Remutaka Trig and beyond
This trip starts at the Remutaka Trig carpark and follows the main Remutaka Range until it meets the Incline trail just north of the Summit Station. From there the conservative route follows a winding forestry road back to SH 2 at a point about 500 metres below the Remutaka Trig carpark.
The weather conditions are critical to this trip as several sections are quite exposed to the Northerly.
Trusting a weather forecast predicting moderate winds a party of four, Paul, Mike, Phil and Gerald did this trip on 15 November.
The route starts with a gentle climb up the well formed and maintained track to the Trig. At the ridge line a newly cut route along the ridge initially heads west. It then turns south along the main ridge and bursts out of the protective scrub onto a gently sloping field of low gorse and native plants. This is the most exposed point of the route and the wind seemed near gale force although the leader claimed it was not as strong as on the previous occasion on which he had traversed this section. Fortunately, this section is only about 500 metres long and it was a tail wind.
The rest of the trip along the range can be completed on the lee side of the ridge on cut tracks and later in clear forest. On this trip the party spent a little more time than was wise on the windward side in attempts to avoid thick scrub on the top and lee side of the ridge and to avoid a tedious sidle in ugly scrub at the saddle. These excursions onto the lee side were a mistake and the party was seriously buffeted by the unrelenting Northerly for these mistakes.
At a deep saddle after Bump 710 the party bush-bashed its way to an old bulldozed track that the party might never have found without a trace from a previous trip. This track has recently been cut and good wind-protected progress was made to the forestry road.
About a two kilometres along the forestry road the party succumbed to the leader’s recommendation that they take a shortcut and follow a very pretty little stream up to the carpark on SH2. Getting access to this Garden of Eden proved a little more demanding than the leader expected due to an extraordinarily infestation of bush lawyer. Once this and other minor obstacles had been overcome progress up the valley was swift and after a short steep climb the party emerged onto the forestry road close to SH2.
An adventurous demanding trip completed in about 10 hours. (Could be shorter in better weather and a different approach to the Garden of Eden).
