We made an early start on Friday night, arriving at the end of Mangakukeke Rd at about nightfall. Just enough daylight to get boots on and head along the marked track, initially on farmland, then climbing up a ridge and entering the bush and the Ruahine Forest Park.

As we entered the bush we could see torch light on the track below. Brian Pickering who was joining up with us from Wellington.

We arrived at the new Purity Hut shortly after midnight, disturbing a lone hunter who was the only occupant of the luxurious brand new 6-bunk affair. Brian and I elected to camp on a flat patch a few minutes down the track from the hut.

Saturday morning and we headed up the ridge for the top of the ridge, a point named on the map as "Wooden Peg". From there it is 15 mins along to the next point called "Iron Peg". We left our packs here and headed along the ridge to the highest point in the Ruahine range called "Mangaweka". We took pictures but because the range is very flat it didn’t feel like a peak topping at all. Infact the sharper peaks of the distant ranges seemed higher.

Back to Iron Peg for lunch beside a tarn and then along the range towards Waterfall Hut. We had expected some sort of marked track but found ourselves following a very rudimentary pad along the ridge. We speculated which ridge to go down to get to the hut as there is a lot of erosion around here and we didn’t want to end up bluffed. But there was no sign of a route as we passed the most promising ridge. "Oh well" we thought. We can always head for Pourangaki Hut if worst comes to worst. Brian had been there before so knew the route. However, after passing a small steep spot that required carrying packs for some party members, it became obvious that the correct route was down Pinnacle Creek. There were no bluffs but the route was steep and loose. The slope eased as we descended the creek and we arrived at Waterfall Hut late afternoon.

Sunday dawned with some cloud around and a shower of rain as we started up Pinnacle Creek. However the climb up was easier than the descent and the rain was short-lived. Lunch was had next to another tarn on the ridge before we crossed back past Iron Peg and Wooden Peg and then began a long descent to Kelly Knight Hut. Above bush-line the track has only newly been marked with warratahs and was poorly defined on the ground. This made for hard slow going until we reached the Leatherwood. A good track began here as the slot cut through the leatherwood had concentrated the route. Graeme, a visiting Scottish Forester was really enjoying his first opportunity to study NZ bush here. Chris was able to apply his knowledge here.

We were soon down at the hut, which lies in a pleasant clearing just above the river. Shrieks of delight were heard from below as the women bathed in the river.

On Monday it was a relatively short walk down river to the farmland. Permission from the farmer is required to cross this land, which we had gained, so it was a plod back to the cars in the rain.

This was my first venture into the inner ranges of the Ruahines and a great chance to view some of the possibilities in there. Great country but there seems to be no way to avoid the ups and downs and generally the going is harder than expected. Times on signposts are quite optimistic so be prepared for that. On the plus sign, lots of great huts.

Pete McKellar for, Jill Lee, Brian Pickering, Chris Mountfort, Karen Sanson, Sue Williams and Graham Phillips