Trip Report 07/09/25
Gentle Annie Trail up to Totara Flats Junction then returning via Murrays Track
After a rather damp Saturday a group of four (2 club members, 2 guests) headed out in the hopes of a fine morning walk up the Gentle Annie Track and then heading
down Murrays Track, a lesser known footpad that runs between the Gentle Annie and Atiwhakatu tracks.
The path up towards Rocky Lookout is well known as one of the quintessential walks just out of Masterton and once we arrived we stopped to admire the view as the clouds began to creep over the mountains across from us.
Continuing up the trail we passed several large groups that appeared to have been
up at Powell Hut the previous night with conditions there best described as “windy”.
Our main destination for the day was the junction to either Totara Flats or upwards
towards Mountain Shelter and Powell Hut and as we finished up our lunch we felt the first drops of rain starting to fall and soon decided to be on our way.
Luckily the entranceway to Murrays Track is well marked by a cairn of stones and a
Holdsworth Restoration Trust trip and while there were some steep sections you’ll
often find that it is significantly kinder on the knees than the stairs you find along the “Gentle Annie”.
Once we reached the downward end it was a swift and steady walk out along the
Atiwhakatu Track and the rain only really started to come in steadily as we were on
our way home.
As always I would like to thank Josh, Monty and Simona (who hopefully enjoyed her first trip up into the Holdsworth area!) for coming along for this trip and hopefully many more in the future.
Nathan
