Tabla de contenidos para December 2020 en Wilderness

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MACGREGOR JONES likes a challenge. When a slip stopped the 17-year-old and his family from riding the newly-opened Paparoa Track last year, he decided to unicycle the length of it when they rebooked last October. The Year 12 Waimea College student says he first got onto a unicycle at eight years old when his primary school bought four of them. “We mucked about at school learning how to ride them. I liked it, so got my own one not long after. When I was 12, I decided I wanted to try riding tracks and trails, so I got a slightly bigger mountain unicycle,” he says. “Wherever mountain bikes go, I’ll try to go on my unicycle. I’ll ask myself: where people go down a track on two wheels, can I…

OUR TRIP TO Waimakariri Falls Hut was a diversion from a planned Three Passes trip. We’d spent the night at Carrington Hut, after walking four hours up the Waimakariri River from Klondyke Corner. From there, a knee-deep crossing of the White River then joined the true right bank of the Waimakariri River. This led gradually north and up for a while before 250m of proper climbing began. At around 900m, there was a rowdy group of kea, seven or more, with plenty to say. It was nice to see evidence of these rascals reclaiming their alpine foothold. Waimakariri Falls Hut is spectacularly perched near the edge of muscular red cliffs and a yawning chasm, worn down by headwaters all concentrated into one channel. While we were there, high cloud swirled…

THE TRIP TO Cascade Hut takes you deep into the beautiful and unspoilt Kaimanawa Forest Park. It begins by following the scenic Hinemaiaia Track, crosses a swingbridge and then follows the Hinemaiaia Stream, passing several idyllic and tempting swimming and picnic spots. After about an hour, the track crosses a tributary to the main river and begins a 460m climb to Pt1240 – the highest point of the track. It pays to keep a close eye on the track markers, because in a couple of places it is quite easy to lose the trail. The track climbs to a spur with glimpses of distant ridges and mountains. The beech forest and accompanying vibrant green undergrowth is a pleasure to walk through, and, at the right time of year, many different…

Aoraki/Mt Cook stood proud and formidable, like a giant shard of glass. It looked menacing, hard, but there was something mesmerising about it. It was beautiful. The wispy mist clung to the grass, to the tin hut, to the grooves of the mountains that towered around us. It gently floated as the rising sun seared holes through it. I was confident the sun would succeed. It had to. Because today was an important day. Stag Saddle, in the Two Thumb Range, beckoned, followed by a ridgeline rumoured to have sublime views across Lake Tekapo. Today I would get my first glimpse of Aoraki/Mt Cook. But, it was cold. Gloves and leggings cold – colder than it should be for a morning in late February. But then, we were about 1400m…

MY PARTNER DITTE and I have ridden most of the cycle trails and pinch ourselves every ride – how lucky we are to be in the middle of a golden age of cycling and cycle trail development on a scale never before dreamt of. No ride is the same and I’ve had some surprising, incredible and memorable experiences. Here’s a few of the best. Fire-starter St James Cycle Trail It was a crystal clear windless day in mid-winter when Ditte and I crossed the frigid flow of the Waiau River, heading for Christopher Hut. All attempts to get the fire going were greeted by a hut full of smoke – even though a no smoking sign was prominent. I clambered onto the roof armed with a long length of steel…

1 Twin Coast Cycle Trails, Northland Grade 1-3, 87km, 2 days From the Bay of Islands to the Hokianga Harbour, Pou Herenga Tai is an excellent trail for beginners. The relaxing route follows a mixture of rail trail, cycle paths, boardwalk and country roads, and although it’s possible to complete in a day, riders would do well to enjoy the array of detours, from a soak in Ngawha Springs to the ancient Wairere Boulders, its heritage sites, Northland hospitality and the subtropical climate. 2 Hauraki Rail Trail, Waikato Grade 1-2, 173km, 4 days Showcasing picturesque Waikato, this trail follows historic railway lines through the old gold hotspots of the north east. Beginning on the Shorebird Coast (Miranda), the trail links Kaiau with Thames, Paeroa, Te Aroha, Waihi and Matamata,…

