With a somewhat less than favourable weather forecast "Scattered heavy showers with hail and snow falling to 1200 metres. Severe south-west gales", eight of us assembled at Platform 9 ready to set forth. We arrived at Kawhatau Base at 11pm and set about pitching camp. Unfortunately the forecast was spot on and by 5am one of the flys had its pegs knocked out by a gust of wind. The occupants scurried into the van for shelter for the next hour or two.
By morning, it was cold and drizzly with strong, gusty winds and thick clag on the hills. It was obvious that our original route over the Mokai Patea Range would not be enjoyable and possibly dangerous. Instead, we decided to head over the Hikurangi Range to McKinnon Hut, or if conditions were too diabolical, to drop down to Crow Hut.
Kawhatau Base to McKinnon Hut
We dropped down and crossed the Kawhatau River before a steep, overgrown and slippery ascent up to the Hikurangi Range. We had a quick lunch stop just shy of the bushline. As we left the shelter of the bush we were greeted by some typical Ruahine summer weather - limited visibility and a strong southerly with a horizontal snow blizzard. The only good thing was that now we were on the ridge and the travel was faster and flatter, even though we were battling our way through a blizzard. We quickly found ourselves travelling across the snowy ridge, past the large tarns and over our highest point of 1625m. It was encouraging to occasionally see the roof and welcome shelter of McKinnon Hut as the clag drifted across. Before settling into the hut we all went out to hunt for firewood. The pickings were slim, but enough was found to ensure a warm, cosy night in the hut, and some left over for the next party. We all enjoyed a warming fish kedgeree and Amanda's home-baked cookies before a peaceful, long night's sleep.
McKinnon Hut to Kawhatau Base
We intended to re-trace our footsteps from yesterday, only this time to enjoy the vistas. Unfortunately, there was no clearing in the weather. The clag was even thicker and the snow was deeper, but in our favour we did not have to battle through the blizzards. Instead of crossing the river, most of us went over on the cableway - for fun rather than necessity.