Reconnecting with Gregg & Carla: Two day trip up Mt Hector

Biking the ten miles up into the Otaki Gorge to reach the trail head for Mt Hector

I decided to take advantage of a good weather forecast and bike the ten miles up into the Otaki Gorge above Gregg and Carla's home. Biking with the 50 pound backpack made it a challenging ride up into the gorge where there are several places where the road edge has no railing and it drops virtually straight down into the river more than a hundred feet below. So I felt encouraged to pay attention, especially because many of these sections are narrow and only allow one vehicle to travel at a time. In another section the stream has to be forded but thankfully is only about a half foot deep. I left my hut fees for the absent caretaker and locked the bike and helmet to a tree and began my tramp up into the high country.

The first hobbit house along the trail

The tramper must spend a couple of hours working through the lower elevations of 'bush' before getting above the tree line. I reached Field Hut while no one was there at 4pm and decided to push on through the next few hours to make it to the second hut, Kime, before it got dark. The bush is varied and in some places would be very dangerous to leave the well worn trail as the bush either side is nearly impenetrable with heavy vine growth, and thick trees where the ridge falls away steeply on both sides. The tree growth is very jungle like with great berths below some trunks that the local hobbits have taken advantage of and set up home. The furnishings inside are quite simple and serviceable- for hobbits that is, well, and probably the visiting dwarf that comes up through the undergrowth from time to time. If you happen to chance a meeting with a hobbit as I did you would do well to remember that they do not appreciate photographic intrusions into their private quarters without a proper advanced notice of visitation. I was frankly thanked to put my camera away after the second photo was taken. Appologies were accepted and I pushed on with advice to not linger in the tussock meadow as a small storm appeared to be likely.

The second hobbit house along the trail.

It's like a jungle in the reaches of the lower mountains

The interior of the first hut- Field, along the trail

My destination for the night is up in the clouds

The tramping went well until the last hour the first day. The wind picked up and the cloud descended with rain spitting sideways. Fortunately I had a good amount of warm gear and was able to keep from getting too cold before reaching the hut and a dry place to spend the night. I had carried my tent with my just in case, but did not have to use it.

Early morning view to the south the second day, coming down from Mt Hector

The next morning was clear to the summit of Mt Hector, the high point of the Southern Crossing. I was up early and on the summit just after sunrise.

View to the north, including the coastline just north of Otaki on the far left

Panorama from the summit of Mt Hector looking west toward the Pacific, with Kapiti Island

The long exposed alpine ridge that I traveled the evening before with lots of wind and sideways rain

On the summit of Mt Hector with the view to the south at about 8am my second day

Otaki Forks and the alluvial flood plain that Otaki sits on, with the big Tasman Sea stretching to the horizon westward

It felt like a long tramp out from the summit of Hector, and then the 10 mile bike ride up and out of the gorge to get back to Gregg and Carla's. Well worth the effort, but my legs showed me they were not used to that level of exertion and remained very sore for the next three days. Now I am back to normal with some great photos and a better sense of this part of New Zealand.