Misadventures of Mon’s mountain muppets
Makaroro/Ikawetea circuit, Ruahine Forest Park
As the sun rose over Wellington my ANZAC weekend tramping plans disintegrated. Arranging a tramp can be like herding anarchist cats. When you can’t beat them, join them. I leapt off the sinking ship of my own tramping plans and latched myself onto a last-minute 7am invitation from Regan on a WTMC trip led by Mon to the northern Ruahine Range. By 8 I was hurtling down Transmission Gully in the car with Regan, Mon and Daniel. One closed road and a 40-minute detour later we neared our destination. The plan was finally divulged to me. It would be a hutbagging bonanza. Sentry Box, Parks Peak and Upper Makaroro would be our targets for the first day. We would then climb up to the Main Range, duck down to Kylie Biv before sauntering along the tops to Ruahine Corner. Day three would take us across the Ruahine plateau before dropping to Ikawetea Forks and up the river to Rockslide Bivvy. Our final day would take us further up the river to Mistake Biv before climbing out of the valleys to Aranga and returning to the car by Sentry.
