Gold Creek Hut, Ruahine FP, Saturday 16 August 2025
Banner Photo: The main Ruahine Range on the skyline viewed from Gold Creek track
This tramp was extremely popular – with 18 trampers in total, it constituted about 25 percent of the club’s membership.
Saturday morning was a bit brisk when we met at Park Island. We had a full vanload, plus five in a car and were picking up Di at Maraekakaho then meeting up with Deena in her car down at Wakarara Road.
However, despite leaving bang on time, we soon encountered a delay as police had closed the road and were turning vehicles around at Fernhill due to an accident; so we had to backtrack, take the expressway and go through Bridge Pa to get back onto SH50. Poor Di was waiting patiently in her shorts for the van to arrive and would have had time for brekkie, had she known.
Heading up to the park boundary fence-line
At the farm at the end of Glenny Road, one of the owners was kindly waiting to open the gate and direct us over to the loo in one of their outbuildings.
Around 9am, we set off across several paddocks – the stock certainly have plenty of feed judging by the rather large and copious amounts of cow and sheep dung – and reached the fence-line gate where it intersects with the DoC track at about 9.30. There are good views of the Makaroro River from there.
Some big native trees and crown ferns along the track
Then it was off up the track, winding our way onto the ridge and pausing to look across the valley to the snow-capped main ranges. Before long we had separated into groups, walking at a different pace, and it wasn’t long before we were shedding a layer or two. The track was undulating and had a large number of crown ferns, as well as beech, rimu, miro and lots of lush green mosses – plus there was plenty of birdsong, so very pleasant.
We stopped for morning tea at 10.30 then continued for another half hour before starting the steep descent down to the hut. The track petered out due to the creek bank being scoured out, but a new diversion required a reasonably big drop down to Gold Creek, which had some folks scratching their heads, wondering how they would get back up on the return journey!
Gold Creek was easy to cross
The stream was shallow and easy to cross, so no worries about cold, wet boots. It was only 11.30, so an early lunch stop. Three young hunters were staying the night in the hut so we spread out on the grassy clearing and enjoyed the sunshine. But it was soon time to make the trek back up the hill – with lots of pauses to catch one’s breath on the ascent but then with the reward of being mostly downhill for the rest of the tramp back to the van.
Gold Creek Hut sits above the creek
We were back at the fence-line gate by 2pm, wandered across the paddocks again and reached the van at 2.15. We waited for the others to arrive and then the car-load went straight back to Napier (things to do, places to be) whilst the van stopped for refreshments at the Tiko pub.
We had been lucky with the weather – it was a gorgeous sunny day, plus great company and lovely scenery.
Trampers: Campbell Living, Sue Martin, Fiona Bryant, Alison Greer, Amelia Moorhead, David Hills, Donna Weston, Selina Chilton, Di Reid, Julian Phillips, Rob Vork, Deena Hanson, Mark Jenkins, Kate Fuller, Christine Briasco, Nozomu Takahashi, Julia Mackie and reporter Shona Tupe
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