On the weekend of the 12th of February, our grungy gang of Manitobans and native Kiwi’s John and Glenn set off to take on the track up to Frews Hut on Mt. Inframeta. From here, we would be exploring for and re-cutting a 30 year old track, that probably hadn’t been used in that long. When the track had been cut, it was used primarily by possum hunters. It was a 4 and a half hour trek in, with slippery rocks and stinging nettle abound! One of the coolest experiences of this track was the Flying Fox we had to take to get across the river. You can get an idea of what the Flying Fox is in the video below, and the featured image of this post. We also had to repel down a rock wall with a rope tied from a tree, so this was turning out to be our most epic hike yet. Arriving at the hut in the early evening, we decided it was best to make it an early night and get up early the next day to get a good start on cutting.
The next morning was pretty slow getting up to say the least. We awoke at 6am, cooked up some breakfast on our camping stoves, and were off to find the track. It took us about half an hour, and Glenn’s GPS, but we found it. And we started cutting. With 5 guys cutting, and one guy leading, the goal was to get to the tussock of the mountain, which is the part just before the peak where the bush gets thin and it’s basically just prairie-like grass. This proved to be a much more difficult task then we’d initially prepared for. We cut about 1.5km of bush up the side of the mountain before turning around, having not reached the tussock, and a nice collection of scrapes, bruises and general soreness to go along with it. But it was a pretty wicked experience, that I may never have the chance to experience again, so I can’t really complain. We left Frews the next day, and back to our travelling way of life… and a shower.
Frews Hut and cuttin’ track
On the weekend of the 12th of February, our grungy gang of Manitobans and native Kiwi’s John and Glenn set off to take on the track up to Frews Hut on Mt. Inframeta. From here, we would be exploring for and re-cutting a 30 year old track, that probably hadn’t been used in that long. When the track had been cut, it was used primarily by possum hunters. It was a 4 and a half hour trek in, with slippery rocks and stinging nettle abound! One of the coolest experiences of this track was the Flying Fox we had to take to get across the river. You can get an idea of what the Flying Fox is in the video below, and the featured image of this post. We also had to repel down a rock wall with a rope tied from a tree, so this was turning out to be our most epic hike yet. Arriving at the hut in the early evening, we decided it was best to make it an early night and get up early the next day to get a good start on cutting.
The next morning was pretty slow getting up to say the least. We awoke at 6am, cooked up some breakfast on our camping stoves, and were off to find the track. It took us about half an hour, and Glenn’s GPS, but we found it. And we started cutting. With 5 guys cutting, and one guy leading, the goal was to get to the tussock of the mountain, which is the part just before the peak where the bush gets thin and it’s basically just prairie-like grass. This proved to be a much more difficult task then we’d initially prepared for. We cut about 1.5km of bush up the side of the mountain before turning around, having not reached the tussock, and a nice collection of scrapes, bruises and general soreness to go along with it. But it was a pretty wicked experience, that I may never have the chance to experience again, so I can’t really complain. We left Frews the next day, and back to our travelling way of life… and a shower.