"We had been trapped at Waikamaka hut for 3 nights while bad weather passed. We did try and exit via waipawa stream after the second night but it was slow going as it involved rock hoping and wet feet in streams that had higher than normal water levels due to rainfall. We had also planned to go up to Rangi saddle and head up to Rangioteatua peak which we read later at Smiths stream hut that another group had achieved but we were tired of stream tracks. So after the 3rd night we set off early up past the hut dunny to follow the ridge line to an unnamed peak (1635m) the going was steep but the deer have made a good track for the most part. As we neared the top we realised we might not be able to traverse past the enormous slips but we persevered which included clinging to rocks and saddling the new ridgeline which was made of loose exposed greywacke after both sides of the ridgeline had given way to large slips which we got a good view of, fortunately this was only for 3m. Once we got past this the worst we found in the tussock was Spaniard/Spear grass. It was easy going from unnamed peak to Rangioteatua peak (10.35am arrival) and then over to A6G4 (11.20am) and then down Smiths str..." — loganscott • Dec 31, 2025

"Great fun, first time off trial and we had a couple of hiccups but looking back we got great weather and it was worth the mahi. We stayed in triplex hut that night and headed to sunrise hut early, this is a nice wide track all up hill but easily done in 2.5hrs. We will come back to stay at sunrise as it is an awesome spot pity it was fully booked. We had a second breakfast and left the sunrise at 10am to head to Armstrong saddle and then off trail to Te Atuaoparara peak arriving there at 1.30pm, the way was a mix of bush and following a somewhat track from time to time. From here we traversed down the scree with the plan to join the Waikamaka hut trail via the Waipawa saddle, but we thought it might be quicker to try going down an unnamed valley, but we didn’t actually get the valley we thought and had to traverse around a 12.5m waterfall near the bottom of the valley which is marked on the map once we realised our mistake. This was a bit hairy but we managed. From there it was more river following back to the hut via an unmarked route arriving at Waikamaka hut at 7pm, 33,000+ steps later! Awesome first day to our annual Father and son peak bagging trip. See Rangioteatua peak for t..." — loganscott • Dec 28, 2025

"when we were kids my brother,Tom (8), my friend, Amos (10) and I, Ed (10) climbed Kahuranaki from the eastern side. We lived on Kowhai Falls Farm at the time which borders the eastern face." — edktpo • Apr 4, 1998