Papatahi Crossing

After running the Jumbo-Holdsworth circuit in the Tararuas back in January, I'd been on the look-out for some new trail running challenges.

I'd always wanted to complete the Papatahi Crossing, a track over the Rimutakas from Lake Wairarapa to the Orongorongo Valley near Wainuiomata. I'd completed almost half the track before, from the Orongorongo Valley on the way to Mt Matthews, and knew that most this was a very easy, well graded track, with only a few kilometres of riverbed travel.

My mate Matt was keen on the run as well, and had walked to the base of Papatahi on the Orongorongo side before, but not beyond that.

What we weren't too sure on was the section from the Wairarapa side to Papatahi. I knew the climb up Papatahi would be tough, from my previous experience climbing Mt Matthews, but the rest of the section seemed relatively straightforward, with no major variations in elevation.

We'd managed to find a few accounts of people walking the crossing, with times varying between 9-13hrs for the whole thing, but found no accounts of people running it (although I'm sure it's been done many times before). Based on the distance (25km), elevation gains and the fact that we knew the last half of the run would only take about 1.5hrs, we estimated a time of a time of four hours to run the whole thing.

We set out on Saturday morning, with a cloudy and windy, but dry, forecast. We took two cars over to Wainuiomata, and dropped one off in the Orongorongo carpark and drove around to the Wairarapa. Finding the start of the crossing was a bit of a challenge. There's only a very small, faded DOC sign by a fence on the side of the road, so it's very easy to miss.

To get there, heading South down Western Lake Road from Featherston, drive past the East-West Access Road for about 1km, until you get to a farm called 'Devon'. Slow down here and the sign and a small 'car park' is just past the farm gate. It's just before a corner and a gravel road which veers North from the left hand side of the road. If you pass a bridge after the East-West Access Road, you've gone too far.

The start was very windy, but as pretty much the entire Rimutaka Range is covered in bush, we knew we'd be pretty sheltered.

The 'track' initially goes through a farm for about a kilometre. There are no markers on the farm, but follow the stream West, in the direction of the hills. At this point there's an orange marker and you'll need to cross the stream (a big jump or wet feet) and the proper track starts on the other side.

The track begins nice and wide, heading through some beautiful manuka forest. There's a gentle upwards gradient, perfect running terrain. Before long, the track narrows and becomes more and more overgrown. We slow down and briskly walk through some sections as it becomes  too difficult to run these parts.

Although there are plenty of markers, the overgrown nature of the track means that we have to stop and find the next marker quite often as occasionally we veer off the track. It's obviously not a well used track. After crossing Battery Stream, we begin the climb up a small saddle just before Wharepapa Hut. The final stage of this is very steep and not at all runnable. Thankfully someone has put ropes in some of the sections to assist with the climb. We finally emerge out on top and there are fantastic views over the surprisingly large Wharepapa river. The river is quite a way down - the climb was much bigger than expected. There's quite a steep track that winds down through beech forest.

After almost 1.5hrs of running we reach Wharepapa hut. It's pleasing to see the first major landmark of the day, but we'd hoped to have reached it in an hour. Walking this track with a pack would take a good three hours.

Wharepapa hut is old and basic, seemingly created with leftovers, but very tidy inside, with a good open fire. There's plenty of space for camping around the hut. Water is from the river. It seems as though mostly hunters pass through here, coming up the river from Wharekauhau. The mattresses are pretty gross and quite old and mouldy though, so I think I would bring something to cover them if I were to spend a night here.

We have a short break at the hut, but we really have to get moving and cover some ground as we're behind schedule.  

The climb up to Papatahi begins a short distance up the river. We head up the river bed to try find the track leading into the bush. We can't find it. We pull out the GPS and realise we've missed it (if you get to the first side stream up from the hut, you've gone too far). We scan the banks but can't find the track or a marker. With the GPS at hand, we bush bash for a bit until we see a marker. But now it's been two hours and we've hardly begun the climb to Papatahi.

