Six of us met at Upper Hutt Railway Station at 8.30am to carpool to Holdsworth Road End, near Masterton where we met Gordon. The 7 of us set off at 10.10 am on a beautiful day on the Gentle Annie Track to Mountain House Shelter. It is slightly misnamed, as although not technically difficult the track did have quite a few steps and uphill sections! We had a break after an hour at Rocky Lookout for a photo opportunity and to have some morning tea. As it was a lovely day there were quite a few people at the lookout. After 20 minutes we carried on to our lunch stop at Mountain House Shelter which we reached about 1pm.  This is where we farewelled Gordon who was carrying on to Powell Hut.

To make it a loop from the Mountain House shelter we turned left onto the Ridge Track and we were all looking forward to the downhill. However, the Ridge Track was very gnarly and consisted of a few kilometres of twisted tree roots crisscrossing the track which required very careful foot placement and our poles were very useful! The bush was beautiful and we stopped often for photographs and for a respite from the concentration needed to negotiate the track!

Eventually we descended to the Atiwhakatu River and the Donnelly Track which was much easier going. It was a challenging and rewarding walk, but I think we were all glad to finally get back to the cars at nearly 4pm having walked 16.3 km with an elevation gain of 670m – a good effort! Unfortunately all coffee shops were closed by then so on a day when we most deserved our coffee afterwards it was not to be!

Lead: Sharon Dunstan

Walkers: Linda, Sue B, Annemarie, Lynn, Delphine, & Gordon