>>1985115>Bro does some research, turns out Pohaturoa is on land belonging to the local maori iwi (tribe), and is being leased out for forestry, so we will need be somewhat stealthy about getting in >he also finds on an old forum info that there was at one time a trail that went up onto the peak, which is lucky because this mountain is sheer buttress on all sides around the flat peak
>pic rel, the old map
>set out one morning with very basic gear; tarps, mats, cookers, food, and machetes for cutting through the blackberries that will inevitably be choking the undergrowth of the pines growing on the lower slopes
>drive south a few hours, everyone is excited at the prospect of exploring a potentially lost trail, and the anticipated view from the top of the mountain down the Waikato River valley and towards the inland volcanic plateau
>come into the river valley, and see Pohaturoa looming out of the middle of the valley floor, looking like something out of an old Western
>have to drive around for a bit to find a safe place to park Bros Outback out of sight, fortunately no logging machinery around, so we park up at a logging trail at the foot of the mountain
>leave the Outback and orient ourselves, Bro has a Garmin watch or some shit with a map and is orienting it with the map I posted to try get us close to the old trail, fucked if I know how all that works
>tree-line is a wall of mature radiata pine and thick undergrowth, inside is very dark and it is very clear that no one goes in here any more
>above the trees we can see the sheer cliffs of the rock plug that was the core of the mountain before it all eroded away, but can see that there is a kind of gully in the side that we are facing, which looks to be the only way to the summit
