3198 - Karioi

We will gather in Hamilton, London Street at 8am and either car pool or use a van depending on numbers, and drive out to the Te Toto Gorge lookout car park on the coast road south of Raglan. 

From there we climb about 500m elevation through a mix of open farm and mixed scrubby forest into proper forest. The effects of this windy coast make the trees all shaped to bend inland and their canopy shape is a well coifed wind resistant unity. We also get great sea vistas as we climb up through the bush to a peak at 706m. A small detour out to a lookout gives a view into a valley that may have been one of the major craters.

Then back to the main track and on up what becomes a bit of a tricky ridge, with some four-points-of-contact monkey work to get onto the final rise to the peak at 756m.

 

Then back the way we came and a possible stop for refreshments in Raglan.

 

Great day out - good views, good exercise and fresh air.