Day 41: Kaniwhaniwha camp to Mt Pirongia (8+km, 8 hours)

It's up Mt Pirongia today! 4-5 hours to the Pahautea hut, just past the summit, the notes said - only 8km away, but all uphill and with a heavy pack it will be pretty tiring. I packed up the tent, refilled my water from the stream, and by 7am I was off.

Heading off into the Pirongia forest

The trail led from the campgrounds into the bush. It was deceptively easy-going at first, but soon began to get increasingly steeper and more uneven as time passed. It was thankfully cloudy today, a change from the searing 30-degree days I've had since leaving Hamilton, but it was extremely humid and I was completely drenched in sweat in the first hour and a half. On the way up I met Rob and Wendy, two TA trampers coming down the mountain and heading North. They were aiming to get to the Backyard Bar in Whatawhata tonight for a beer - I was jealous!

10am pic: a much- needed rest on the way up.  Already exhausted and drenched with sweat.

Another viewpoint

I was getting increasingly exhausted, and the route was getting rougher and requiring some clambering over steep sections. By 11am though I came to another lookout, a few metres off the trail, and stopped for another water break. Just as well I was carrying extra, I needed it. At this point I'd been climbing for 4 hours, so reasoned I must not be far far from the summit - but unfortunately for some reason the GPS on my phone was playing up and telling me I was somewhere north of Hamilton, which was no help. Also, there was low cloud or mist on the mountain, so I couldn't see from the lookout where the summit was. But, not long to go now!

11am: Surely not far from the top now…?

Strangely, the trail from this point led mostly downhill. Unusual, because I hadn't reached the summit yet, but I kept on going hoping that there would be a turnoff to the summit soon. I was getting a little concerned though. Half an hour later I met a day hiker, Siobahn, who was heading up the mountain to the summit - and told me the summit was back behind me! Clearly I'd overshot it somehow and was now walking back down the other side of the mountain! Well, rather than retrace my steps back up to the hut, I decided to keep going, bypass the night's stay at the hut, and get to the bottom of the mountain ahead of schedule. Siobahn very generously agreed to detour past the hut after she got to the summit, to leave a note saying that I had decided to keep going and wouldn't be staying there after all.

 

The lovely Siobhan - thanks for your help!

Another 45 minutes downhill, and I met a larger group of day hikers, also heading up - Rosie, Antje, six children/teenagers of different ages, and even a dog. Stopping for a chat, I thought I'd double-check where they had come from this morning - and found out they were walking up from the same campsite I had been at last night. The dreadful truth dawned on me - I wasn't heading down the other side at all, I'D TAKEN A WRONG TURN AND WALKED ALMOST AN HOUR AND A HALF BACK DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, THE SAME WAY I'D COME UP!!  

There was nothing for it but to go back up the mountain a second time. Heading back up was an increasing struggle. I'd already been exhausted and drenched several hours ago, so my progress became painfully slow with frequent stops. I was quickly overtaken by Rosie and the whole group (Rosie kept hanging back to check that I was doing OK, which was very nice of her). I started passing landmarks on the trail that I remembered from my original hike up - I can't believe I didn't recognise them when I was walking back down. It seems a forest trail can look very different from different directions, when you are tired.

Rosie, Antje and some of the clan. And of course Leo the dog

1pm: after 3 hours, back at the exact same spot as my 10am pic! I’m not happy.

Seem familiar?

2pm: after 3 hours, back to the 11am lookout in the mist. Now the mist has cleared, I can see I had been so close to the summit!

Once I made it back to the 11am lookout, I realised what had happened. I clearly must have lost concentration in my tired state, with the mist obscuring my line of sight of the mountain top, and without my GPS working reliably. So when rejoining the track I simply turned right instead of left, heading straight back down the track I had just come up. I'd like to blame the unreliable GPS on my phone, which I usually rely on heavily, but this was just stupid human error. D'oh! (In fact the GPS seemed to be working OK later - perhaps it was just on a certain section of the mountain it was blocked from receiving enough satellite signals to triangulate my location). 

Eventually I staggered to the summit (passing Siobahn again en route, who was surprised to see me back up the mountain. Her generous detour to leave a note at the hut had been for nothing! But I'm so grateful for what she did). At the summit I finished off most of my water, and all of my remaining salami (I was craving salt). After a while I waved goodbye to Rosie and the crew, and headed along a ridge track for the final 30 minutes to the Pahautea hut. It was 3pm - I had taken 8 hours, rather than the 4-5 hours the notes predicted. Then again, I did effectively climb Mt Pirongia twice.

Finally! The view from the top

Looking back the way I came

Pahautea Hut. I made it!

All my tramping clothes were entirely sodden with sweat, including my shorts and undies, so I hung them out to dry on the deck. Then I needed a 30 minute power nap. There were very few people at the hut when I arrived, but it was fully booked and filled up over the following few hours. There were 20 people staying overnight: several solo/pairs of trampers; TA hiker Dan and his father; a loud group of 6-7 young Korean guys; and 4 very nice uni students who I ended up chatting with for a while (Nick, Oscar, Kelly and Eliza).

By the time I'd arranged dinner (more spag bol, anyone?), it was 6pm, and I was off to bed, listening to the noisy Korean guys in the main room next door. What a day!

 

View from the hut deck (while waiting for my spag bol dinner to rehydrate)

My bed for the night. I’m at the bottom, near the far window.

Today’s route. Which doesn’t show that I’ve effectively climbed this mountain twice!