A Knarly Bit of Taranaki....

(Click pictures for better view)

After my previous run at Lake Rotokare I did an inner city run in New Plymouth that I had done before. It starts right at the ocean and follows the Te Henui Walkway for just over 5km upstream and of course then you turn and head back. Pleasant running for the city and well worth it.

But this is about my Thursday night run where I decided to head for the hills! The big hill really, Mt Taranaki (that was Mount Egmont when I grew up). I had run a couple of trails on the South side around Dawson Falls, but this was my first visit to the Main area.

One of the things I recommend you always take advantage of is an information centre - if the area you are in has one, then use it. This was a perfect example. I popped in to check my planned route and talked to the lady on duty. My plan was to run up the Summit Track then turn off and head down to Maketawa Hut. She quickly pointed out that the loop would work much better the other way and she was so right!

After the great advice I also donned my Inov8 X-Talons to give me maximum grip on the way down and up!

The trail starts on the low side of the carpark outside the info centre and winds down for pretty much exactly 1km... that doesn't mean it will be speedy! That first downhill km took me over 10 minutes.... it is great, highly technical, lots of tree roots, mud and ups and downs including a couple of ladders.

Then the climb starts, quite a slog too... 37 minutes to do 2.7km. To be fair I was snapping pics along the way and stopped at the Hut just over halfway up. Worth finding an excuse to do a much longer run here just to stay in the hut... what an amazing outlook it has... would be incredible to wake and watch the sun rise in the distance!

Just past the hut I hit the first snow, not a lot, but enough to say I had run through my first white stuff for the year.

It wasn't too far past that when I hit the main Summit Trail heading back down the hill... more of a road than a trail... I was more thankful than ever that I had taken the advice.

Yes, that is the Trail!

So I cruised down the road thinking this was going to be a pleasant if short run when about three quarters of the way down I spotted the sign for the Ngatoro Loop which also lead back to the Carpark... much better option than road and a very enjoyable last kilometre.

Look for ubiquitous Orange Triangle

So not a long circuit at 6.6km.... but 517 vertical metres says that it was well earned. There are several more route options that you could use to extend if you wanted a longer effort... or you could just carry on up the hill until you ran out of steam!

Then back to my Motel for the most important part of the day... my travelling Craft Beer... there may be another craft beer brewed in New Plymouth, but I haven't looked too hard as Mike's Brewery - New Zealand's oldest craft only brewery - produce so many fabulous beers. I had purchased two... not my favourite VCP - but more on that in the next post, but a very nice Taranaki India Pale Ale and my second favourite dark beer the Chocolate Milk Stout which was my after the Mount brew this day...

It is a creamy and very dark stout with a nice taste of chocolate that lingers in the mouth after swallowing. Not too bubbly, like the best stouts and porters it has a nice subtle bubble. Very very smooth and a perfect end to a memorable run!

Back again....

After blogging and running my way through 52 in 52 I found that I slipped out of the habit of writing my blogs. However now I am in a different job, a job that takes me around the country and gives me the opportunity to run some of New Zealand's fabulous trails.

I have had a great following for the pictures I post from these runs and decided that this blog would be a great opportunity to share a bit about the runs, what was good and what was bad (if there is anything bad in trail-running).

So without further ado.... this last week saw me travel from Rotorua and spend my Monday night in Hawera. With a bit of study I decided that Lake Rotokare looked a likely candidate. The online site said that it was 2 hours walking... so I figured 6 - 10km and that would be ok for a Monday after a big weekend.

So after about a 30 minute drive from Hawera I passed through the automatic double Pest-Proof gate and set out for my run in a lovely quiet and serene setting. The trail, as many of these parks do, started out a bit like a park footpath, gravel and very flat... but soon slipped into lovely semi-technical trail with tree roots, mud and puddles and a few boardwalks.

The ups and downs were very sedate and before I knew it I had completed the lap... at a mere 4km (exactly).... oh dear, what next... I could do it again or check out the 'Ridge Trail' that I had noticed on my lap. So, stopping at the car to get my headlight, as it was getting later, I headed up the trail.

And I mean up... 200 vertical metres in about 700 metres ... up steps, although for once I was glad of the steps as the short patches without them were quite slippery and muddy. The whole way up was right next to the pest proof fence... which I noted had been installed by the company Tim Day used to work for.

Of course the further up I went the better the views and they were great, unfortunately the sky was pretty clear everywhere except around Mount Taranaki which was shrouded in cloud (see pic below left).

Once up on top of the ridge it was a steady up and down for about 3km before the sign pointed back down to the bottom trail. It was on with the headlight, as it was dark enough that (in the trees) it was needed. Made a mistake here, that I shouldn't have, throwing my light on with my cap on. The danger with this is that it throws a nice beam forward, but more than ever in the dark, the peak of your cap cuts out any upward peripheral view - as I found out when a low hanging branch caught me solidly - sitting me on my arse in the dark. Thinking the impact had probably wiped out my light, I was stoked to find that it turned straight on again.

So with a lump and a very sore head, I wound my way back to the car, for what turned out to be a 10km run and one that I would recommend... especially with the Ridge Trail.