The Hogget, Wednesday 20 August 2025
Banner Photo: Trying to attract the rescue helicopter crew’s attention
The Hogget isn’t a particularly challenging trip, and the initial 11 expected a fairly easy tramp. It turned out to be anything but.
Before we left Napier, a family issue arose for one tramper so we returned to Park Island to drop her off. (It was also great to have Geoff out, his first tramp for about a year.)
In cool but pleasant conditions and with showers forecast later, the remaining ten started out around 9.20am. A broad, slushy 4WD track led to a modest stream crossing and the actual tramping track. While well formed, this is getting overgrown in places. All the uphill parts are moderate and there are some lovely sections of large beech trees with a rich understorey of ferns and horopito, and lots of bush lawyer to snag everyone. Later, we reached an area of regenerating rimu, totara and miro trees among the larger beeches.
Heading up to the bush hiding the private hut
We left Ted to do what was comfortable for him for the day, and guarding the van keys, because we knew he would be back before us.
The bush thinned out as we made altitude; ahead we could see that snow had settled. The first flurries arrived and the breeze grew stronger, along with a marked drop in temperature.
Much of this area was burned out by early settlers for stock grazing and the actual Hogget feature has some old fence posts to remind us of what they tried to do up here. It was good to see the regrowth of lovely forest lower down and scrubby bushes higher up, now that the land has been retired.
We were not far from the Hogget feature when one of our group tumbled and fell awkwardly. She was in pain with her right leg possibly broken and her ankle in trouble. Everyone rallied around and tried to make her more comfortable with a makeshift splint and painkillers.
Heaading up to the Hogget
Given the location, the cold and the snow flurries, we didn’t hesitate to set off a PLB. Two trampers managed to make phone contact, to let people back home know what was happening. Fortunately, we were only about 700 metres from a private hunters’ hut. We needed to reach that hut without delay. But getting the casualty up and supported on either side was not working out.
John volunteered to piggy-back our injured friend. This was hard, but he was spurred on by encouraging words from the others. Nevertheless, it took 90 minutes to reach the hut.
Everyone piled into the hut and made our friend more comfortable with mattresses and several sleeping bags. Lunch and hot drinks were more than welcome.
We heard the distant noise of the rescue chopper, but it was lower down, some valleys over and, given the full white-out and lack of co-ordinates for the private hut, a rescue seemed unlikely. We waved our pack covers and bright pack-liners from the nearby chopper landing area, to no avail.
Di decided to stay with the injured tramper until rescue came, enabling the rest to return to the van and meet Ted, who of course had no idea what was happening.
The hut had a gas stove, plenty of water and firewood. Di lit the fire and made more hot drinks. It was very cold outside. The helicopter made several attempts to locate them but snow flurries and low cloud prevented that.
After 4pm, they thought they were there for the night, but at around 5pm a chopper was back and found Di leaping around on the ridge in the snow. The crew gave them two minutes to evacuate. Our casualty was scooped up by a paramedic, the fire dampened down and the hut made secure.
They flew to Ohakune, were met by police and an ambulance and transferred to Palmerston North Hospital. Assessment showed two breaks and ankle damage. Medics plastered the leg and realigned the ankle, in two operations. The patient was transferred to Hastings Hospital for a third operation to insert two pins, and later discharged.
Di said that the medics, pilot, paramedics and hospital staff were wonderful. We all wish the patient a steady and complete recovery.
Trampers: Sue Martin, Ted Angove, Alison Greer, Geoff Donkin, Donna Weston, Barbara Edmead, Selina Chilton, Simon Hill and reporters John Dobbs and Di Reid
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