By Harriet Blundell, 23 August 2026
Later than intended on a grey sunday morning, Sean, Finlay, Caroline and I set off to Kaitoke in pursuit of some winter scenes - but with low expectations. Going to the Ruahines highest hut and spending a day wandering Sawtooth ridge was originally in mind, however, weather considerations and the obstacle of a freshly broken down car forced us to rearrange our plans. After some detours on our drive there, we layered up and set off around 10am along the extraordinarily muddy track towards Marchant ridge. My growing anticipation of the coming 'goblin forest' was being fuelled by the rest of the groups high praise, and I can definitely say it did not fall short of expectations.
Poking in and out of the treeline along the ridge meant intermittent exposure to some quite extreme winds. Some sections had me struggling to keep my footing, but I can say with assurance that I actually found it very entertaining. We also did find a tiny patch of snow! 8 and a half hours on the track got us to Alpha hut in the dark, interestingly the last 'ten minutes' before we reached the hut took 45? I got to experience my hells gate debut after hearing so many lovely things about it from Sean and Finlay, but it wasn't too bad when paired with a wicked sunset:
After an unfortunately fireless night, I was awoken early to some very striking sunrise views before we leisurely cruised through the morning and set off on the steep descent of Bull Mound track a bit before midday. We witnessed some great 360 views of the Tararuas and the southern crossing, as well as experiencing the luxuries of Cone hut on our lunch stop. Tutuwai was reached with some sunlight still to spare, which apparently was encouragment enough for Caroline to take a plunge in the river, and a few hours were spent on mattresses on the deck to watch the stars trickle out. Lots of wood chopping and refilling commenced, as well as some semi-unsuccessful possum hunting. It seems the 1080 is doing its job! Day 3 meant a steady walk out along the Dobson track, and then a rush over puffer saddle in order to get Finlay and Caroline to the cube in time to buy a cake. Overall, my first multi-night tramp in the Tararua's left me feeling very content. Great moss, greater people :)
