This was to be a father & son expedition but Ben got a better offer, so Steve, Jordan and Erwin set off for Mt Taranaki on Wednesday mid afternoon. A quick stop for refreshments at Tiffany's in Te Kuiti and then onto the Camphouse at North Egmont saw them arriving at 9.30 that night!
The next morning they awoke to the sound of rain - lots of it! After a quick breakfast Steve & Erwin headed down to the Visitor Centre to fill in an "intentions" form as well as get an update of the weather. The weather didn't look to good and the freezing level was coming down to around 1100m.
They set off at 9am, by 9.30am they were in the middle of snow (on the ground and in the air), rain and a cold biting wind. There were a couple of tricky bits to navigate; over a bunch of slippery boulders, across an old slip, under a waterfall, and around a couple of groups of trampers heading the other way. They had had fine weather the day before!!
They got to Holly Hut at 12 and promptly got naked ..... and got into warm dry clothes, restarted the fire and cooked a hot lunch. The weather by now was pretty intense, the hut although sheltered did get a bit noisey at times as the winds hit it. In light of the weather it was decided to stay in the hut until the next day.
The menu that night for dinner included Spag Bol with Apple Crumble Dessert, Mexican Chicken, Beef Curry With Potatoes & Mixed Vege - who said they were slumming it!
The weather the next morning wasn't too encouraging, so they resorted to a new version of Last Card - and yes a miracle was seen - Steve playing cards!!!
At 11.45 they set off for Pouakai Hut which by the map was a couple of hours away. It involved crossing a swamp (Erwin got blown off the track into the swamp!) and then a slog up a couple of hills where it was very gusty. They made good time and arrived at the hut at 1.15. Just before the weather really closed in again. This hut was more exposed and was constantly being battered by the winds. Pouakai Hut had a better fire box, but no lights (Holly Hut has a solar panel set up for lighting at night.)
Day 3 of 4 and the weather was still very gusty and the hut was still getting battered. The ranger had told them of a emergency route off the mountain in case of bad weather. The other option was to continue climbing for a couple of hours on some very exposed ridges before descending into the forest. The decison was made to come out a day early and take the emergency route. The only problem was the exit off the mountain was along way from the car. 0800 Hydraulink came to the rescue and Erwin arranaged for the local distributor for Hydraulink - Ian (aka Mush) to pick us up at 12. They got down from the mountain pretty quickly and Mush did pick them up and drive them back to the Visitor Centre.
He mentioned on the trip back that with the right weather and at full moon, trampers head up the mountain at 11pm so that they are at the summit at dawn - in time for sunrise - this really got Steve and Erwin thinking!!.
After a quick meal at the cafe - they headed back to Auckland.
In all it was an enjoyable time albeit for the weather. New gear was tested and proven - need to go back to the drawing board re waterproof mittens/ gloves and better jackets!
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