THERE IS A longstanding tradition among British expedition planners that apart from the absolute essentials, you should take only one small ‘comfort item’. For Kiwi cyclist extraordinaire, Louise Sutherland, that item was a bottle of nail polish. More commonly, it is a photo of a loved one or a mascot attached to the bike. Whatever the case, packing light is your passport to happiness. While a cycle tourer might take over 20kg of gear, an experienced rider will pare it down to under 10kg. Here’s some of the gear you’ll need on all the cycle trails. If you are planning one of the longer and more remote trails, you’ll need to consider taking additional gear, such as a personal locator beacon, more tools, food and sleeping equipment. Essential gear Most…

THE TIME YOU can spend riding a cycle trail will depend on how much time you spend preparing. It will also determine just how much you enjoy your chosen cycle trail. BEGINNERS If you’re just starting out with the easier graded Great Rides, you don’t need to put in too much effort. Two months before you intend to ride a trail, I suggest you start preparing by riding between 30-60min each weekday and to do at least a few hours over the weekend which could be as little as two 90min rides and up to two three-hour rides. Ride at a pace that allows you to finish on your bike. MORE EXPERIENCED Some of the better cycle trails span hundreds of kilometres and need to be done over several days.…

JUST LIKE a journalist might check their sources before publishing a story, a tramper should double-check all information on the route and conditions for an upcoming trip. Track information: Information on tramping routes and huts on conservation land can usually be found on DOC’s website (doc.govt.nz ), which includes details about the route and how to get to the start and endpoints. It also provides an estimated walking time and a topographical map showing the route. Hut details include the number of beds, hut facilities, cost and whether booking is required. Look for alerts at the top of the page which may include information on track or hut closures. Information on local routes can often be found on city or regional council websites. The quality and depth of this information…

Upper materials Most sandals designed for use around water will have a free-draining and quick-drying upper made from a synthetic fabric or webbing straps. It’s common for uppers to fully enclose the foot to provide more protection. WIDTH AND FIT Sandals require a thumb-width of space in front of the longest toe and the heel should be cupped at the rear to prevent it sliding up. Many brands offer wide and narrow options. CLOSURE Webbing straps with buckles or Velcro are easy to adjust and to slip on and off. Pull-cord laces provide a better, more adjustable fit along the length and width of the foot. OUTSOLE The lug pattern and outsole compound determine how grippy the sandal will be in different conditions. Harder compounds will last longer but don’t…

WILDERNESS HAS again been honoured at the annual magazine industry media awards. In a year that has seen several magazines close doors or change ownership, Wilderness has held steady and though it is operating in extremely challenging times the magazine and editor have been acknowledged as among the best in the country. Wilderness was named Highly Commended Magazine of the Year, behind New Zealand Geographic. The magazine’s editor Alistair Hall was named overall Best Editor. “I thank all our readers for supporting Wilderness and inspiring us to produce such a high-quality magazine each month,” said Hall. “I’m not being silly when we say we wouldn’t be here were it not for them.”…

A COMMUNITY-LED trust has set its sights on developing a Great Ride in Taranaki. “There is a big empty space where Taranaki sits on the map,” Taranaki Trail Trust trustee Charlotte Littlewood said. “When you think about what the Otago Rail Trail has done for small communities, this is a chance to rejuvenate some of our own local communities.” The trust was established by a group of passionate locals in December 2019, and has the backing of the regional council. It has recently launched a website to showcase the many trails available in the region. Though no route proposal for the Great Ride has been put forward yet, Littlewood said there is plenty of potential. “We have a beautiful coast and maunga, and there is heaps of work going on…

THE OUTRAGEOUSLY POPULAR Pouakai Tarn, in Egmont National Park, might be the most disappointing natural landmark in New Zealand. I recently walked the Pouakai Circuit over three days and was blessed with a clear, golden afternoon at Pouakai Hut, so for several hours I enjoyed the tarn with new friends from the hut, admiring the way the sinking sun deepened shadows on the mountain’s slopes, a scene perfectly reflected in the tarn. It was an idyllic reward for the tough six hour tramp up and over the relentless Henry Peak to Pouakai Hut. We took photos here and there – it would be rude not to – but mostly, we sat, we stared, and we remarked at our luck, for the shy mountain had been hidden all morning and here…