It's a very long, steep and relentless 800m climb to Papatahi (902m). The track is quite overgrown and at times isn't obvious. You need to keep an eye on the orange markers. We start to worry about how long this is going to take and whether we've got enough food, or even if we're going to get out before dark! We kind of regret even doing this, given it's becoming more of a tough tramp than a run. To make matters worse, we loose the track for quite a while and it takes a lot of bush bashing and GPS-consulting to find the track again. At this point Matt reveals that he's left the keys for his truck (parked at the finish in the Orongorongo Valley carpark) in the car that went back to Wellington. With no reception at the carpark, we're probably going to have to hitchhike back to Wainuiomata...or run an extra 14km! We're both feeling pretty dark at this point. I just want to go home and laze about for the rest of the weekend, like most of Wellington is probably doing.

As we near the top, things begin to look up (excuse the pun). We realise that the hardest part is behind us and that we can make good time on the final half of the run. We're a lot happier now especially knowing we'll be out before dark.

We reach the summit at 1.30pm, by which time we'd hoped to be on the final stretch to the carpark. The summit is a bleak and very windy place, with no views (covered in bush and cloud), although there were good views of the Wairarapa between the trees on the way up.

Thankfully, there's reception on the top, and we get a text message out letting a few people know where behind schedule.

The climb down Papatahi is much easier. Although incredibly steep in parts (there's scree and ropes on large parts of it), we can run parts of it and it's only another 20 minutes before we're at the bottom. There's a short run on the Orongorongo riverbed before reaching Papatahi Hut.

Papatahi Hut is a lovely ten bunk hut. Rebuilt in 2009, it's located just above the river in a clearing, surrounded by bush. It's available to be booked out exclusively and would be a great destination for a relaxing weekend away. It's the most upstream of a river valley covered in huts. The Orongorongo valley has something like 100 huts, mostly private, tucked away in the bush surrounding the valley. 

We chat to a bunch of hunters in the hut about whether they came in on the riverbed or the Big Bend track. It's started raining and the rocks are a bit slippery. We're keen to run in the bush again, but not if there's anymore climbing involved! Thankfully, the hunters advise that the Big Bend track, which begins 1.5km down the river is very easy. 

We reach the track and it's like a motorway - wide, easy and well graded. It's so good to be running at speed again! Within 30 minutes we reach the main Orongorongo track and from there it's only 25-30 minutes back to the carpark. After seeing no-one (except the hunters at Papatahi hut), we pass so many people. It's a very popular track. Plenty of opportunities for people to hitch a ride with!

After almost 5.5 hours on our feet, it's such a relief to be finished. Thankfully, there's a landline at a lodge by the road, so we only have to walk an extra 2km instead of  14km to be able to call for a ride. 

A very tough day out, and despite the disappointment at not being able to run a large chunk of the track, I'm very glad I did it. There's something quite satisfying about crossing an entire range on foot.

Although challenging and involving a bit of logistics in getting to the start and back home again, it's a great trip and covers a fantastic variety of terrain that allows you to experience the full variety of landscapes the Rimutakas offers. 

Approximate Timings (run/walk):

Western Lake Road - Wharepapa Hut: 1.5hrs/3hrs
Wharepapa Hut - Papatahi Summit: 1.5hrs/ 3hrs
Papatahi Summit - Papatahi Hut: 1hr/ 2hrs
Papatahi Hut - Orongorongo Track: 45 mins/1.5-2.5hrs
Orongorongo Track - Carpark: 30mins/ 1-1.5hrs

Rock & Pillar Range Run, Middlemarch - May 2014

I've been to Dunedin a few times, but have never really explored much beyond the city. With my sister's impending graduation in Dunedin, I'd vowed this time was going to be different.

Via the DOC website, I'd penciled a few potential trips in to try and make the most of the trip to Dunedin. With only four days in town, of which half was taken up with graduation stuff, I couldn't do any over night trips, so a run seemed like the best way to check out some cool spots with limited time. 

