The Southern Crossing: Route Guide

By Ashley R. Clarkson
1 December, 2003

The Southern Crossing. Difficulty: Medium + Tops travel Length: 32km, 17-20 hours, 3 days Highest Point: Mt. Hector, 1529m Maps: S26 (Carterton) Huts: Fields Hut, Kime Hut, Alpha Hut (all 1 ticket)

The Southern Crossing is the classic tramp of the Tararua Ranges. It takes you from Otaki up through bush layers onto tussock tops, then over the second highest peak in the ranges before dropping back down into the bush and exiting at Kaitoke. This tramp has the potential to give you breathtaking panoramic views of the Wellington region and the Wairarapa. It can also give you nothing but cloud, wind and rain, and in many months, snow. Be extremely careful, many experienced trampers have lost their lives on these mountains.

There are several ways to complete the Southern Crossing, including the two most popular which are usually completed in a weekend or 3 day space. One version sees the tramper walk up to Fields Hut on the first night, over the tops to Alpha Hut on the second day, and out on the third day (usually completed in this way as a weekend trip). For a first attempt of the Southern Crossing I recommend three full days - Otaki to Kime Hut on the first day, Kime to Alpha on the second day, and out to Kaitoke via the Marchant Ridge on the third day. An extra day could be added by walking down into the Tauherenikau Valley to Tutuwai Hut for a third night, then out along the valley as in the Holdsworth-Kaitoke tramp. This guide will work along the basis that you follow my suggestion, though it can also be used for the weekend trip.

Access

Access to the Southern Crossing track is from the Otaki Forks entrance to the Tararua Forest Park - take the well signposted entrance on SH1 just before Otaki township (if you cross the Otaki river, you have successfully missed the turning) and follow the road until the end. Eventually the farm country largely disappears and the road becomes unsealed and narrow before reaching the end. Park your car at the overnight carpark and sign-in at the caretaker's residence, then walk back about 5 minutes to the swing bridge by the picnic area (Boielle's Flat).

To Fields Hut (2.5-3 Hours)

Cross the swingbridge, and follow the path up the narrow scrabble to the small plateau of former farmland. From here, follow the track heading right, cross the plateau, and begin climbing the ridge. This first stretch can be desperately hot and tiring in the sun, but eventually (about 45 mins-1 hour) gives away to bush. From here, you can motor it through the bush over Tirotiro Knob and up to Fields Hut. Once in the bush, the gradient levels off and is not much to worry about. If you left Otaki at around 9am you should reach Fields Hut just before lunchtime, so have a break, inspect this fantastic old hut, read the information available inside and have a spot of lunch. For those staying the night here the hut has a fire, sleeps 25, has an ample water supply and a couple of good axes for chopping wood.

Onto the Tops, to Kime Hut (3 Hours)

From Fields Hut the track climbs quickly and steeply up to the Table Top (1047m), before levelling off (thus the name 'Table Top', duh!) for about 20-30 minutes along boardwalks to protect the area (this part of the track earmarked to be upgraded). Just before climbing up to Dennan Peak the track to Penn Creek splits off (this is now the only tangible access to Penn Creek, the other access being wrecked by active slips), and the track then takes an upward slant to Dennan (1214m). You sidle around the top of Dennan, before dropping down slightly to the ridge, then climb the painful (and cramp-causing, as I discovered) scramble to Bridge Peak (1421m). From here the track levels out, traversing the tops for 250m before a final climb to Hut Mound (1440m), the former site of Vosseler Hut, before dipping down to Kime Hut (sleeps up to 35, no fire/heating, water tank and 2 tarns for emergency water). This hut will fill up on long weekends. From Hut Mound you can get great views of the area. The little valley it is situated in is a nice little spot as well, as long as the cloud is up.

