Lake Ohau to Ahuriri valley

Saturday, 12th January 2013   27kms approx 9 hours
(This section done before the section from Pukaki to Lake Ohau because of weather)

The rough 4WD track climbed up from Lake Ohau, crossed one creek, then traversed over to the lovely patch of beech forest at Freehold Creek. From there the guide said there was a rough track up alongside the creek, but it was actually a really good, well marked, tramping track  out to the bushline, and then the track continued on for the required distance out in the open ... on a lovely sunny day.

From there the route involved a steepish climb up a ridge to reach a saddle at around 1440m , which then passed over to the headwaters of the east branch of the Ahuriri  River (picture).

At first travel down the valley was a bit rough, with crossing to and fro, and trying to avoid those prickly Spaniard plants. But the valley soon widened, and the going was that much easier. At the bottom it was 2-3 kms over rough ground (including many rabbit holes) with a very strong side wind to the banks of the main Ahuriri River.

The big challenge for today, given all the rain over the last few weeks, was whether or not I could cross the river - in the event, after a few attempts, it was just too much, but if I had crossed and walked out to the road, the day's trip time would have been approx 9 hours.

As it was, I then had an extra hour's walk downstream to the bridge.