It was a decade since my shadow had darkened the door of Red Hills Hut. Thousands of Te Araroa Trail thru-hikers had visited and a new MTB trail had been cut between the hut and Beeby’s Knob nearby. This was developed by the MTB Trails Trust.

The yeah-nah weather forecast was decidedly ambivalent, but a decision had to be made. And so it was, on Sunday at 8am we gathered in Richmond under a torrential downpour. MetService tricked us into believing the clouds would clear, so we set off toward Tophouse.

At the Six Mile carpark we donned raincoats, ambling along 2km of muddy sidle track, leaping a few frothing torrents in our trail shoes. Good speed was made for 5km on the old 4WD road, as five strangers became acquainted. Our packs and clothing were damp when we arrived at Red Hills Hut in only 1.5 hours.

Morning tea was consumed, a photograph was made, then Peter led us off up the next section of rough, rocky road. This put us north of Pt. 1055. A brief descent into the forest saw us grunt up the steep, rutted trail onto Pt. 1202, wondering how cyclists can navigate this ‘expert’ terrain.

The promised views of Nelson Lakes were obscured by cloud as we traversed a beautiful moss-lined ridgeline in the shelter of stunted mountain beech. The rain persisted. We explored the inside of a cloud. Our SW trajectory took us down into a saddle via a series of switchbacks. Peter staunchly chose a direct descent, with three lovely ladies in tow. Ray religiously followed the zig-zags to ensure his GPX file was honest, but this took longer.

Turning west up a relentlessly nice spur, Maitland Ridge eventually merged onto the 4WD road which climbs up to Beeby’s Knob (1442m) above us in the murk. The sun staged a brief appearance, while we delighted in a rainbow hovering over the farmland of Rainbow Station.

And so, with daylight dwindling we headed south, slip-sliding down, down, downward to the trackhead at Tophouse. From there, a 2.5-kilometre jaunt along SH63 completed the 22km loop in only seven hours.

To conclude, I think this circuit would be better done during summer. There would be ample daylight to explore Beeby’s Knob and Beeby’s Hut. The track would be dry. And apparently, there are spectacular views.

Participants: Ray Salisbury (scribe), Peter Waworis, with guests Jeannette, Kristin and Tersha.

Nelson Trails website info: https://nelsontrails.co.nz/maitland-ridge/