With a fine, calm, day forecast, I'd managed to convince my brother to come along on the run with me. 

The Rock and Pillar Range towers above the village of Middlemarch, about an hour's drive North-West of Dunedin. It's not quite Central Otago, so the area is a nice mix of green coastal Otago landscapes, and the golden tussock landscape of Central Otago. 

There was quite a bit of fog around, but occasionally mother nature lifted up her skirt to reveal a much nicer day above. 

On the road to Middlemarch, with the Rock and Pillar Range Behind

The plan was to run up to Leaning Lodge Hut, then across the tops to Big Hut and back down - a nice loop. But we had to be back in Dunedin by lunchtime to pick my sister up from the airport, so I wasn't sure if the planned route was entirely achievable.

The range is typical of many in Central Otago, with broad, almost rolling, tussock slopes. This, combined with the fact there was a rough 4WD track up to Leaning Lodge Hut, meant that it was an ideal track to run. Although there was still a solid 1100m climb to actually get to the hut!

My brother was not impressed as we pulled into the carpark. The temperature gague on the car informed us that it was -1 outside. I love running in the cold though, and within five minutes, the cold air stopped burning our lungs and we'd warmed up nicely. As we were running above the thick layer of fog above Middlemarch, it actually warmed up quite a bit as we climbed. 

Above the fog, looking SE towards the Tairei Plain 

 Although the first few kilometres of the trip are on a farm, aside from the first kilometre, you'd hardly notice but for the odd bit of deer poo. The hills appear to be quite sparsely grazed (probably due to the elevation and tussock) and most of the farm looks like the conservation park further up the range. Farm crossings can be a bit tedious, so this was a pleasant surprise. The above picture was taken on the farm bit. 

4WD Track climbing up

Cool colours looking NE 

Despite the length of the climb, I really enjoyed it. The track was a fantastic gradient and made the climb much more bearable. 

We finally spotted a building up ahead - was that the hut already? Well, it was a hut, but not the one we were looking for. It was a very basic and shabby affair, with a large rock to hold the door closed. Perhaps a good spot for some brief shelter, but certainly not a place I'd like to have spent a night.

Slightly disappointed, we carried on. It seemed to take forever at this point. After an hour and a bit of running uphill, I'd expected to at least have seen the hut by now. 

Finally, after an hour and a half of running, we came to a fork in the track and Leaning Lodge Hut came into view shortly afterwards. The hut is down off the track about 15mins, at an altitude of 1200m. 

It's a superbly located eight bunk hut, with fantastic views out over the Middlemarch valley and towards the Tairei plain in the distance. It's also a very tidy and clean (probably the cleanest I've ever been to), and well cared for hut, owned by the Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club, rebuilt by them in 2007. 

It would be a great place to spend the night. Though bear in mind that the only water source is from the creek nearby and there's no form of heating in the hut. 

Unfortunately, we'd run out of time to head up to the top and over to Big Hut. It would have been cool to make it right to the top (only another 150m of vertical climbing) and to see what the other side of the range looked like. But another trip for another time.

Moi standing on a rock near the turn-off to the hut

It only took us about 50 minutes to run back down from the hut back to the carpark.

A great run, with some fantastic views. I estimate that it would only have taken another 20-30 minutes to run to Big Hut, but the track down would have taken slightly longer as it is a tramping rather than a 4WD track.

Access: Kinvara Station, just across Lug creek, 9km North of Middlemarch. There's no DOC sign by the road, so drive up the farm driveway even though it feels like it's the wrong place. There's a big sign by the drive for the station. The carpark is not far up the drive. 

Estimated times:

Kinvara car park to Leaning Lodge Hut via Kinvara Track: Running: 1.25hrs-1.5hrs, tramping: 2-3.5hrs
Return: Running: 40mins - 1hr, tramping: 1.5-2.5hrs