"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools." - Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
No references online
As far as I know, most of the track from near the dam head to the other end is still pretty much as it was laid out in 1860.
The road you are thinking of in the Hutt valley is Johnsons road, which is a paper road, there used to be a write up about it on the paper road societys web site, but I can't seem to find it now. the only link I could find was this one on Andy cockroft's site (north island 4wd book fame), Here and Here
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Got a couple of Nelson Evening Mail articles from Feb 1970 about the closing of the track to the motorised public.
Narrows the search down a bit...
I took your words of advice WW, and went up for a look yesterday.
Spoke to the bloke doing the fencing and he was really helpful about the swing gate for motorbike access and said if it needed any modificatiuons, to let him know. The spring seems a little light, but seems to work okay. They're mainly fencing Linton hill for stock grazing now, so if anyone is heading up there of next month or two, please treat sheep/new lambs with a little decency, and take it quietly. There was some new lambs in there so I turned and headed straight back out. Plenty of time for riding up there later.
Beware, the old "single track" at the entry to Linton Hill has now been fenced over at the lower pylon near the crest of the hill, and could be easy to run into if light isn't right...ie sunstrike etc. Use the 4wd track on the right, where there is a second bike-only swing-gate.
Also spoke to Maitai caretaker and went for a quiet look up the Mangatapu. The diversion around the locked gate is easy enough to get down, and with a little throttle, I got back up it again okay, but heavier bikes with low tyre tread may struggle as it is a short greasy bank to get up.
The Manga track is a bit like a highway now, the track has been well graded smooth, all the water ruts are gone, but they've added some nice waterbar channels to aid runoff, which hit at speed will launch the bike quite nicely There is still some mud in the usual places and a couple of big beech trees down over the track halfway up, so still some work to do in there yet. Can't say what the Pelorus end is like, can't imagine it will have changed much.
I took your words of advice WW, and went up for a look yesterday.
Spoke to the bloke doing the fencing and he was really helpful about the swing gate for motorbike access and said if it needed any modificatiuons, to let him know. The spring seems a little light, but seems to work okay. They're mainly fencing Linton hill for stock grazing now, so if anyone is heading up there of next month or two, please treat sheep/new lambs with a little decency, and take it quietly. There was some new lambs in there so I turned and headed straight back out. Plenty of time for riding up there later.
Also spoke to Maitai caretaker and went for a quiet look up the Mangatapu. The diversion around the locked gate is easy enough to get down, and with a little throttle, I got back up it again okay, but heavier bikes with low tyre tread may struggle as it is a short greasy bank to get up.
The Manga track is a bit like a highway now, the track has been well graded smooth, all the water ruts are gone, but they've added some nice waterbar channels to aid runoff, which hit at speed will launch the bike quite nicely There is still some mud in the usual places and a couple of big beech trees down over the track halfway up, so still some work to do in there yet. Can't say what the Pelorus end is like, can't imagine it will have changed much.
Someone has been busy with a bullbar or winch
The end that was in the rock face.
Where it was ripped from the rock...
And of course...
Bloody idiots. They could stuff it up for everyone.
I have to say that whilst the Nelson side is in pretty good condition, but from the summit to Murdererers Rock is a real workout. Some deep shale, rocks, very rough
As I was going through a pair of Port Nelson vans passed me heading toward Nelson...
Then a couple of km later a DOC ute passed me and asked if I'd seen 2 vans
On the way back I passed one van near the end of the gravel and cruising to Pelorus.
The other van was just getting back to the house on the Maungatapu Track proper and following Mr DOC man
As he passed me in the rain ruts one back wheel was about 40cm in the air
They must have got up quite a way before they could even turn around.
There's no way in hell they could have got to the summit. It's proper 4WD territory at the moment.
Hi Fran,
Any update on access / gates please. I'm going to be in the area before New Year and keen to ride the track.
Thanks
Ken
Ride around the gate at the dam end no problem.
Squiggle under the wire at the summit unless you're on a bike you can't lean over 45deg. Thumpers and smaller twins no problem.
I'm tempted to take a grubber up there and put a 10cm trench in for bike wheels to make it easier.
A 690 with good DP tyres would be able to do all the side tracks unless it rained within the last 2 days and then its only the first one on the left down toward Nelson from the summit that would be unadvisable.
We went over the track on the GS anniversary ride in November. It was a bit sketchy on the Pelorus side but everyone got over eventually. Bit more difficult if your bike has loads of luggage on board. Half of us had Scorpion type tyres on, so grip is'nt a big problem, just keeping your momentum near the top where it gets loose and steep is the only issue.Cheers.
Two wheels good, four wheels bad.
Not that I remember, We regathered at the top then just carried on through when everyone was happy. There was a gate to open at the far (nelson end), one of the organisers had the key for that and I think you could have rode around it anyway. Not sure if there is a gate at the pelorus end, there were 35 of us in a group so I am unaware if the lead guy had to open a gate to get us all through.
http://gsridersnz.blogspot.com/ There are a few photos on this site,could take a while to find the ones your after as there are 700+. Cheers
Two wheels good, four wheels bad.
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