Weekending - The Pinnacles

Ready to begin

In front of an old kauri log section

My first view of the Pinnacles - we climbed right to the lookout at the top

After all the stairs up hill, I was so pleased to see this sign

The Pinnacles Hut nestled into the hills

You can see the track to The Pinnacles winding it's way up the hill on the right.

Table Mountain

Miss B climbing up to the top of the Pinnacles

Me navigating ladder rungs and rocks!

View out from the Pinnacles

Me at the top

Steps up or down - either way I walked them.

More  rock steps down

Dancing Creek Kauri Dam

Overnight hikes are something I have never done. I like hot showers, flushing toilets  (I can tolerate long drops) and my own bed. The Scout, Miss B and Mr J have done numerous overnight hikes, so The Scout has decided that he would try to convert me to the joy of travelling with  a large pack containing all my food, clothing and bedding for the weekend or longer, and sleeping in a hut with numerous other hikers.

This weekend, my family took me on my first overnight hike. Our destination was The Pinnacles in Kaueranga Valley, Coromandel.

A very cold frosty, early morning start on Saturday, saw us arrive at the track at about 8.30am.  It was very pretty, but a rather hard 6.8km hike to the hut. I was especially interested in all the different mosses and lichens that were growing trackside. The majority is uphill, climbing steep stairs made in the 1920's from carved rock. It took about 3 hours to get to the hut and I was never so glad to sit down.

Just after the hut was opened and we bagged our beds, we set off on the next part of the adventure to actually climb The Pinnacles.  This took about an hour and again was all stairs,(approximately 550) plus ladder rungs fixed onto rocks. This part of the hike was very much something I have never done before and way out of my comfort zone. It was extremely windy and extremely cold up the top, but the views were awesome.

Sharing a fully booked hut was an experience too, I didn't get a lot of sleep due to some rather loud snorers, however I was warm and cosy in my sleeping bag on one of the coldest nights we have had this winter.

Before we left to go back to the car we stopped at one of the old kauri dams used in the 1920's, then started the long walk back down.  Unfortunately descending stairs is just as hard as ascending especially on a frosty morning.

So yes, I have survived my first overnight hike, albeit with lots of sore muscles, and would probably be up to attempting a two nighter - maybe in summer though.