Exploring the hillside between Sledge Track and a mystery bench track
Today I set out to explore the hillside between Sledge Track and the mystery bench track I came across during a previous bush bash. After crossing Sledge Track Creek, I walked along some flat ground for a short while before climbing the slope behind. About twenty metres up I found an old fence post, evidence that this and the flat land below had once been pasture. This 1941 aerial photo shows the area as partially cleared, but today it is completely overgrown. Just beyond the fence post, I noticed a section of partly buried plastic sheeting, possibly polythene, which may once have been used for a bivvi shelter.
The lower slope of the hillside was thick with vegetation, but as expected it began to thin out higher up. These hillsides are littered with what look like tracks, though most fade out quickly and it’s hard to tell whether they were formed by people or just animal routes. I followed one that seemed man-made, but it didn’t last. Even so, the faint paths made moving across this slope easier.
The first gully I reached was choked with supplejack, so I climbed higher to get around the creek that ran through it. I continued at that level and crossed another gully, then two or three more after that, before stumbling upon a proper track. It ran straight up and down the hillside, very steep, but with a bench cut along one side. I thought it was probably Solomon Track. Climbing it would have meant either returning the same way or continuing all the way to join the original Whakanui Track, which I didn’t have time to do safely. I didn’t want to risk being caught in the bush after dark, so I turned downhill instead.
Partway down I met another track running across the slope, though it was overgrown. Following it east, I soon realised it was the same mystery bench track I had walked two weeks before. This meant the steep track I came down on was not Solomon Track, rather it was a branch track off the mystery bench track I discovered two weeks prior. With that confirmed, I turned west along the mystery bench track to head out, but bearing in mind that I would have to return and follow the branch track off the mystery bench track and follow it to its end.
At the same impassable gully I had reached last time, instead of following the gully down, I decided to climb higher to bypass the steepness of the landscape. Once I went around the gully, I carried on along the hillside, keeping my height, but weaving up and down the hillside somewhat to dodge difficult terrain.
I had planned to traverse the hillside back to Sledge Track, but I ended up much higher above the valley than expected. To avoid the known steep terrain leading down into Reservoir Valley, I turned into Sledge Track Valley instead. From there, I continued south along the eastern hillside above the creek until I came across another gully with a small stream that likely feeds into Sledge Track Creek. Rather than crossing it, I chose to descend. The slope was still steep, and the views of the valley confirmed that I was quite high up.
Eventually I heard running water below and came out on the bank of Sledge Track Creek. Its opposite side was high and steep, but I found the best place to scramble up the bank and was on Sledge Track minutes later. From there it was a straightforward walk out to the Hine Road car park. Onroute, I took a photograph of an old pipe that goes under either the water race or Orongorongo pipe because its brick facade had collapsed in a recent period of rain.
This outing was tough going. By the time I reached the car, I had to lift my right leg inside with my hands. The steep gradient had also taken a toll on my boots, with the sole starting to peel away, and a blister was forming in the arch of my foot. That blister forced me to limp slowly out of the bush, but despite the aches, it was worth it. I came away with a better understanding of the landscape and shed more than a few calories in the process. Now it was time to step back into the man-made world once again.
