-year-old, probably—drinking on the banks of the river. We had to cross the stream in order to proceed up its banks to reach the spur we intended to ascend the Mitre by. We, therefore, yelled in chorus, arid so disconcerted the bull that he made off up stream. We had to cross and fe-cross the river about thirty times, passing "Jacob's Ladder" en route.' This spur has the old survey track running up its face, and we decided to strike up what Mr Bannister thought would be a good spur, which he named "Roly-poly" spur, as a member of our party, whose name was Roland, had previously memorised as a likely route to the Mitre when he was exploiting in the Blue range some time ago. We camped near the foot of this spur, and on account of the extremely dry condition of the grass and bush, took strict precautions with our fire.

In the morning we made up the 'spur, starting at about ,7.20 o'clock. "RolyiV' judgment proved sound, as the spur was a grand one for climbing and in two and a half hours we were among the "old men trees" just below the snow line. The. Mitre is a forbidding mountain to look at from below and we found that the bluff peak did not belie his looks. The last hour and a-half of the climb was made up a fairly precipitous slope, amid the most prosaic surroundings. The alpine flora was withered by drought, the mountain daisy and the edelweiss bsing the only . plants in bloom, and few daisies being seen. We encountered a very strong gale, and had to cling tightly to the rocky slopes to avoid catastrophe. We reached the trig on the higher peak I after four hours and ten minutes' stiff going, and were not sorry to have a spell. We could discern Masterton faintly, but there was nothing to commend the view in any direction through the smoke and haze* We carved our names and the date on the trig, and descended again to the river below. The bush scenery en route was, of course, typical of the rest of the forest, and of a wildly grand character.' From the Mitre the Waingawa valley presents a very fine panorama, and is perhaps the best feature of the view. We spent the balance of the clay exploring higher up the Waingawa, and in the bush. We encountered more cattle, about twenty head in all. The rare and beautiful blue mountain duck was seen, also several grey duck. In the bush wild pigeon were perched in numbers, and kaka screeched their unmistakable _ call. We saw pig tracks but no pigs, and, most important of all, we came across the track <sf deer. Twelve months ago the Acclimatisation Society official packed four deer up the Waingawa river and over the Blue range to liberate them well out of civilisation's limits. Apparently the deer are alive as the tracks we saw were very recent. We camped again on the river bank that night, returning by a new route over the Blue range on Sunday. We saw more pigeon on our return, and descending the Mild Miki river right from .its source we spent some time eeling. The Duckett Brothers landed seven very large eels, the smallest weighing' about five pounds, and the largest about 161bs. We reached Nicholson's at three o'clock in the afternoon, after three eventful days in most interesting and beautiful country.