#13 of 100 trips for 100 years - Complete Northern Skyline, Bull Ring to Organ Pipes 27 November 2022

The day was warm when eight energetic trampers took on the challenge of walking the Complete Northern Skyline which links Flagstaff, Swampy Summit, Mt Cargill and Buttar's Peak over seven tracks from the Bull Ring to the Organ Pipes. Starting with a steep up hill climb up the well graveled track to the first 'summit' of the day, Flagstaff was a good way to get the lungs working and also a taste of things to come. Taking about half an hour to reach Flagstaff, we stopped for a chance to catch our breath and take in one of the views of the city.  

It was only a brief stop before we continued on our way along the graveled Pineapple Track before taking the shortcut in the dip to the Fire Break Track and then turning right to head towards Swampy Summit.  From a distance, looking at the skyline, this part of the track appears reasonably flat but in reality is anything but flat.  There is about 100m drop along the ridge before the slope steepens and  gains 160m of height to Swampy Summit.  While the walking is easy along an old, overgrown four wheel track, the last 1.5km of track is a relentless climb up  to Swampy for a well deserved morning tea break.

At 739m Swampy Summit is our second summit of the trip and is also the highest point on our journey.  It offers stunning views of Blueskin Bay, Warrington and up the coast to Karitane and Huriawa Peninsula.  Our ultimate destination of Mt. Cargill, which still looked to be quite a distance to go, attracted our attention and after refueling with a drink and snacks, we headed down the Leith Saddle Track which we had walked down two weeks ago on #9/100 trips.  This track is steep in places and drops around 300m through tussock before entering native forest and eventually emerging on the side of the Northern Motorway. 

We regrouped to safely cross the Northern Motorway and enter the Cloud Forest of Leith Track.  The track winds it's way through native bush for 600m to a large outcrop of boulders with a good look out over the Northern Motorway and Swampy Summit.  Here was a good lunch spot where we were entertained with jokes from Emilie, who at 8 years was the youngest member of our group. 

Lunch was over too soon and we headed back into the native bush to follow the track through remnants of a cedar forest and over a small creek continually making our way up hill until we reached the power lines. From the power lines we entered another track, the Escarpment Track and this is the most challenging of all the tracks.  The Escarpment Track is a basic track with tree roots, fallen logs and small creek crossings.  It is barely maintained with a lot of regrowth obscuring the track and ankle deep mud.  The condition of the track made for slow going with most of us having some blood drawn from encounters with bush lawyer and scrapes with branches hidden amongst the ferns that hid the track. After a climbing 150m from the power lines we reached the obstacle of Pigeon Rock which required a scramble and well placed tree to reach  great views looking towards Swampy Summit and around to the northern Silver Peaks, Mt Watkin and the Kakanuis being visible in the distance.  This was another perfect place to stop, rest and have a drink.

From the top of Pigeon Rock we entered the edge of the pine forest and encountered some of the muddiest part of the track yet (and that is saying something!).  It's a short, sharp climb up to Pigeon Hill then across the pine plantation to Cowan Road.  The pine trees have grown quite high since I was last here and it is impossible to see ahead very far so we wandered, what felt like aimless circles, around the pine trees in an easterly direction until we reached Cowan Road.  Now that the hard part was done it was a reasonably fast walk up Cowan Road to the AH Read track which took us to our third summit, Mt Cargill. 

We could see the end was close so down Mt Cargill to the turn off to Buttar's Peak.  Ignoring the 'no exit' sign we clambered up the rocky outcrops of Buttar's Peak for another stunning view, this time of the harbour. Buttar's Peak is often overlooked as most people head to the higher Mt. Cargill or the more famous Organ Pipes but the interesting rock formations of Buttar's Peak are well worth taking the time over.  We continued over the top of Buttar's Peak, effectively making this our forth summit, to rejoin the Mt Cargill track. 

Once onto the well graveled Mt Cargill track we followed the ridge to the Organ Pipes which are jointed columnar basalt.  There are lots of  'pipes' to scramble over, however there are still plenty standing further up the hill, looking very much like the pipes of an organ.  The 'pipes' are scattered throughout the surrounding bush with the uniform dimensions and unusual shape offering the opportunity for some great photography without too much effort.  We didn't have time to explore these unusual rock formations for long and reluctantly turned back onto the graveled track and a short  minutes down hill to the car park.

This trip is one I have always enjoyed as it traverses the city skyline over a variety of terrain from well graveled tracks through to challenging overgrown bush with plenty of mud.  The views are spectacular in all directions and really show what a beautiful city Dunedin is and how lucky we are to have such easy access to the surrounding hills.  Total distance walked was 17.5km taking us 7 hours 5 minutes.