Tararuas Day 6

There was alot of hype about the Tararua Ranges - very unpredictable weather patterns, steep accents and descents, difficult navigation, typical strong winds, exposed summits etc. It's reputation preceded it and as a result we planned accordingly. Advised to wait out storms in huts and to be prepared to turn back if weather deteriorated we made sure we had plenty of food, gas and other essentials. Arriving into Palmerston North after grabbing a hitch with four Taranaki, early 20's metal heads in a beat up 4x4 we started plodding our way through the city centre weighed down by a pack that seemed to of adopted its own being, now with 8 days food packed in. A desperate attempt at a hitch saw no results, so a little bereft crossed over the main highway then all of a sudden a shout of "PHIL" came out of the sky. I thought I was imagining it until I looked up and saw my old friend and house mate Saad driving his car with his head out of the window waving!! He turned around and immediately took us under his wing. He took us straight out to dinner and wouldn't let us pay, then put us up in his house for the night and even took us to the start of the track the next morning. Wow! What a stroke of luck that was. So great to see Saad. He's such an honest, genuine, humble and caring person. He couldn't do enough for us and we were so grateful when it came to our goodbye. After 2 days of forest we were out of water and no potable water for a few km's so we decided to do our first "cold call" at a fancy house out in the countryside. This led to being welcomed warmly and treated to tea, coffee, cheese and biscuits and Emily even scored a shower! I wanted one but felt too British and polite. Oh well! The couple we met, Gill and John, were both great people to chat with and share stories. John knew a bit about the route we were about to embark on and let us know a story about a CEO of Te Papa National Museum in Wellington whom recently perished up in the hills when adverse weather kicked in. Apparently unexperieced and unprepared equipment wise. Looking at our packs we were quite the opposite so reinforced our committment to the 4 day traverse of the range and the forecast was for fine weather! Sweet! We camped out at the very start of the track in a beautiful setting by a river so that we could start first thing for the 1000m ascent to the first hut. Once warmed up we constantly attacked the climb getting much rewarded views and lunch at the first hut. Absolutely stunning scenery, not a breath of wind - gorgeous! Very much like the Lake District as in compact and concentrated ridges and range but taller peaks. The second part of the day was a 5km section that was meant to take 4 hours! Very tough going. Went past a memorial to a 'local' who had been caught out in a storm and perished. A reminder that conditions like today are temporary and must be savoured. I took a fall and snapped my pole. Was a little annoyed at myself as wasn't watching my footing and looking at my GPS at the time. All good though as have resorted to traditional means and have a fantastic birch branch that I have customised and named 'Totem'. Emily took a spectacular fall also. I heard a yelp, asked if she was ok, she said no and to come and help her. As I raced back she was lying half on the ridge track and the other half was down the side of the ridge and she was holding onto a tree root. Her bag was wanting to roll down the hill so she was pinned into that position. I grabbed her shoulder straps and helped her to her feet. We were both laughing and carried on (what else do you do?!) Finally reaching the hut, we both remarked that this was probably the best days hiking on the whole trail so far and what lay in our view was the entire ridge line we would follow the next day, if the weather holds..... Rajiv, Kelsey and Emily (Sweden) met up with us in the hut so was great to see each other and catch up. Reading the intentions book 5 days earlier 3 TeAraroa trampers were pinned in the hut for 3 days following disastourous weather and failed attempts to get to the next hut. We felt lucky to have seen the Tararua's unvelied and had shown her face in the best light. In the morning me and Em decided an early start was warranted to try and get views from the summit of our second big climb in time for the morning mist to of burnt off. Up at 6am the climb was up a ridge, almost vertical in parts with steep descents both sides. The morning cloud hung about the tops but was optimistic it would lift. At one point the sun broke through and spots of blue sky appeared but it wasn't to be. The cloud hung, swirled, thickened and blew around the tops all morning as we commenced our main ridge walk from the summitt to the next hut for lunch. After a hearty feed we followed the main ridge t our highest hut destination, Nichols Hut. Part way through the afternoon the cloud lifted and the sun shone through the forest. Although we were on another 5km/4 hour slog of a track I wanted to hurry up and break out above the bushline to soak up the vistas but hurrying on this track wasn't possible. A strong head for heights, leaps of faith and a solid portion of luck was needed to tackle this beast but the final, long, arduous, stength-draining ascent was very much worth it as once above the bushline a full 360 degree view of the interior and intricacies of the entire range sat their suspended in time. Out of breath, sweat pouring off the face with legs burning it was truly a fantastic moment. And looking down the face of one mountain revealed our accomodation for the night. It was a room with a view for sure!