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Trip Reports 2021-10-01-Field Hut

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This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 93, no 11, December 2021

Field Hut

1-2 October 2021

It is sometimes the case that an interruption to a planned trip produces outcomes that are rewarding in unanticipated ways. Serendipitous conversations with parties we encountered on our trip reminded us and have given us a renewed awareness of non-tramping outdoor participants in Tararua Forest Park.

Mid-morning on a warming day found us encountering our first challenge of the day on the old Penn Creek track on the true left of the Otaki River. With due care and attention, we crossed the initial big slip – each foot placement sending a cascade of rubble down towards the river.

On we went, to be met by a pack of collared pig dogs, followed shortly thereafter by a crew of happy young hunters – one struggling with the bounty of their morning. They had hunted down from Fields Track. It was their first time along the old route but, with a successful hunt, the deteriorating state of the track was a secondary concern to them. We wished them luck for the big slip.

We stopped for lunch at the second significant slip on the route, by the stream that drains the basin between Tirotiro Knob and Table Top. This was crunch time. Our intended goal was Penn Creek Hut. We scouted the route through Spanish heath and came to a narrow slip face that changed our plans. There was no evident avenue across, nor was there any surface material for boot purchase. (In recent years we had successfully negotiated this narrow challenge). It was a clear face all the way down - rain events had effectively scoured the face. With no ice axes to hack foot notches, and carrying overnight packs, we did not feel comfortable about the prospect of a safe crossing. What an influence a mere ten metres can have!

Our afternoon was spent going up the spur that rises just over 600 metres in a southwest direction to just southeast of Tirotiro Knob, and hence along the Fields Track to Field Hut.

The evening at Field Hut was breezy and cool, but colourful with the setting sun dipping behind scattered clouds. Despite the road blockage on the Otaki Forks Road for over a year, there have been regular visits to the hut. The log book tells of many day-trippers, some going on to Kime Hut and Mt Hector, with a few leaving indications of going beyond for multi-day trips.

Saturday morning we woke to mist in the trees and the sound of rain on the roof. As we were packing up, two ridge runners appeared. They were on their annual run up Judd Ridge and had come over the DoC emergency access track 'as part of the day's challenge'. They were full of the joys of their adventure, and the weather was immaterial. They later passed us on their descent, informing us they had gone up to Table Top and down to about the 600-metre contour on the Penn Creek Hut track.

Further down, we had an enlightening conversation with a trio of 60-something locals who put a different focus on ‘going to Fields for a cuppa’. E-bikes ridden from the road closure up the graded section of the track in the bush, then bikes stashed, then the walk to the hut. Smiles all over their faces!

On our way out we encountered a total of ten people, on foot and on bicycles, going into the park that drizzly Saturday. Despite the interrupted road access, our conversations and the hut book informed us that Otaki Forks remains a popular destination for a variety of outdoor enthusiasts. Most people appear to be making use of the road, taking advantage of the opportunity to get easy access to an enjoyable part of the park before nature duly takes control and the DoC 'emergency access track' becomes the primary access avenue to Otaki Forks.

Party members
Tricia French, Bill Allcock (scribe)

Page last modified on 2022 May 14 02:51

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