Tararuas in one go.

Wow, this would be awesome and insane at the same time. So you would plan on having 1-2 food drops I take it?

How long is a piece of string? All depends on weather, fitness, chosen route etc etc...

Interested in what people say here. Route wise I figure north-south-north would probably help keep the up-and-down to a minimum, with the two north routes focusing on valley huts and the south route focusing on the main ridge line. This may lend itself to two food pick-ups. Duration is of course hard to do for other folk. Maybe 2 weeks? Let the more experienced local call me out.

I'm not fast, but I can just keep going. I'd exit for resup, so one or two of those only. Route suggestion DEFINITELY appreciated! And for those who don't know me, I carry all necessary gear including emergency shelter etc. So please, keep the suggestions coming! :)

re your 1st question, kreig, you first have to select a thread (in the forum you want your new thread to reside). Then scroll to the bottom of the page (below the green search bar) and click on 'Start a new thread' button.

My 2 cents is that if this were me trying to bag all the huts I would choose the easiest routes every time. Weather in the Tarry's is total, utter shite at least 80% of the time, and the death-defying, holding-onto-sheer-cliffsides-by-your-fingertips scrambles over various pinnacles while a howling southerly with horizontal sleet/rain (sometimes going straight up the knife edge ridges) ripping your face off is not too fun. And don't forget the "secret" huts of the Tararuas, of which disclosure of their location is punishable by death. All that sarcasm aside, this is a daunting task because sometimes there simply is no "easy" route to some of the huts. "There will be blood"~

@Krieg, Well, I just lost my lunch break to this idea! Thanks ;) I've tentatively called the route: The Tararua Grand Tour Notes: Visits every official hut (48) in the Tararuas in a single trip Have not included known unofficial or DOC bio-diversity huts Visits every 1500m peak (15) Travels along every major ridge Travels along Northern, Bannister, Mid, and Southern Crossings routes Travels along most of S-K main range route with some gaps (could compete route with some out-and-back legs) Loop trip Continuous path with some backtracking Used marked tracks/routes where possible, where there are no notes between huts assume you take the track Some off-track required (as noted) Follow order to get some sense of route and backtracking required Has regular breakouts to roadends or close huts for resupply No idea on number of days but probably 2-3 weeks of long days (8-12 hr walking) at a good pace No idea on total distance or total elevation change Route (Starting from Kaitoke roadend): Smith Creek shelter Tutuwai hut Cone hut Sayer hut Totara Flats hut Neill Forks hut Maungahuka hut Aokaparangi hut Mid Waiohine hut Powell hut Mountain House shelter Holdsworth lodge (Access to Holdsworth roadend 5 min) Atiwhakatu hut Jumbo hut Angle Knob (1510) McGregor biv McGregor (1540) Broken Axe pinnacles South King (1531) Mid King (1521) Mid King biv North King (1535) Girdlestone (1546) Brockett (1538) Mitre (1571) Peggy’s Peak (1545) Dorset Ridge hut Tarn Ridge hut Lancaster (1504) Arete hut Arete (1505) Bannister (N 1537; S 1513; and several knobs over 1500) Waingawa Follow spur down and cross river to Arete Forks hut Cow Creek hut Blue Range hut (access to Kiriwhakapapa roadend 2hr) Follow Blue Range and descend spur to Mitre Flats hut Cow Creek hut (again) Roaring Stag hut Cattle Ridge hut Dundas hut Logan (1500) Mt Dundas (1500* some conjecture over true height but added for completeness) Herepai hut (access to Putara roadend 2hr) Head N to Massey Knob then Ngapuketurua to Burn hut (probably leatherwood hell bash) Head to Mangahao No.2 reservoir, walk road out to follow Te Araroa trail N to forestry track nearest pt.686, head off-track to North Mangahao biv Return to Mangahao reservoirs (access to Mangahao roadend) Mangahao Flats hut Off-track to North Ohau hut (access to Ohau roadend 2hr from river fork at Deception spur ) South Ohau hut Waiopheu hut Te Matawai hut Dracophyllum hut To get to Carkeek hut and Nichols hut, either off-track across Park valley to Carkeek ridge, or go to Nichols hut first then down spur to Park forks and up Carkeek ridge and then backtrack Andersons Memorial hut Waitewaewae hut Parawai lodge (Otaki Forks roadend 5 min) Puketua track then off-track to Kapakapanui hut Renata hut Waiotauru hut (then back to Otaki Forks) Field hut Penn Creek hut Maungahuka hut (again, but it's being a while and it's worth visiting twice!) Tararua Peaks Kime hut Hector (1529) Elder hut Alpha hut Marchant ridge Kaitoke roadend Let us know how you get on!

Why create unattainable pipe dreams that come to nothing. It's a bit of a skipping record tbh. Just get out in the hills and do it the hard way. I wouldn't recommend this unless you are pretty experienced in these hills. It would be brutal on the body. It would get bloody miserable at times, it would take all the fun out of it. The weather is always shit and getting worse. The tracks are shit. It's getting cold the daylight hours are shortening. I remember madpom saying once in a thread, it's like eating a cake all at once. It's better to just have a little now and then and you can enjoy it all the more.

I ate a full bag of scroggin just reading that itinerary. Just remember the stats say the weather in the Tararuas is more likely to kill you than anywhere else in the country. I know other places get colder and wetter and windier. Just not all at the same time.