Two vans of keen trampers headed for Pirongia to explore new areas on a day without significant rain – remarkable in this wet, wet June.

Nine Grade 3’s headed up the gravel forest road, with the Waipa Mountain Biking Club tracks alongside - an easy gradient at this stage. At the end of the road we headed into the forest and were soon into the dense bush. All eyes were alert for the elusive markers, but with experienced Carol in the lead and 8 pairs of eyes following her we managed to follow the indistinct track, under and over fallen trees and fending off supplejack that was determined to trap some of us.

After the final steep ascent, we wended our way around large rocks and along a narrow ridge to arrive at the Tihitoetoe Peak. It was a sheltered but cold lunch spot nestled down in the bushes. Few views were to be seen this cloudy day - certainly not the snowy Ruapehu that the survey revealed.

Somehow the return down seemed to be much easier and the markers more obvious.

As there were few bikers around, some of the group chose to walk down one of the MTB tracks, while the rest returned via the Forest road. A great G3 outing into new places.

Thanks Lyn, Grant and Carol.

Maureen