Four of us departed Masterton on a sunny Sunday, heading to the Manawatu. Our first weather change was on the Mount Bruce hill - where the fog was thick and the temperature got as cold as 1 degrees. The fog had cleared by the time we got to the Saddle road, the temp dropped to 0 degrees and the weak sun had turned to clouds. We stopped in Ashurst for a hot brew and then followed the road towards Pohangina. We turned onto the No.1 road (easy to find after No.3 and No.2 roads!). The road steadily climbed until the carpark at about 400m. We headed out onto the loop track, finding the large rimu tree just 1 minute from the track. We continued along the track, finding the large rata tree. The track was well marked and not overgrown, slightly boggy in places with beautiful bush. The track was quite steep after the loop track junction, with a good zig zag climb, and a few flat areas. After about 1 hour we reached an amazing viewpoint, looking back down to the airstrip and beyond to farmland. We continued climbing, the gradient slightly less, lots of tree ferns and pepperwood. After a further 30 minutes, we reached the seat and the end of the maintained track. We met a hunter also having a break. We stopped for lunch, hot thermos drinks and watched the view. We then retraced our steps back down to the loop junction, taking the other track back to the car park.
On the trip were: Mike K, Margaret B, Katrina M and Sandra B