THE ANATOMY OF a pā is similar wherever you go. Sites were chosen atop hills or on headlands, the obvious advantage being an early sighting of approaching foes allowed time to prepare for combat. This selection of the most spectacularly-located and best preserved sites not only gives the walker magnificent views, but also a human dimension to the landscape. 1 Ruapekapeka Pā, Northland Easy / 20min Ruapekapeka Pā was the last stronghold in the alliance between Ngapuhi chiefs Hone Heke and Kawiti. The pā took 600 people two months to build and was the most formidable and sophisticated ever constructed. Today it has been thoughtfully preserved and lavishly interpreted with a series of explanatory panels, detailing the mechanics of the 1845 battle between forces of Governor Grey and Kawiti. Follow…

BUCKLAND PEAKS Hut is one of only a handful of huts in the Paparoa Range. While it makes a good day trip, it’s the perfect location for an overnight tramp, allowing you to explore the massive granite playground beyond the hut. The track begins with an hour’s walk across a public easement on farmland to reach the bush edge. It’s a good warm-up for the steep stuff that follows and there are great views of the Paparoa Range dead ahead. Once at the bush edge, the track climbs through cutover forest for a short while before entering a diverse podocarp beech forest. It’s never too steep and the forest is remarkable, with large and twisted southern rata dominant along the ridgeline. The halfway point is clearly marked with a sign,…

GREAT PLEASURE and satisfaction are to be taken from walking over a dividing range. The Pelorus Track leads up its eponymous river valley and over the Bryant Range before dropping into the Aniseed Valley on Nelson’s side. The Te Hoiere/Pelorus River is a pretty river whose green-hued swimming holes I’ve swum in many times during summers past. Yet the tramp surprises; it is somewhat rugged, semi-remote, and crosses varied landscapes. From the trailhead, the track is immediately surrounded by New Zealand’s most common forest, beech. Of the 6.4 million hectares of native forest in New Zealand, two-thirds have beech in them and of those two thirds, half are almost entirely beech. Until the early 1880s, the Pelorus Valley was still forested, but a bush tramway and a sawmill built in 1881…

TRAVELLING TO OUR destination by car we tend to whizz through small towns and countryside that appear to have nothing to offer. Signposts point to sights that we know nothing of and because they’re seen too late we don’t bother turning back. Travelling by the fastest route, so many places have a history we never learn and locals we rarely meet. How about slowing down and exploring some of those places by riding New Zealand’s Cycle Trails? You could be surprised at the number of out-of-the-way spots that are waiting for your visit. Many cycle trails follow disused railway lines, tramlines or logging roads, through forests and countryside far from the usual tourist sights. There are relics of gold-mining and sawmilling, cobblestoned paths, spectacular engineering feats such as viaducts and…

“I SEEK MORE ADRENALIN NOW AS A 50- YEAR - - OLD WOMAN THAN I DID AS A 25 -YEAR -OLD.” WHEN FREELANCE author Sarah Bennett talks about tramping, it’s in the past tense. Like a no-good ex, her tramping ship has sailed, loaded with her heavy pack and boots. Her new love interest of cycling is an ‘unstoppable force’. “I’m never going to tramp when I can bike – I’m done,” she says. “Once you start [cycling], your poor old tramping boots will sit there gathering dust.” Despite her indifference to ditching it, Bennett was no slacker when it came to tramping. Like many Kiwis, she began at high school, and “got hooked” in her twenties. She went on to author The New Zealand Tramper's Handbook, and complete many…

GETTING LOST on a trail rarely amounts to much good, but for cartographer Gary Patterson, it sparked a life changing idea. After becoming disoriented on the Alps 2 Ocean trail, he realised there was a gap in the market for a Great Rides app, so over a drink and fries in Twizel he ironed out the details later that day. Five years on, the app has nearly 50,000 users and has become Patterson’s full time job. “After I made it live, I had 6000 users after about six months, the following year 12,000, then 25,000. This year I was going for 50 but COVID knocked the figures a bit,” he says. The app is GPS enabled, works offline, and has 1500 pages of information and images, all of it provided…

