Saturday 27th April 2024
On a chilly morning in April a group of 7 of us set off up the new Pike29 Memorial Track heading for the Vent Shaft Viewpoint. Recently opened, this track is dedicated to the 29 men killed in the Pike Mine disaster and is named in their honour.
The track is beautifully formed for both biking and walking so the gradient was pretty gentle, which was a relief given we had 8.4km of uphill.
It wasn’t long before we were taking off our warm outer layers. It was great to have a mix of existing and new members along and we all chatted away meeting and greeting and getting to know one another better.
The forest all the way up is really nice with mixed podocarp and beach with lots of amazing fungi out. The vegetation changing as we climbed to lower alpine scrub up near the View Point. As we climbed higher we passed through a contour line where the tuis were spectacularly numerous and very vocal.
Stopping regularly for breaks there was a good spot to get views to the West over the Grey Valley and the Southern Alps. It took us 3 hours of climbing the 811m to the View Point, the Garmin said it was 9.6km! which was perfect timing for lunch. It was pretty cold up there and we all donned our warm layers again.
We quickly ate our lunch, partly because we were hungry but also because it was so cold. There was a cheeky fat Weka hanging out at the lunch spot with us and it had an eye for bananas. Dave laid his lunch out carefully on the bank beside the track and was looking forward to his fruit including his banana. Momentarily he turned his back and the Weka darted in to investigate what pickings it could find. It had a couple of cracks at the banana and got it away with it in its mouth, it looked hilarious … darting back through the trees with the banana sticking out each side of its mouth and Dave attempting unsuccessfully to chase it!
During the morning, we were passed by about 10 fit looking MTBers grinding there way up the hill, looked like dreadful hard work! Most of them were heading up to the Paparoa Track Junction. They passed us again in the afternoon as they literally flew back down the track, we did have to get out of their way pretty quick. It was a great day and we got back to the car about 3.30pm after a serious fungi photo shooting session on the way back down. This walk is well worthwhile if you get the chance and an opportunity to reflect on the circumstances of the Pike River Mine tragedy and the birth of the Paparoa Track Great Walk and the Pike29 Memorial Track.
Di Clendon (Member)