Napier Tramping Club

based in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

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Slip-sliding away, to and from No Mans

September 26, 2009 by Jude Paton Leave a Comment

Golden Crown to No Mans, Saturday September 26. Map U20/BK37

Trampers: Ted Angove, Paul Exeter, Geoff Donkin, John Dobbs, Murray White, John Gray, Julia Mackie, Alison Greer, Dennis Mitchell (newcomer) and Jude Paton

Ten keen trampers, including a newcomer, were determined to make it all the way to No Mans Hut this time round. The weather looked better than earlier forecast and we set out from Masters Shelter at 8:10am in cool, still conditions, the tops shrouded in cloud.
The Masters' memorialBefore long, some of us were huffing and puffing and discarding outer layers. The ‘A’ team (Julia, Geoff and John D) took advantage of our breather to surge through the ranks, leaving the ‘B’ team to follow in their wake. The dumping of snow earlier in the week became evident in the second half of the climb up to the ridge as we proceeded to slip and slide in places. Earlier snow damage turned parts of the track into an obstacle course as we clambered over, under, around and through uprooted trees and broken branches. We reached the signposts up top after 2h 15m. The ‘A’ team had already departed and we literally followed in their footsteps through the snow. Raincoats, hats and gloves were donned as we emerged from the scrubby bush onto the open tops. Views were restricted to what’s up front, with white-out on both sides. John G wasn’t feeling great (nothing to do with the red wine from the previous night, he assured us) and decided to call it a day, heading back with Paul (the ‘C’ team?).

No Mans HutLight wind, cooler temperatures and brief skiffs of rain accompanied us through the snowgrass and the barer tops. We passed the Ohawai trig and continued to ‘undulate’ our way along. Later, we spotted the ‘A’ team up ahead on No Mans Spur and passed by the Masters’ memorial. We reached the road end (very bizarre, when you think you’re in the middle of nowhere!) just before 12:30pm and headed down to the hut.

To our surprise, it was unlocked and no ‘A’ team to be seen. They turned up shortly after, having made a diversion to the No Mans trig.


Sun broke through briefly and the sky continued to lighten as we retraced our footsteps, with views clearing out to the western side, revealing beautiful reddish slopes, along with fresh greens, yellows and browns. Off came the outer layers once more.

Reds, yellows and greens - the view from the topsGeoff set a fast pace and had us back at the signposts in 1h 30m, ready for the descent. With snow melting fast, we slipped and slithered our way back down below the snow line to firmer footing in misty sunlight, breaking into smaller groups to suit our pace with the last of us arriving back at 4:20pm. Our newcomer coped extremely well and hopefully he’ll be back for more adventures. A great day out – we achieved our goal, the weather cooperated for a change and we all felt pretty pleased with ourselves and only a bit tired! Alison had an unusually quiet bunch in the back of the van, for the homeward drive.

Filed Under: Recent trips Tagged With: Golden Crown, No Mans

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About us

We are a group of like-minded people who love the great outdoors. We tramp mostly in the Hawke’s Bay province, in remote areas such as the Kaweka and Ruahine Ranges; but we also travel longer distances to new places, for longer walks.

The Napier Tramping Club was established in 1974 and has about 70 members. We belong to the Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ Inc (FMC) and run Saturday, full-weekend and Wednesday tramps, every fortnight.

Interested in joining us?

Enjoy the great outdoors, keep fit and get to know others with similar interests.

More information

Latest news

March 2023 News

Tramp List Amendments and Road Closures Due to the inability to access most of the Ruahine Forest … Read More

February 2023 News

Mokai Access to Iron Bark and Colenso Huts Copied from the Ruahine User Group (Private) Facebook … Read More

Latest trip

The (local) hills are alive with trampers

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  • Dept of Conservation
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  • Heretaunga Tramping Club
  • New Zealand Tramper
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  • Wanganui Tramping Club

Useful links 2

  • Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society
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