Raglan caching

Had been doing a lot of procrastinating over the winter months and not a lot of tramping.  With me having to travel further and further to collect a cache it was time to revisit a mountain that I have already climbed to collect two new caches that have been placed.

I made plans during the week as to what ones I was going to get and decided to climb Karioi first then head into Raglan town and collect the ones there.  Upon reflection super glad I decided to do it this way.

Was suppose to get up early and head to Raglan today but with it being nice and cuddly in bed I slept in and didn't end up leaving Hamilton until 7.30.  It was a quick trip to the Te Toto gorge car park and by 8:30 I was ready to leave.  Just as I remembered, it was up all the way. Was at the Lookout after only 1hr and decided to keep going to the summit to collect the furtherest cache, A different Point of View, before I get to tired and not want to go on any further.

Another quick trip across the ridge to the summit had me a the turn off to my first cache for the day.  The trip to this cache was ... challenging... There was several times that I lost the pink markers and wasn't sure which way I should be climbing.  Was pretty slow going in sections but there was also some good tracks to follow in parts.  Eventually checked the gps to find that I had going past the cache, just a little. Headed up the last burst to the peak to find that the fog had lifted a little and there was some nice views of Raglan.  To make matters worse on the way to the peak my bag got snagged on a branch and opened, no major you say, but all my cache notes had fallen out. Took a little bit longer than expected to find the cache but eventually spotted in and signed. Then ducked down to get some shelter from the wind and had a well deserved tin of pears.

Feeling refreshed I then headed back to the main track. This was a quick trip as I had figured out where the track was ment to go taking 3hr so far.  Once back on the main track I felt relieved and started heading back to the car.  Quickly found myself back at the Look Out point and thought that I'd just see how far it was to the next cache, Another Way Up.  625m  What a tease. Even though my legs were screaming at me I decided to give it a crack.

The track down was easy to follow but then there was also some placed where I wasn't sure which way I was suppose to go and Murphy's law was in play... I choose the wrong way. Found myself at climbing a ridgeline that I didn't need to and ended up perched on top of a steep ridge in flax bushes.  Had to arm crawl my way across and down to safety.  Should have just gone around.  Eventually got to GZ with my legs cramping and burning.  Found the cache quickly and signed the log. Another 2TF.  Now to begin the log and slow trip back to the main trail.  At times I found it easier and faster to move on my hands and knees.  Made it back to the track with a total time for the day of 4hrs so far.  Was really tired and sore by this stage but glad that I had collected the two caches.  Got my march on and started heading home.  Meet a lovely couple heading up and stopped to talk with them for a while. A welcomed brake.

Made it back to the car total time 5hr 30min.

Was I going to get any more for the day... heck no. I was done.