Makorako [Admin: and starting an alpine mountaineering section??]

[vinodrinker]

yep agree. as you say "access" is the only issue and $30 probably just sneaks in to 'reasonable'. its no more 'cost' than a ferry trip to gt barrier to bag hobson

it may also come down to how easy it is to navigate there given no track etc, what the terrrain is like/ whether its piles of bush bashing or not bla bla

one way to find out. i'm keen but wouldnt go alone, id latch on to your experience again guano...might need to invest in some overnight gear and a bigger pack too

the green route is the way i figured would be easiest from google maps exploration, approach from the north looks about the only sensible option anyway!

[GuanoGerbil]

Pleased to hear you don't own an overnight pack Vino - these things only slow you down 
However, I'm now pretty much resigned to the humbling prospect of doing this as a - dare I say it - overnighter 
The quickest access is from the north by flying into Boyd hut. Don't think I'm prepared to lower my self esteem that far down though. You still have to get a permit for access as well that way.
The green route is the quickest by foot. A 3.5 hour walk into Waipakihi hut in the afternoon, followed by a big day following out to the peak and back, with an easy walk back out the next morning would make this a leisurely 3 dayer with travel to & fro included.
There is still always the option of approaching from the south via Thunderbolt & Ecology Stream. This wouldn't require a permit (doesn't cross any private land), but would be a longer & no doubt less pleasant experience.
I can see taking a sickie on an upcoming fine weekend may be in order...

[vinodrinker]

count me in

you allude to a good point. even if we were to do a one day trip you would more than likely have to stay a couple of nights near the start of the track anyway to allow an earliest of starts and a close by crash after finishing

makes sense to do the hut, perhaps hire some gear

[GuanoGerbil]

This is a shot I took after a few hours walking already, on my way to Thunderbolt.
Arrow points to Thunderbolt a further 4km on in the distance from where I was standing, with Makorako the obvious pointy peak much further back again to the left.

"climb meeee....."

[vinodrinker]

where was this shot taken from on the map approx?? do you think you could mark where you took it from?

[GuanoGerbil]

It was taken from the point marked with the flag. Thunderbolt is visible on the bend 4 km further along the Middle Range. The rest of the proposed Makorako route is also shown to give it some perspective.

I continued along that range all the way before dropping down to Waipakihi hut and returning back over the Umukarikari that day - a nice 40km, 2800m ascent walk (not counting the road bash back) done in 11 hours (see other map).

[vinodrinker]

cool. thats a bit more comforting to see your picture yesterday represents a greater distance than we would cover return on day 2. that looked a long, long way!

[GuanoGerbil]

Just looking back at my previous photos, I found this one taken from the summit of Umukarikari - you can actually get a good first look at Makorako from up there!

After climbing up to the summit of Umukarikari, it's then only a simple matter of descending and then climbing another mountain range in between, before descending again and then climbing the 3rd mountain range and then on to Makorako itself. And then you turn around and come back again... doesn't really sound that bad at all does it? 

[vinodrinker]

simple, you walk till you arrive, then you walk back 

you now have posted more than 50% of the photos of this peak on the internet  lets go get some more...