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DOC Land
Altitude: 837m to 1108m. Gain: 28m. Loss: 292m . Gradient: 4 deg (Flat)
Skills: - Prolonged rivers (4/6)
(notes copied from duplicate route by Millera)
Eventually at about 1,080m the river flats ended, met by heavy beech forest on a reasonably steep hillside.
A track begins at this point, although it requires some effort to find it. After about 2km, after crossing a side stream and rounding a bend to head north at about 1,000m, the conditions in the forest and track changed considerably. As we had discovered two years earlier, there was substantial windfall, with much of the canopy gone and the sky clearly visible, with trees lying criss-crossed over one another, completely blocking the track. Earlier we surmised that this was a result of Ex Tropical Cyclone Gita, that devastated parts of the Nelson/Tasman area in February 2018. This required going off track in places to travel up the slope to get around the piles of fallen trees, although invariably I encountered more fallen trees doing this. I went under and over several fallen trees, and about the last set required a huge effort over a large collection of trees fallen on top of one another. I proceeded carefully and made it through about 2km of hell, eventually reaching the West Matakitaki crossing to the true left and Bob’s Hut for lunch. Reading the hut book I noticed an entry from a two-person maintenance crew, who had started clearing the track upstream, but found it too challenging. They noted that they would return for further clearing. Hopefully they do clear a path through the fallen trees for easier and faster travel.