Don't mess with the Manganui Monster

Went for a walk today, to the Curtis Falls in Egmont National Park.

It's a 15 minute drive up the mountain, to a height of 2800 feet, to the Mountain House hotel car park. The gentle, well maintained track that leads away into the bush gives no clues as to the terrain you are heading into.

Within minutes, the track plummets into the Te Popo Stream valley. The stream is pretty much dry in summer, but the rocks are covered with slippery moss. To get up the other side, DOC has installed the first of several ladders.

It's a long slow climb, with rewarding glimpses of the summit through the trees.

 The lower slopes are covered with a lush ring of native rainforest.

After an hour of uphill slog, the track drops again suddenly, into the Manganui river valley.

the last drop is traversed by another huge near-vertical ladder.

A few short steps, and we're on the riverbed. There's little water in summer, but the landscape is stark and jagged

.

The river bed is as wide as a football field,a sea of broken rock. Where the bed meets the sheer sides of the valley, naked rocks are piled into huge levees, taller than a man.

 We make our way upstream to the falls.

The head of the falls is pretty small, less than twenty feet. There's another drop a little further upstream, but access is hampered by erosion.

So where did the rocks come from?

At about 5000 feet, the mountain climbs sharply out of the forest. From this point on, it's largely bare rock. There's a small skifield that operates on the narrow band between the tree line and the steep slopes, and to access it, you  have to climb a steep 30 minute track, carrying your ski gear, that lifts you the last few hundred feet from the car park. At the top of the track, skis and backpacks are ferried across the Manganui Gorge by a flying fox, and the last part of the journey takes you across the Manganui Monster.

This is not a resort ski-field. To reach the slopes, you must cross a deep gully that is notorious for avalanches. Known locally as the Manganui Monster, deep snow collects in the shaded valley, hurtling down the hillside with astounding force.

Boulders the size of  houses are hurled down the gorge, and over the top of the falls.

It's a great place to visit in the summer. Took us a little over three hours for the two mile walk. DOC grades this as a hard track. Even on a warm summer's day, it's a challenge.