Te Araroa track

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Te Araroa track

Postby JAll » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 1:10 pm

Hi! We are heading off to hike ten days of the Te Araroa track in a week, from ship cove to st Arnaud. We’ve seen conflicting distances between them and won’t be able to pick up our maps until we get to NZ. Does anyone know how far it is in kms?
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 1:15 pm

knowing the mileage is only half the issue , you need to understand how rough the terrain is and isnt going to give you anywhere near the full picture
We don't measure distance in NZ as much as we measure the time expected to take along a trail... Americans come here and get a shock because they can end up doing a fraction of the mileage some days that they could on american tracks.
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 1:17 pm

you're not going to do it in ten days.... unless
1. you are the fittest of the fit.
2. you are a ultralight hiker
3. you can cope with very rough ground.
4. the weather is fine enough to actually let you walk every day through the richmond ranges, and you can navigate accurately if the visibility is bad.
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 1:52 pm

198k's
TA gives estimates of at least 12-18 days.
you can download the maps online

https://www.teararoa.org.nz/userfiles/f ... orough.pdf

https://s3.amazonaws.com/teararoa.co.nz ... orough.pdf

read the alpine alerts for the Richmond Range and take them seriously, there are a LOT of rescues in this area...

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recrea ... ine-route/
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby Rileyr » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 3:46 pm

200km is probably doable in 10 days
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby Rileyr » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 3:47 pm

If you know you can do it that is.

People can do larapinta in less at 230-250km if they take extras. Pretty rough ground - unsure of what your looking at doing though

Definitely be 100% sure you can do it before you attempt anything obviously
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 4:08 pm

I've tramped over a great deal of NZ,
this is not australia , or the larapinta, its mountainous, a lot of it goes up and down all day long on mountains that are a mile high on very rocky ground where you have to watch every step.
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby Rileyr » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 4:30 pm

wayno wrote:I've tramped over a great deal of NZ,
this is not australia , or the larapinta, its mountainous, a lot of it goes up and down all day long on mountains that are a mile high on very rocky ground where you have to watch every step.
And its that local knowledge thats needed.

An average of 20km a day could still be acheivable for some. Whether its safe to or not is another thing I suppose

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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 4:34 pm

Rileyr wrote:
wayno wrote:I've tramped over a great deal of NZ,
this is not australia , or the larapinta, its mountainous, a lot of it goes up and down all day long on mountains that are a mile high on very rocky ground where you have to watch every step.
And its that local knowledge thats needed.

An average of 20km a day could still be acheivable for some. Whether its safe to or not is another thing I suppose

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please read the entire thread before posting unqualified comments, I had already stated that the track needs to be considered for its terrain before its distance to assess how far a person can go each day.
i've done trips in NZ where 1km an hour is the average pace.
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby Rileyr » Sun 03 Dec, 2017 7:45 pm

Wayno, im saying your the guy in the know. But we all have different abilities

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Te Araroa track

Postby roysta » Mon 04 Dec, 2017 4:29 am

Riley, I think you need to listen to this guy. He’s the real deal, believe me.
And please don’t draw any comparisons between the Larapinta and the Richmond Range.

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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby JAll » Mon 04 Dec, 2017 10:58 am

Thanks all for the advice. We will be ultralight and are fit. We've done a lot of hiking in Tassie and elsewhere so are used to mountainous (non-boardwalk) terrain. not much we can do about the weather though!

Wayno (and others), would appreciate your advice on our plan in slightly more detail, if you have the time:

Day 1: Ship Cove to Camp Bay (29km, easy)
Day 2: Camp Bay to Te Mahia Saddle (29km, easy)
Day 3: Te Mahia Saddle to Havelock (29km, easy)
Day 4: Havelock to Roebuck Hut (28km, easy, 8hrs)
Day 5: Roebuck Hut to Starveall Hut (15km, hard 8hrs)
Day 6: Starveall to Old Man Hut (13km, hard, 8hrs)
Day 7: Old Man to Rintoul Hut (5km, hard, 6hrs - NB, can push on to Tarn Hut)
Day 8: Rintoul to Mid Wairoa (13.5km, hard, 8hrs - NB, can bail out here if need be)
Day 9: Mid Wairoa to Hunters (17.5km, hard, 11hrs)
Day 10: Hunters to Red Hills (18km, medium 9hrs)
Day 11: Red Hills to St Arnaud (15km, easy 6hrs)

Cheers!
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Mon 04 Dec, 2017 11:08 am

once you're on the tops in the richmond ranges its all slow going underfoot...
i wouldnt even call day 2 easy, its 1600m of ascent and another 1600m of descent, and in summer there may be no water on it at all, in theory nz isnt that hot but if you're in the sun you'll know about it, its really strong we usualy end up under an ozone hole in summer and its harder on you than you expect. and its more than 29k from my calculations its over 30.
again how long you take depends on how good you are at dealing with rough terrain underfoot and whether the weather plays ball. the tops can be impassable at any time of year when a storm hits, theres a lot of vertical component in the richmond ranges, but the times are looking realistic.
last year there was seldom two good days of weather in a row and people were held up in the richmond ranges regularly by the weather..
Last edited by wayno on Mon 04 Dec, 2017 3:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Mon 04 Dec, 2017 3:36 pm

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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby madpom » Mon 04 Dec, 2017 5:19 pm

@JAll.

I can only comment on the Richmond Range section of your walk.

Disclaimer (before wayno supplies it for me!): I'm a fit tramper and work in the bush too so at the upper end in fitness, familiarity & speed. I cannot judge your fitness or speed on steep rough ground so your experience may vary.

However for me what you describe are realistic, pleasent days tramping distances. My own traverses of the area include most of the route you describe. Starveall to Rintoul was one day. Mid Wairoa to Red Hills was a day via the tops (hard) but would be 2 as you describe via hunters.

A route guide to my route us here. Not suggesting you follow it (your proposed route is simpler, less of a bush bash and more of a walk) but will give you some idea of what a fit experienced walker can cover. Where times are given (eg 4-7hrs) the lower time is mine, the upper time is the DOC signposted time.

https://tramper.nz/1943
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby wayno » Wed 06 Dec, 2017 2:29 am

the water tanks on the shelters between punga cove and the portage are empty, the long term forecast is for drought.
over summer the huts in the richmond ranges will be busy to full with Te araroa walkers, the huts may also run out of water
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Re: Te Araroa track

Postby Rileyr » Wed 20 Dec, 2017 5:40 am

JAll wrote:Hi! We are heading off to hike ten days of the Te Araroa track in a week, from ship cove to st Arnaud. We’ve seen conflicting distances between them and won’t be able to pick up our maps until we get to NZ. Does anyone know how far it is in kms?
Howd you go mate?

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