19

The Bulletin, March 2017

HAUHUNGATAHI 1521m

Hauhungatahi Wilderness Area between

Ruapehu and National Park village was

created in 1996 and rezoned a Remote

Experience in 1990, not to be confused with

the teenager hogging the remote for the TV.

Many a pleasant evening has been spent

on the ridge across Hut Flat watching

glorious sunsets silhouette Hauhungatahi

and Mt Taranaki.

It has been on my bucket list, to climb Old

Baldy as it is sometimes called, for a while.

When my good mate Paul Marchant

invited us to join him on a day trip climbing

the peak, I jumped at the opportunity and

roped in Dave Watt to tag along.

I saw this as a great opportunity to spend

a night at the Chalet for a bit of respite from

the Christmas extravagances.

We also dragged along a family from

Gisborne with two toddlers to share a bit

of RSC magic.

After everyone was fed and settled in I

couldn’t persuade anyone in the crew to join

me on a bush bash up to the top of the ridge

behind the Chalet.

That was my ﬁrst wilderness experience

for the weekend! What a jungle, tangling

vines, deep ravines and a steep uphill climb

all worthwhile with the reward of truly

spectacular views and a glorious sunset.

The anticipation of an exciting day had

me out of bed at 5am so I took the Ridge

Track up to the same spot as the previous

evening, much easier.

Stomping through 20mm frost heave

under a clear sky provided a good forecast

for the day ahead. Pretty cold up there for

January 5th; the golden sunrise made it all

worthwhile.

After breaky we left the young guns

to enjoy the walks and waterfalls around

Whakapapa village and took off to Natty

Park to meet with the rest of the crew.

From there we took SH4 to Erua, were

the track starts. With its Remote Experience

status, tracks are not maintained, but regular

visits by trampers, hunters, possumers and

botanists mean there is a reasonably obvious

path to follow.

We started into some magniﬁcent lowland

forest with several significant podocarp

trees. As we climbed these trees gave way

to interesting sub alpine species which are

unique to this area.

Paretetaitonga greeted us with its snow-

capped peaks as we broke the treeline and

before us lay and vast open area of volcanic

moraine vegetation.

Before banging the exposed peak, we

snuggled in amongst the mountain daisies

and had a picnic. Just after midday we

reached the tops and soaked in the vast views

of Tongariro National Park and west, the

hazy ridgelines of the central North Island.

I hope the photos provide a better

interpretation than my inadequate words?

All up a great day out with good friends.

Now to plan the next trip up to camp on top

and catch the sun ups and downs and enjoy

the starry skies.

Tim Sharp

Hauhungatahi

is an eroded volcano at the

southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone,

located about 11km WNW of Mt Ruapehu.

Although relatively little-known, at 1521

metres Hauhungatahi is one of the highest

volcanoes in the North Island, exceeded

in elevation by only Ruapehu, Taranaki/

Egmont and the Tongariro massif (including

Ngauruhoe).

The age of the erupted andesite lava is

about 900,000 years, making Hauhungatahi

more than three times as old as the

neighbouring Ruapehu.