Sparrowhawk bivvy, Ruahine Forest Park, Saturday 6 August 2022
Banner Photo: The view east, towards the Wakararas and beyond
On a beautiful winter’s morning, eight set out in the van with expert driver John D at the helm. We saw lots of fat sheep looking as if they could have their lambs at any moment, and almost no snow on the Ruahines.
Our tramp to Sparrowhawk bivvy was to begin at the Hall’s farm, but first there was a discussion about who had been unwell recently with Covid, colds and so on… most of us hadn’t been out for a while. The instructions were to go easy and not overdo it and ‘you can turn around at any time’. Yeah, right.
We set off at about 8.20; the farm looked very neat and tidy, and it wasn’t muddy underfoot as we crossed the fields down to the Makaroro River, following it to where the track begins with a steep climb. The sign said 3.5 hours and it was 9am, but we only had day packs and expected to do it slightly quicker than that.
The first stretch is a narrow, rocky ridge and you must be careful not to put a foot wrong. After a while, we got onto the main track – much wider but very steep. It was clear that most of us were not at normal fitness and we stopped for short breaks several times, just to get our breath back.
The track was in great condition. Barry Long-legs, greyhound Sue G and I seemed to find our tramping legs and off we went, though the others were never far behind. At 10.30, we halted for a drink and a re-fuel; the track was starting to undulate and was much easier. This was a welcome break from the constant up-and-up.
There are several parts where you drop down quite significantly, so the total climb is a lot more than the 780m if you’d just measured it from the base and top altitudes (580m at the river, 1360m at the top). Someone worked out it was actually about a 1000m climb – and it felt like it!
We continued higher, it got much cooler and the vegetation changed to sub-alpine, notably leatherwood and stunted trees. We came to the scree slip on our right (north) and the very narrow, steep path indicating we were nearly there; to our surprise, we did it in just over 2.5 hours, arriving at 11.45. Barry was half-way through his lunch by the time I arrived.
But Michelle’s legs had gone to jelly; she saw the scree and narrow path and decided that was enough, and had her lunch there. Careful tramp organiser Campbell went back to check she was OK.
John arrived with a bloody hand, claiming he needed a nurse. But a big grin gave his game away… a minor clean-up revealed a very minor injury and a couple of band-aids did the trick.
Most of us went on to the tops and along to the sign. The wind was freezing and there was a bit of snow at that height.
The bivvy looked very smart and the area was sheltered from the wind. It made a great lunch spot.
Then off we went on the return trip. The track was fine going down; only the final, steep section needed some care. We had a lovely walk back and the sun shone most of the time. We saw kereru, warblers and ‘something else’ sang its heart out, but I couldn’t see what it was. We reached the van between 2.45pm and 3.30pm, after a fabulous day. Illnesses hadn’t slowed us up and we were chuffed to have done it in the time.
Trampers: Campbell Living, Michele Ericksen, Alison Greer, Barry Doak, Sue Gribble, John Dobbs, Johanne Karlsson and reporter Di Reid
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