1- Crankbrothers Klic Co2 Inflator $19.99 A quick-fix tyre inflator that can be used as a standalone CO2 inflator or added to any Klic hand pump. www.rouleurcycles.co.nz 2- Macpac Tempo $499.99 Designed for wet weather riding and made from Pertex Shield Air fabric with a nano-spun air-permeable lining. Low profile hood with mouldable peak, centre front zip with internal storm flap and single dome closure for through-zip ventilation, reflective detailing on back and lower sleeves. www.macpac.co.nz 3- Revelate Designs Gas Tank $104.90 Top tube-mounted bag allows for one-handed access. Fill it with snacks, tools and a camera. Closed cell foam padding and high-vis fabric. www.cyclewerks.co.nz 4- Loose Line 3/4 Sleeve from $55 Hand-drawn designs inspired by NZ. Made from quick-drying and moisture-wicking polyester fabric with anti-microbial finish, flat-locked seams, front…

Take a trail shower If you’re tramping for more than a few days, do yourself (and your hut mates) a favour and take a trail shower. Though you’ll struggle to get perfectly clean, any washing you can manage in the backcountry will improve your mood, increase your chances of making friends, and reduce the risk of fungus and chafing. Strip down as much as you are able, and use a wet sponge, bandana, biodegradable wipes or washcloth with biodegradable soap to clean where you can reach. Start with your face, neck and shoulders, and continue to the increasingly dirty areas – paying particular attention to your armpits, groin and feet. Ensure soap residue is rinsed or wiped off, and make sure you’re 100m away from water sources. Change into your…

MICRODOSING LSD LESS DANGEROUS THAN TRAMPING I wish to commend Wilderness on the open-minded article, ‘A trip on the wild side’ (Web-exclusive, September 15) I note a correspondent was concerned that this article was harmful and should not have been published (Pigeon Post, November 2020). I wish to refute some of this reader’s claims to better educate the curious hiker. LSD is not considered to be an addictive drug. The body also does not develop a tolerance to LSD unless it is used for multiple days in a row; in that case, tolerance will drop off again after a few days of abstinence. The concept of a gateway drug is also misleading; research supports the idea of gateway drugs predominately in relation to nicotine and alcohol. LSD is probably not…

OUTDOOR GEAR retailers and distributors are advising trampers to buy their gear early this summer or risk missing out as unprecedented demand, production issues and freight delays have created shortages. It comes as more people are heading outdoors in the face of COVID-19 and Kiwis look to “gear up” for the summer. Further Faster owner Martin Walker says he has not seen such high demand in 35 years in the outdoors industry. “Local demand has been huge,” Walker says. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. “We’ve purchased more tents than we’ve ever purchased but we’re still selling out.” He says one manufacturer, Sierra Designs, has completely sold out of some stock and production is being hampered by a shortage of raw materials. It comes on the back of a…

IT’S NOT JUST GREAT WALK TRAMPERS AND BIKERS COMING TO BLACKBALL, GREAT SPOTTED KIWI ARE ALSO JOINING THE PARTY. “There weren’t any roroa down here 10 years ago, we didn’t expect them to come to town,” Jo Halley says, referring to the kiwi calls they’re now hearing from Blackball as a decade of predator control and Operation Nest Egg makes an impact. “It’s exciting there are so many so close, also that they are breeding with lots of different family groups.” Halley has been involved with kiwi conservation with the Paparoa Wildlife Trust for 12 years. In October, she handed over the ‘Kiwi Ranger’ reins to Kristy Owens and the role moved from part time to full time. Before her retirement, Halley took me to the Atarau Sanctuary Kiwi Crèche,…

THERE’S SOMETHING for every tramper at the wonderfully accessible Sunrise Hut. For beginners, it’s a chance to safely spend a night in the mountains, for experts it’s a diving board to the Ruahine tops, and for all visitors, it’s one of the North Island’s most impressive huts. From the car park, the track quickly leaves the farmland for the mossy still of the beech forest. The 12 bunk Triplex Hut is reached within five minutes, making it a suitable base for those arriving late in the evening. For everyone else, it marks the beginning of a 650m climb. Though it may sound intimidating, the track is brilliantly graded, zigzagging more than the topo map suggests as it gently climbs the ridge-line towards Buttercup Hollow. The gradient is consistent, but never…

