thats a problem in the noth island given teh higher population, given taranaki is a high profile national park and what is going on there, shouldnt they get decent funding based on the use it gets, central north island tracks can get a lot of use give the highest proportion of the north island population can get to those locations for weekends.
a north island tramping club calendar isnt complete without one or more trips to mt taranaki... on long weekends the park comes in for a lot of use, the round the mountain track in winter is often more doable than a place like tongariro which is far more exposed to severe weather...
@deepriver, it's possible the Slaty Hut section was worked on by volunteers so you tend to get a different style of track clearing... DOC give strict instructions as to what plants shouldn't be touched etc but some people can be a little overzealous with their tools...
over zealous? you should see some of the great walks, DOC pretty much turn some sections of track into a road with a digger.
Nothing is exempt from being flattened to bench the track all the way across.. you could pitch a tent on it and still have plenty of room to walk around it..... they were blasting on the mckellar saddle when they upgraded that...
DOC have at least one digger permanently stationed on the milford track.
This post has been edited by the author on 7 August 2015 at 12:05.
^The reason I kinda dont want to do most of the great walks, yet kinda do. Good scenery but I feel like thered be too many people and I enjoy rougher track more than easy walking.
Seriously? A digger permanently stationed on milford. Wow.
@Size12, that's how I feel too. Should have walked them years ago…
@Size12
Same here. I can see why DoC are doing this. It's way easier to maintain a track mechanically than it is by hand labour. As I mentioned above, just getting the right people to do that kind of manual work is difficult these days.
But the result is a definite degradation of the tramping experience. All that's missing on some of these tracks is a white dotted line down the middle and passing lanes.
"All that's missing on some of these tracks is a white dotted line down the middle and passing lanes."
No need for a centre line on a one way street.
Re marking old tracks central Tararuas. While a bit off topic, I applied to DoC to remark some of the old deer culling tracks around Park forks ie to Dorset, Nichols, Carkeek, McGregor. Not major cutting, just marking. Lot of coloured tape already along these tracks. Wanted use the original markers - Permolat. Thought I had OK and marked some of McGregor and Carkeek. Turns out I didn't, DOC refused give ok. The survey on the FMC website re Park Forks tracks was attempt by FMC to gauge support, not sure of the result yet
havent they just put a flash new toilet in at magregor biv? whats the point if they wont let a track be marked?
@TararuaHunter
And this from an organisation supposedly looking for better community engagement!
I'm the last person to slag DoC off. I think the staff generally do a terrific job with modest budgets and not a lot of love from the government they serve.
But surely a modest, constructive request like this deserved a 'yes'? What possible reasons did they have to turn you down? None of the ones I can think of stand up in the light of day.
Or maybe it's just a reflection on an organisation that really has been restructured to death?
