56
By Sam McEwan
Timber Trail
Tackling one of the most accessible cycling overnighters in Aotearoa
Mixed
Driving down late afternoon from Auckland, we didn't quite know what to expect.
Coordination was a bit all over the show as we loaded up the Ford Focus and headed into King Country, armed with excessive amounts of camping equipment and some Indian we picked up in Te Kuiti.
The plan was:
- Book the Camp Epic package - They have a glamping camp halfway at Piropiro but also coordinate transport of bikes and bodies to the start as well as food and gear to the campsite.
- Drive down the afternoon before and camp with our gear at the Bennett Road Campsite.
- Chuck a Gone sticker on my water bottle.
- Take a bunch of Waikato Draught.
- Work everything else out along the way.
Ongarue
Typically the road between Te Kuiti and Taumarunui is one which you just muscle in and get through it on the way to Mt Ruapehu. Turning off was novel.Turning off we swung through beautiful sleeping valleys and arrived at Bennett Road Carpark. A basic campsite with clean, modern facilities.We erected our, three tents which had combined capacity for 7 people,
Matt and I jumped on our bikes for a bit of a test ride (I'd just added Redshift suspension to the stem and swapped tyres).
Heading a few hundred meters up the end of the Timber Trail I was struck by how nasty the track was, the loose sand and chopped up track was tough to wrangle on my smaller wheels.
As I headed down a hill my tyres got jammed in a deep rut with some very loose sand and I went straight over the handle bars! I was in the dirty as -1 km. This did not bode well.
I was unscathed except for some scratches on my knee. Gingerly we headed back to camp.
The sleep was all over the show with huge temperature variation, we would have gone to sleep at 18 and woken just above freezing. All of us layered up overnight.
In the early hours there was the soft rumble of a freight train rolling through Ongarue but apart from that everything was silent.
The next morning we woke up astonishing levels of moisture everywhere, packing up sopping tents and loads of gear we got ready for departure.
Our bikes were loaded up promptly at 8:30, we were the only group that have gravel bikes, the rest were almost all ebikes.
Some people showed up on the wrong day, some were an hour late (no waiting) but this was a highly efficiently run set of logistics.
1
Bike
Pureora
After almost an hour in the back of a van we arrived in Pureora, the start of the track. Along the way we passed through rolling valleys and small towns.
After some last minute break tweaks and Max getting familiar with his new ebike (to help out his knee) we were ready.
The thick forest was in pristine state, a magical start to the trip. We moved across some private land which was largely tussock then back into DOC land.
2
Hike
Pureora summit walk
Up Mount Pureora
With pristine weather we stopped to hike up Pureora. Surprisingly we only saw one other group going up. The short walk went through thick forest then short out into alpine tussock.
The view was spectacular.
We could see right over lake Taupo, Tongariro National Park and then over to Taranaki in the distance.
On a good day this is absolutely a must do.
After finding a geocache we headed back to down to our bikes, fuelled up and headed off.
3
Bike
Mount Pureora to Piropiro
Pureora to Pioropioro
The afternoon was heaps of fun fun, from hitting the high point 3 kms after the hike we rocketed downhill. This was made even better by having largely a clear trail ahead of us thanks to our excursion.
Be careful around the 27km mark was the advice we got, it's signposted with a yellow slow down sign but apparently this is where a lot of people get helicoptered out from.
The swing bridges were a highlight, with plenty of them.
Charging on through to our accommodation, Camp Epic, the bush thinned but we were able to make short work of the kms with easy downhill gravel.
Camp Epic
The accommodation was excellent, with our food in the kitchen and bags already in our tents we had hot showers, toasted marshmallows and a few Waikatos.
Once the sun set we were treated with a small fire in the pit and a dark sky.
I collapsed in my bed and Max said it was the quickest he'd ever seen anyone fall asleep!
4
Bike
Piropiro to Ongarue
Piropiro to Ongarue
The next day we woke up to a hazy overcast day, jumped in the hot shower (how good!) and then had brekkie. I was a little stiff from the day before but hungry to get going.
Today was the fun one, with plenty of downhills chasing an old tram route.
After a big uphill climb we were poised to take off. The track was loads of fun, wider than the day before and not as steep, given it was a tramway.
Towards the end we started seeing plenty of logging era equipment, rusty ovens, jigger turntables and steam engines. Logging started in 1946 and wrapped up in 1978 after a significant environmental effort.
As we approached Ongarue we were treated to a blast through a spiral, a gully with a tunnel and a twist in it to get elevation quickly.
Finally we shot out the otherside and dashed down the hill at great pace meeting the road.
An incredible 80 something kms had past by but here we were met with by far the worst part of the trail, with loose sand and nasty ruts. After nearly losing it a few times we arrived back at our car at Bennett Road.
The gravel bikes were fantastic but chunkier, low pressure tyres coupled with my new redshift stem made all the difference.
Thoroughly recommended for ebike riders that are competent on trails (we saw a few times what happens when you're not).
A terrific overnighter with efficient logistics and brilliant accommodation. It left us hungry for the next one!