BLUE RANGE HUT offers good views over the brutal Tararua backcountry but makes for an easy weekend destination less than three-hours’ walk from the road end. But don’t let the 4km distance fool you. With a vertical gain of 640m, it’s tougher than you might think. The path from Kiriwhakapapa campsite leads through a majestic stand of Californian redwoods that mix harmoniously with equally magnificent native podocarps. A 10-minute stroll along a flat path carpeted with soft leaf litter leads to an unbridged stream. From here, it’s up, up, up. Above the redwoods is sublime red beech forest. Ferns spread intermittently over the spur. Juvenile miro break through; a new generation of forest overlords. The track to the Blue Range Hut is steep but in good condition. Not as many…

Our motives for spending time outdoors come in many shapes and forms. Sometimes it can be an intimate experience. Finding pleasure in the details of little things: marvelling at a field of wildflowers or the smooth rock of a deep canyon wall. Often we venture out in pursuit of solitude. Hiking along the banks of a gently-flowing river as it meanders through secluded beech forests, far from the nearest road or building. But sometimes we journey in search of grandeur. Seeking out expansive mountain ranges in hopes of experiencing the raw strength and drama that the land has to offer. This is a tale of the latter. An excursion rooted in finding new heights, and pushing physical limits. Our planned mission was a three night route that would see us…

CLUNKY BIKES, big crashes, biting off more than you can chew… there are so many ways your family biking dream can be derailed. But follow these expert tips and you’ll get the kids rolling, help them stay on track, and keep the wheels on whether you’re out in the wilds or just polishing up their skills at the local pump track. HOW TO START ROLLING Bike trailer: Get your tiny tots into the zone by towing them in a bike trailer, which just hitches on to your rear bike axle and has room for two wee ones. You could also consider the ‘shotgun’ setup which has your child perched in front of you on a seat and handlebar combo that fits on your bike’s top tube and bars. Tag-along bike:…

BIKEPACKING IS a great way to explore the country, but the longer you spend in the saddle, the more important your bike choice becomes. Your bike, especially the handlebar grips and saddle, need to be chosen and set up to suit one person only: you. This isn’t to say you need to buy an expensive bike for the Great Rides. A common hard-tail mountain bike can usually be modified to suit. FRAME SIZE The first and most important decision to make when choosing a bike is frame size. When standing astride the bike, there should be 5-10cm of clearance between the top tube and your crotch. You’ll then need to adjust your seat height and handlebar stem to fit properly. A professional bike fit, aiming for comfort rather than speed,…

BUSH TEA is just what it sounds like – a tea brewed with plants collected from the bush. There are many good reasons to drink bush tea. For starters, it’s free and you don’t have to worry about carrying it in your pack. It’s also better for the environment. Why buy packaged tea that was grown overseas and shipped to New Zealand when you’ve been walking past tea leaves all day? Bush tea is also the best way to immerse yourself in the wilderness experience and connect with nature. You’ve seen it and smelt it, now you can taste it. For many aspiring connoisseurs, the first few attempts can be underwhelming and might be enough to put you off altogether. But follow these guidelines and you’ll get the most out…

Last summer, Michelle Green completed the North Island section of Te Araroa and is now embarking on the South Island leg. She films and publishes her TA journey on the Long White Gypsy YouTube channel. Striving for what she calls 'Kiwi lightweight', the gear she carries strikes a balance between true ultralight gear and the specific characteristics of tramping in the New Zealand backcountry. PACK On a thru-hike, weight is a big consideration so I use a Zpacks Arc Haul 62L pack. It weighs just 680g (with two belt pouches). I love the single compartment roll-top closure system. The side pockets can easily carry four litres of water and the front mesh pouch is great for quick access items like rain gear and my Deuce of Spades trowel. SITTING PAD…