HOARY HEAD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 18 February 1935, Page 3

HOARY HEAD

! MOTUEKA CLIMBERS ! ,| AN INTERESTING TOUR i Hoiirv Head, distant and majestic is seen at its best from the Rhvaka side of the Takaka track. With the intention of making its closer acquaintance in a leisurely and luxurious manner we took provisions for one night and a 'pack horse to carry them. The road which follows the south branch of the Rhvaka river narrows to a bridle track as the river enters the gorge. Here springs ooze unexpectedly from the hillside, and the rivei;, in places, hides underground. Blit the-track, except where there have been slips and washouts is very even grade and walking is easy, so easy that the pace set by the elderly and knowledgeable pack horse was too slow even for our unhurried footsteps. One of us pulled at the bridle, another pushed at the back with a stick and the rest shouted threats and encouragement.

Higher up, the track crosses and reCrosses the dry river bed. As the horse slid down the bank the pack saddle slithered up the animal’s neck, when it scrambled up the other side 1 he’.pack was dangling over its haunches. We reinforced the girths with ropes and invented lashings fore and aftj but the rope began to chafe so in addition to the two who were already in attendance upon the horse, another person with a long rope attached to the pack, was employed to keep the pack in place by pulling in the required direction. We decided that there was too much leisure and not enough luxury about our paek-

horse. Where the track is cut into the hillside a log has fallen and is resting on the top of the cutting and the outside edge of the track, and a medium sized horse can pass beneath with ease. We removed the pack but our horse was tall; we pulled its head under the leg, it planted its forefeet stiffly, braced its shoulders against the log and refused to move; we ordered it to bend and tried to assist it, then followed an argument as to whether, it was possible for a horse to bend both knees and walk with them bent; we unpacked the axe and lowere dtlie floor of the track until the horse could walk under the log without inconvenience.

On the other side of the gorge the valley opens out into sheep country and at the base of Hoary Head we spent, the night in a shepherd’s whare. Next morning we crossed a cleared slope on to what looked like, and subsequently proved to be, a direct spur leading to Hoary Head. Walking through the bush on the crest of Oie ridge we had no difficulty in keeping our direction, though in one place the growth was extremely close and tangled. We emerged on to the tus-

sock land and here a herd of goats was feeding, while nearer the top we disturbed another lot. There was one steep slope where it was necessary to scramble over or leuml outcrops of rock, but the mountain to]) is a rounded plateau with a gentle slope to the East. We looked out over the Motueka plains, Tasman Bay to Farewell Spit while nearer at hand Little Brownacre and Brownacre appeared an easy traverse from our position. On our left the steep sides, of Mt. Brooklyn flanked the south branch valley and on one of the spurs we saw what looked like a track leading to the star-shaped natural dealing on top. We should be interested to hear of anyone who has been up Brooklyn; to us the most feasible way appeared to be to follow the ridge from the top of the Takaka track. To the south the view, except for the kn ; c f e edge ridge connecting Hoary Head with Crusader, was obscured by clouds; presently these surrounded us and materialised in snow, before we had reached the bush the ground was while. Down at the whare the snow melted as quickly as it fell, but when we turned for our last look up the valley before entering the gorge the cloud’s were gone and Hoary Head stood out in perfect justification of its name.