Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill has featured in over 150 OTMC trips with the first recorded club trip dating from 1924 so it seemed appropriated to have this as one of the 100 trips. Despite the relative short distance traveled there is still a significant height gain of around 400m from Bethunes Gully to the top of Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill. Maybe it is the prominence of Mt Cargill on the city skyline, maybe it was the warm, sunny day or maybe people felt like they needed a walk but whatever the reason, a good turnout of 12 people arrived at Bethunes Gully for the start of this shorter 100 trips day walk.
The wide, gravel track starts from the carpark and follows Lindsay Creek for a short distance before crossing a bridge over the creek. The track then begins to wind it's way up hill though pine plantation where there are a number of mountain bike trails through the pine trees, however we stuck to the main walking trail and continued past where David Bethune had built a brick kiln and sawmill in the 1870's. There is very little to see today apart from a stand of large macrocarpa trees. After leaving the pine plantation and moving into the native bush, we briefly stopped at the first view point of Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill.
From here the track continues to wind up through the native bush towards the top of Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill. The track is wide enough for two people to walk side by side and everyone seemed to naturally break into groups of two or three chatting as we climbed higher. Time and distance seemed to pass very quickly and we reached the junction to the organ pipes where we took the pathway that continued up to the top of Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill and the transmitter. The views of the city, harbour and Blueskin Bay are always spectacular from the top.
Surprisingly we saw very few people and just about everyone we did see was walking a dog. This was also a good spot for a break and we took the time to replenish
ourselves with a drink and a snack while taking in the city views. Often it can be windy on top of Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill but today was reasonably calm with only a slight breeze.
The next part of our walk saw us returned down all the steps to the Organ Pipe track junction where we followed the track for only a short distance before turning off to climb Buttars Peak. The city views from Buttars Peak are even more spectacular than those from top of Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill. The rock formations on Buttars Peak are excellent examples of columnar jointed basalt and are easy to scramble over making it well worth a visit. We had been here a few months earlier on trip #13 The complete Skyline Track.
We crossed over the top of Buttars Peak and rejoined the Organ Pipes track for a short stroll across the ridge to the Organ Pipes where we took another break to enjoy the views and marvel at the 'pipes'. No doubt the organ pipes would have been more spectacular during those early club trips, the columnar basalt tors are still an impressive sight.
This was officially our turn around point and we retraced our steps back along the track to the Kapukataumahaka/Mt Cargill junction and down the main track back to Bethunes Gully. The downward journey gave us a chance to mix and chat again, this time with different people to what we had walked up the hill with. All up we walked around 10km in 4 hours.
