Ralph Martin
Friday morning dawned with a cool tinge to the air and a clear sky. Whoopee, we could see the mountain as clear as you could ever expect to see it. Into breakfast, with discussion on which party to go with. So much indecision, changing minds and talk about the weather.
At last, 8.40am and everyone had made up their minds. Two groups headed for the summit and one went off for a 3-day circuit of the Pouakai loop.
Four trampers were keen to summit Mt Taranaki before any eruption could occur (or maybe it was snow falling). The group consisted of Chris, Mark, Ralph and Roger (note the names in alphabetical order—very important).
Mt Taranaki summit: The first part is up the track to the communication tower/Tahurangi Lodge. This track has been upgraded to allow vehicles to install and service the communication tower. It would require a good 4-wheel-drive vehicle to drive up it but then it was easy for tramping.
A rest at the lodge and then up to the summit. The initial part consisted of some boulders then steps. Above the steps the going became harder due to the steep incline with somewhat fine loose rock which was like two up, one down. Above this it was large rocks to the entrance to the crater, which was still covered in snow. We traversed the snow and made the final ascend to the summit proper.
The view to the north, east and west was magnificent, the south being covered in cloud (roughly in these directions of the compass).
Lunch on top consisted of chasing of flies. Surprisingly, there was a large number of flies on the summit, as well as a lot of fellow trampers.
Over the rocks was easy but heading down the rock scree was exhilarating, somewhat exciting, and not easy (especially for a couple of younger foreigners wearing Crocs—I kid you not).
A quick stop at the lodge where a decision was made to take a separate track back which met up with the Holly Hut Track and back to the Visitor Centre, where our bus was parked.
Pouakai circuit: The second day dawned well, with only a little cloud in the sky but less could be seen of Mt Taranaki. It was interesting to see the carpark full of trampers heading for the summit. Vehicles had been arriving in the early hours of the morning.
Off we headed at 8.30am after breakfast, our packs full of necessities for an overnight stay.
The leader made a decision to travel clockwise as he didn’t like the idea of finishing the tramp the next day by descending the never-ending sets of stairs on the Holly Hut Track.
So to start it was up the never-ending stairs and heading to the Holly Hut for lunch. Light rain was encountered along the way and some low cloud, which came down while traversing a large slip.
The track was good and generally travelled around the mountain until it dropped down to the Holly Hut. Lunch at Holly Hut in the camping area and then off through a very marshy area, over which a boardwalk had been laid.
The swampy area is very fragile and had a number of rare plants (along this track are excellent information boards explaining the flora, fauna and history). In this area there was a large number of dead trees (also seen elsewhere in Mt Egmont Park) which had been killed by possums.
Leaving the swamp, we had a steep ascent with many steps. Here the rain started, but it stopped before we reach the Pouakai Hut.
The hut was full—sixteen bunks and thirty-two pairs of boots counted on the veranda. There was very little room to camp but we did manage to squeeze into the small areas, with drama for one (read elsewhere about this drama).
Morning dawned with rain to be seen in the New Plymouth area. Breakfast over, we set off at 8.35am and headed towards the North Egmont Visitor Centre. There was a large length of boardwalk and several ladders to climb, with cloud swirling around that enabled only brief glimpses of Mt Taranaki.
The rest of the day was uneventful. We travelled over good tracks, along ridges that were high above the rivers below.
The last day was a short one as we were leaving at twelve noon to head for home. The final tramp was to be from the Visitor Centre to the edge of the park on Egmont Road. Would you believe it, only five were keen to walk the track. What did the pikers do? They drove into New Plymouth for a slap-up breakfast.