27/10/2026. Davies, Rimu & Pineapple Tracks. Grade 4. Trampers. Leaders: Neil Hodgkin & Ross Davies.
‘Twas a team of fifteen tireless trampers who turned up at the top of Tanner Road at twenty past nine to tackle the tangled tracks and terrain on the town side of the towering Flagstaff.
‘Twas also a tad chilly so we started with a cracking pace along the McGoun Road track to warm up a bit. Soon enough we found the unmarked track that is the beginning of the more used of the Davies tracks.
There was a small creek to cross, and then the up started. We zigged and zagged and slithered and slid on the greasy track. This part is an area of regrowth so it is more open to weather and there had been a bit of weather in the days before.
We climbed into more mature forest and conditions underfoot improved.
There’s a plateau section to recover a bit before more uphill pick-a-path climbing to the bush line. We emerged into the tussocks (and flax and gorse) and a good place for morning tea.
From here the track up to the Skyline track was very open and obvious, thanks to the work of the Green Hut Track Group.
On top there was more of a breeze but we were soon enough down to the Pineapple track and down some more to Pineapple Point and lunch with a lovely view.
After lunch we backtracked about a hundred metres to find the start of what was the original Pineapple track in the olden days up to the 1970s. We followed this down through the forest for a couple of minutes before heading right to follow a faint track that sometimes was and sometimes wasn’t. This “track” is variously known as Rimu track, Track Nine and Three Quarters, and No track.
Before we started on the track that often isn’t, there was a lecture on the responsibility of each of us to watch out for the person behind us. With a lot of little obstacles and a lot of undergrowth, there’s plenty of ways someone behind can lose sight of the person in front and soon enough end up on a different path.
The track generally sidles around towards the plateau section of the Davies track, albeit with plenty of up and down bits. There are some lovely big old trees and we even found the Rimus. The first half of this “track” is unmarked but then there is a trapping line for most of the rest of the way.
We reached the Davies track (also unmarked) and joined up our dots. We started down, and after a bit of scratching around found the junction with the variant (deviant?) Davies track which we followed. This remained in the more mature forest and was much less slippy and slidey and is a much nicer Track.
We emerged from the bush at the old skidder site at the top of the Redwoods bike track area and followed the McGoun Road track back to the cars. It was a lovely adventure in the forest with a good group where everyone looked out for everyone. The debrief was held at the Aster café in the Botanic Gardens.
The average of four Strava recordings was: distance 7km, total elevation gain 550m, tramping time almost 3 hours and time out from the cars was 4hrs 30 mins. The distance wasn’t big but the effort was, because of the nature of the tracks and the amount of uphill. Definitely a grade 4. Well done everyone.
Leader and long legs Neil and Ross the tail-end twit and scribe.
Link to background information and earlier tramps and hikes in the same area.