Longview Hut, Saturday April 20 2013
Ruahine FP, Map BL36
The trips scheduled were for a day and weekend, but the weather forecast discouraged the weekend trampers, and so only six headed up to Longview Hut. Marc’s company has bought him a great Ford Territory. We were overjoyed, because his Toyota Camry had to bail out on the hill on Kashmir Road last time Marc took us up there.
They are now logging the pines on the foothills, and Kashmir Road has been graded and widened on some bends to allow the logging trucks access. The last 500m up to the car park, however, has not been touched, so is still uneven with some ruts. A 4WD vehicle is still required for this stretch.
We could not see the tops, in fact the viz was about 100 metres. They appear to be creating a new track on the lower part, which is being built with a small digger; it is very wide, and zig-zags its way up the first 100m ascent. The old track is quicker, though a bit steeper.
The light rain meant that we did not stop, and walked through the door on Longview Hut at 9.35am. Jeez, not even 10am yet. We all had a snack, and checked out the hut logbook. A week or so earlier, a visitor had commented on the rubbish left in the hut. He had kindly carried out what he could, so we decided to take the rest between us. Tui bottles and plastic drink bottles came out with us. That left the hut spick and span.
A coffee at the Sawyers Arms, Tikokino on our way home was enjoyed, as it was still too early for lunch.
It was great to have John Gray with us, on a brief visit from Thailand. Good fun, John!
Trampers: John Gray, John Russell, Les O’Shea, Paul Exeter, Marc Marchal and Julia Mackie
Another opportunity gone begging for Longview Hut! Still haven’t been there. Didn’t look much fun though!