To Mt. Hector (approx. 1 Hour)

From the door of Kime Hut, the track follows a poled route up the little valley/saddle until it curves and begins the ascent to Field Peak (1483m) before dropping off 120m over the other side, curving downwards to begin the final ascent to Mt. Hector. The climb is a strong 160m climb up the north-west face of the Mountain, involving a track that you must pay attention to follow, because there are very few if any cairns or markers to line the way. Animal trails (presumably goats, I doubt deer would go much for the very tops around there) cross and split off from the track at random intervals, and are easy to follow (no, I didn't, but one in our party lead us off one or two). The climb peters off every now and again, before steepening up again. You know you've finally reached the top in foul weather only because you reach the 2m high cross, which is a war memorial. If the weather is good, take a break and soak in the views. If the weather is poor (which is often likely) you will probably want to boot it fast off this exposed top. We sure did.

To Alpha Hut (3-4 Hours)

Walk past the memorial and the track drops down suddenly and to the right. Fear not, this is normal. You very quickly lose 40m, reaching two bumps called the Beehives. This patch can be terrifying in strong winds, and an older tramper passed on the advice of crawling through this section if the winds are too strong. Alternatively you could turn back, but that sucks. After this you again descend to the right, though this is not very pronounced, being a drop of around 10m. In bad weather this can be boring, but keep on your guard and on the track, because if you let your mind wander you are liable to reach Atkinson and head down the false spur. Whilst it is not particularly difficult to realise which is which, even in very low visibility (we had 5-10m), you can miss it and descend it, though you will quickly realise your error. A cairn marks the track. Basically, when presented with an option along this stretch, take the right.

Having walked on from Atkinson, you are now on a stretch known as the Dress Circle, for its panoramic views. From here the drops really start happening, as you lose 100m over about a kilometre. I recommend stopping at point 1372 (otherwise un-named) and checking out the view down the valleys and across to Astin and Alpha. Satisfied, grab your packs and those reluctant to leave the views and follow the track as it bends around and down in a half-circle then back up to Aston (1376m) before dropping down 130m and back another 120m to Alpha (1361m). This patch of the walk is a nice calm area, which is ruggedly beautiful. To the south (your right) is the Hutt River Catchment Area, which serves as the water collection area for Wellington. This area used to be closed off to the public, but has now been opened up. Still, they don't particularly encourage you to go there. To reach Alpha Hut you drop down another 160m. Once you reach the bushline, the hut is about 5 minutes away at a swift pace. The first sight is the glorious loo (well, glorious if you need to do the business) and a couple of metres down the track is Alpha Hut. Alpha Hut has a fire, water and plenty of bunks for sleeping, as well as a deck. Firewood can be found without much difficulty just down towards the little creek you can see from the deck of the hut.

Down the Marchant and Out (7-9 Hours)

This is probably the longest patch of the walk, and definitely the most monotonous and boring. The track heads down from Alpha Hut 100m over a kilometre before rising 90m to point 1187. Here is where things could potentially get nasty. All of a sudden the track dumps 190m in height over less than 250m, before climbing another 80m. This is Hell's Gate, a nasty saddle which earns its name when you walk up the Marchant Ridge, but is more tolerable when coming down the Marchant. Many a complaint in the Alpha Hut log book. The track reaches a memorable juction with the Bull Mound track, before turning right (to face south) and up onto the Marchant Ridge. You climb another 30m, reaching Omega (where the Omega track splits off, track not maintained). From here the track begins a slow descent over 1.5-2km to 953m in height, where it meets up with the Block XVI track (falls down to swinbridge across Tauherenikau River). Losing another 50m over another 2 km, the track eventually begins a climb up to the bare peaks of Marchant. This area was destroyed by fire and wind, and is only beginning to recover. You can still see some of the old burnt trunks.

After this, the track begins its final descent, dropping just over 300m to the former site of Dobson Shelter (formerly Dobson Hut). The remains of the fireplace and some of the foundations can still be seen (and sat upon). Here a junction leads down to the Smith Creek Shelter. I suggest a break for lunch here, as you should have been walking about 5-6 hours from Alpha hut by now. Satisfied, take the track along to the Kaitoke Roadend. This patch is a reasonably gentle walk through mostly forest, though as you get to the end the forest is replaced by gorse. Over 1.5-2 hours, you drop another 200m in height. Then the track drops a quick 60m before meeting with the track to the Tauherenikau Valley. From here it is a quick 15 minutes to the carpark, and civilisation.