Day 14 of TA - On a mission!
Distance: 72 km
Elevation gain: 1038 metres
From the Timber Trail Lodge (half way along the Timber Trail) to the Ongarue Spiral and back to the Lodge
About 5hrs riding time, and 5:30hrs elapsed from 10am to 3:30pm
Sit-Rep - Thursday. Everyone in the Lodge is stuck here.
The roads are cut by landslides and the Timber Trail is cut at the Ongarue Spiral (75km mark), where the trail uses bridges and a tunnel to do a complete loop underneath itself. We received word that a rider attempted to cycle in from the end of the Timber Trail (at Ongarue) and reach the Lodge. They were stopped after just 5km by a landslide at the Ongarue Spiral.
What we don't know is if there are other landslides or blockages between where we are at the Lodge (39km mark) and the Ongarue Spiral (75km mark). That's 35km of track that may be perfectly fine or un-ridable.
The staff had their regular jobs to do and needed to contact guests to postpone their arrival. I had nothing to do so I offered to ride the 35km of unknown track to check conditions. They agreed, maybe because it was useful intel for the Lodge to know the track conditions. We prepared a quick risk assessment - I took my Garmin In-Reach and they had access to my real-time location if anything was to happen. If all went to plan, I would get a 70km ride today - out and back to the Ongarue Spiral.
And it did go to plan! Well mostly. It started raining again and that was annoying. But otherwise I had an uneventful ride out to the Ongarue Spiral and found the landslide that the other rider had reported. I took photos and video for the Lodge staff to fully assess the impact. The landslide had blocked the trail near the tunnel entrance and created a dam so there was about 50m of water banked up the track. Depth unknown.
I also met a walker who was determined to finish the Timber trail that day. I showed him the photos and video of the landslide and water that had built up, but he said he would work it out. He took my email address and promised to email how he got on (and if he made it out).
Back at the Lodge I shared my photos and report - especially that there were no other landslides blocking the trail. The staff had been busy and developed two plans to escape on Friday morning if the roads weren't repaired. But as luck would have it, the roads were reopened by about 6pm. Now we all had an exit strategy. One of the staff (Orla) offered to take me and my bike to Taumarunui to bypass the Timber Trail that I'd just ridden. I agreed instantly because I couldn't ride out.
Today's theme song is by Powderfinger - These Days
This life, well, it's slipping right through my hands / These days turned out nothing like I had planned.
I never imagined that I'd be stuck on the Timber Trail. I'm so naive when it comes to NZ weather and potential impacts. But I'm learning.
Over the Maramataha Bridge. At 141m long and 53m high it ranks as the third-longest suspension bridge in New Zealand.
Elevation gain: 1038 metres
From the Timber Trail Lodge (half way along the Timber Trail) to the Ongarue Spiral and back to the Lodge
About 5hrs riding time, and 5:30hrs elapsed from 10am to 3:30pm
Sit-Rep - Thursday. Everyone in the Lodge is stuck here.
The roads are cut by landslides and the Timber Trail is cut at the Ongarue Spiral (75km mark), where the trail uses bridges and a tunnel to do a complete loop underneath itself. We received word that a rider attempted to cycle in from the end of the Timber Trail (at Ongarue) and reach the Lodge. They were stopped after just 5km by a landslide at the Ongarue Spiral.
What we don't know is if there are other landslides or blockages between where we are at the Lodge (39km mark) and the Ongarue Spiral (75km mark). That's 35km of track that may be perfectly fine or un-ridable.
The staff had their regular jobs to do and needed to contact guests to postpone their arrival. I had nothing to do so I offered to ride the 35km of unknown track to check conditions. They agreed, maybe because it was useful intel for the Lodge to know the track conditions. We prepared a quick risk assessment - I took my Garmin In-Reach and they had access to my real-time location if anything was to happen. If all went to plan, I would get a 70km ride today - out and back to the Ongarue Spiral.
And it did go to plan! Well mostly. It started raining again and that was annoying. But otherwise I had an uneventful ride out to the Ongarue Spiral and found the landslide that the other rider had reported. I took photos and video for the Lodge staff to fully assess the impact. The landslide had blocked the trail near the tunnel entrance and created a dam so there was about 50m of water banked up the track. Depth unknown.
I also met a walker who was determined to finish the Timber trail that day. I showed him the photos and video of the landslide and water that had built up, but he said he would work it out. He took my email address and promised to email how he got on (and if he made it out).
Back at the Lodge I shared my photos and report - especially that there were no other landslides blocking the trail. The staff had been busy and developed two plans to escape on Friday morning if the roads weren't repaired. But as luck would have it, the roads were reopened by about 6pm. Now we all had an exit strategy. One of the staff (Orla) offered to take me and my bike to Taumarunui to bypass the Timber Trail that I'd just ridden. I agreed instantly because I couldn't ride out.
Today's theme song is by Powderfinger - These Days
This life, well, it's slipping right through my hands / These days turned out nothing like I had planned.
I never imagined that I'd be stuck on the Timber Trail. I'm so naive when it comes to NZ weather and potential impacts. But I'm learning.
Over the Maramataha Bridge. At 141m long and 53m high it ranks as the third-longest suspension bridge in New Zealand.
The Ongarue Spiral (75km), a loop in the main tram line that you complete by way of a tunnel. An ingenious engineering solution, the spiral eased the grade for the timber trams that wound through this terrain.
In my case there was a landslide / landslip at the tunnel entrance that created a dam wall that trapped all the rain we had, leading to the flooding you see in the picture below. The hiker I mentioned in the comments above took my email address and sent the following update - he made it out but was very wet and muddy: The water was upper thigh deep barely touching my groin, but not hitting my pack. After the water was maybe 30 meters of mud. I could walk on trees for some of it, but for maybe 8 meters just had to push through it with mud up to my knees and shoes struggling to get unstuck. It ends about 5 meters from the tunnel and then all is fine.
Wow, what an epic trip! We sure have some gnarly weather and biking conditions! All the best for the next sections! And well done on doing the recce for the Lodge! The tramper sure had his work cut out pushing through! May the sun shine a bit more!
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