Waiorongomai Valley: Wai not?

When Hamilton Mountain Bike Club took a club ride to Te Aroha I was expecting to ride the trail network on the mountain above the Domain, but one of the locals had other ideas.

We met Geoff as we parked the cars and got kitted up for the ride.  He started telling us about a ride further around the mountain that had some big climbs, a bit of hike-a-bike, some big views, and an even bigger downhill.  The general consensus among the group was that we may as well check it out, because we can ride the usual trail network at any time, but needed a guide for these other tracks.  Geoff was our man.

Just before we rolled out of the carpark, I quickly grabbed a banana and OSM from the car and shoved them into my backpack.  Call it bonk insurance.

We rode south towards Waiorongomai Road to the start of the walkway (now dual-purpose walkway/mountain bike track) and into the first climb of the day.  The track climbed steadily through the native bush, with a clay and rock base that was pretty good for traction.  It would probably be Death On A Stick in the wet.  Today was dry and although it was a bit cooler than expected (I'd left home with only short sleeve jersey and shorts - no warm layers or wind breaker at all!), I was soon warmed up from the climbing and didn't give it another thought.

I was riding my Haro Mary equipped with a Shimano Alfine 11 speed rear hub and found the overall heft of the bike and slightly tall gear ratio to be a bit of a struggle at times.  I missed having a granny gear to sit and spin up the hills, though I still managed to hang with the last couple of stragglers in the group and we could collectively shoulder the blame for holding up the fast dudes at the front.  Our group was me and a bunch of five dudes.

There were several small stream crossings in corners that were quite tricky.  The best option was to dismount, hop down the rocks, across the water, and clamber up the other side.  I'm sure some people ride these, but with a decent drop off on my right I wasn't willing to give it a try.

We eventually popped out at the bottom of Butlers Incline.  That's where the tramway tracks stop winding around the mountain and instead go straight up the side.  Carts (trucks, trams, trolleys or what ever they are supposed to be called) were hauled up the side of the mountain by a cable system.  I initially thought this was the hike-a-bike section, and while Geoff assured me that it was the most direct way to the top and good practice for Karapoti, we were going to ride up another way.

Butlers Incline... 25 degree slope going a hell of a long way up
 (and yes, it is possible to ride down it - crazy shit)

We continued on the flatter section of rail, following the Piako County Tramway around the mountain.  The guys stopped to clear a fallen tree from the track (these track building types just can't help themselves!) because with 5 of them it was pretty light work.  Of course, I just stood back and took photos.

Using the manpower to clear the track

It was just as well I had conserved my energy because we were soon into the hike-a-bike section. Thankfully  we didn't need to carry our bikes, but we did have to push them up the very steep track.  I would push for a few minutes, lock on the brakes and stand beside my bike trying to catch my breath.  Then I'd go for another short stint before the burning in my calves urged me to stop again.  The rocky clay surface was much more slippery here and I was tired.  The hard soles of my mountain bike shoes would slip on the clay and I'd trip on the rocks.  The track was damp and looked like it would turn into a river if it rained - small tufts of grass were bent over and flattened in the downhill direction and debris lay in the ruts.

This hike-a-bike section went on for about 500m and about fifteen minutes, though it felt like 100m and half an hour.  We had made it three quarters of the way up Butlers Incline and were crossing over it on a skinny bridge.  From there we got a good look at how long it really was - it was difficult to see either the top or the bottom from that point.  The DoC website tells me that it is 400m long and at an angle, or incline of 25 degrees. Looking at it from above or below, it looks like it would be closer to a kilometre and at 45 degrees.  It's impressive to say the least.  Five minutes later, we were at the top.

Part way up Butlers Incline... it's a hell of a long way down

At the top of Butlers Incline looking down,
with the tree tops visible in the gap in the trees

This was about the halfway point of the ride, but all the big climbing was done.  We sat in the grass and ate a bit of food - I ate everything I had with me, including a pack of Gu Chomps I found squashed in the bottom of my bag.

With our tanks refuelled  we carried on along the Buck Rock Track, around a few more corners to find a HUGE tree across the track.  It would take a bit more than human power to shift that one.  We clambered over and admired the small snippet of a view before carrying on.

Not so easy to toss this fallen tree off the track

Quite a view and not even halfway up the mountain

Buck Rock track more or less followed the 400m contour until the lookout point where we were awarded with a nicely framed view of Waikato farmland.

A well framed view from the top of the other (Fern Spur?) incline at the base of the mountain

From there the track tipped downwards and things went off the scale on the Fun-O-Meter.  Buck Rock Track was awesome - steep, loose rocks, roots, trees to weave through, and major grin inducing terrain.  The climb (and push) suddenly felt so worth it.  We went back down to the High Level Pack Track that we had ridden up and out to the end of the Piako County Tramway.  

Goes a long way back... so we're told

On our way down the mountain we stopped to poke our heads into the Low Level Drive mine tunnel, which apparently goes a long way in.  It's amazing to see how much rock was excavated and moved by hand all those years ago.  We shot down the Low Level Drive Track and then back along the roads into town.

We had covered a distance of 20km and climbed about 880m over the course of the 2 and a half hour ride.  I thoroughly enjoyed exploring an area I'd never been to before and taking in a bit more local history.  There are a lot of tracks all over Te Aroha Mountain and through into the Karangahake Gorge too.  Check with the local Information Centre or DoC  as to which ones are allowed to be ridden on bikes.  Waiorongomai Valley is highly recommended for anyone looking for an interesting place to walk or bike, or both.