#84 of 100 trips for 100 years - Flagstaff/Swampy Summit/Swine Spur/Ben Rudds 26 August 2023

 

The day was very warm and felt like we had turned a corner from the colder temperatures of winter, so much so that the seven of set off from the Bull Ring up the Pineapple Track in t-shirt and shorts with a spring in our step. The 160m climb to Flagstaff is reasonably steep but taken at a steady pace only takes about half an hour. During our walk up the hill the sea fog that had covered the city had started to clear and we were greeted with the stunning panoramic view of the city with the tendrils of sea fog, retreating down the harbour. 

After a brief stop at Flagstaff, we continued along the Pineapple Track and took the detour of the Cross Track onto the Firebreak Track, heading towards Swampy Summit.  This part of the track is always a bit deceiving as it looks to follow the same gradient with only slight rise and falls but don't be fooled because there is a steady descent of 120m then a steep 180m climb to the broad flat crest of Swampy Summit. 

We stopped at the Swine Spur track and thought it would be a good place for lunch before dropping down into the valley but it was a little early for lunch so we continued on over Swampy Summit for about another kilometre to the 'UFO' which is a flight radar and looks a little like a UFO on the very top of Swampy Summit.  For this extra bit of effort to get here we were reward with stunning views looking towards Palmerston where all the hills looked like islands with the coast still shrouded in sea fog and miles of golden tussock in the foreground. 

After an ample amount of time admiring the views, we retraced our steps to the Swine Spur junction and each found a spot amongst the tussock for lunch.  We were feeling on top of the world with such beautiful views, gorgeous weather and the place to ourselves. After lunch we headed down Swine Spur which steeply descends down into the valley with often muddy sections to negotiate.  Most of this side of the hill is open tussock with a few scrubby bushes although we were too engrossed watching our footing to notice the views during our descent. 

Soon enough, we reached the manuka forest and followed the track as it continued down hill. Once we reached the Possum Busters track we turned left and followed it around for about an hour, past Porkies and McQuilkans tracks to the junction of Smithy's track.  We had been here before only about a month ago for trip #74 Having just lost 440m in height and after a final stream crossing, we were now faced with a steep 200m ascent up to Ben Rudds.  We each found our own pace on this uphill section and slowly wound our way up the hill, through the rhododendron dell, under the native bush canopy to the Ben Rudd shelter where we had been just last week for trip #81 for the tribute to the Family Tramping Group.

Thanks to a unanimous decision, we elected to have a rest at the shelter and replenished the energy levels with some snacks and a drink before the push up the final 100m height gain to reach the Firebreak track where we could stop and look back towards Swampy Summit and Swine Spur where we had been earlier in the day. 

We could see that the clouds were starting to thicken but the temperatures were still warm and we were pleased that we had made the most of the lovely spring like weather by getting out into the hills.  All that remained was for us to follow the Firebreak track back to the cars, chatting as we dropped 120m in height down the wide track.  It had been a really enjoyable day that had been a real mix of up and down with over  800m of ascent/descent and covered 16.2km in 6.5 hours.