OFF the Beaten TRACK
Mention the Tararua Range to veteran trampers and it will evoke memories of remote river gorges, steep spurs, goblin forest, historic huts and razor-sharp ridges. Storms sweep the tussock tops about 200 days a year, increasing the risk of hypothermia and making navigation difficult.
There was unfinished business in those hills north of Wellington. Years earlier we had attempted a Northern Crossing in winter, but when we crested the spine of Te IkaaMāui at dusk we were in a whiteout, and failed to find Arete Biv. We spent a tentless night shivering in our sleeping bags.
Perhaps this time we would find the hut? Perhaps we would find redemption?
My friend Malcolm Peak likes bagging peaks; I was born in the Hutt Valley, so I like bagging huts. To satisfy our desires, our next trip would be among a plethora of peaks and would darken the door of a dozen huts.
