Huka Trapping Update April 2023
Huka Trapping Post Gabrielle Update
Following the forestry damage sustained during cyclone Gabrielle on the 15th February, Craters Mountain Bike Park remains closed until further notice.
All the trails on the River Corridor are open apart from access through Wairakei Resort, the Cathedral Track and the Huka Falls walking track.
The closure of the footpath to Huka Falls has resulted in many more walkers on the Rotary Ride meaning an increased tolerance required for all parties. Most of the traps in the river corridor were ok or have been recovered.
Andrew Hilton and his helpers have done a great job getting the Honey Trail open. The damage in that section is astounding.
In the mountain bike park there are two categories of damage:
Areas of total destruction which will be logged as soon as possible. The area beside Wairakei Drive (Tourist Trap) is an example. Outback from the Chain-link junction and Grinder/Kinda Grinder (plus probably others) are also in this category. The traps in these areas will be lost as there is no possible access. The tracks are gone and will need to be rebuilt from scratch.
Windfall over tracks. Many tracks are intact with varying amounts of windfall. Bike Taupo Track Crew will work away, as access allows, repairing these tracks. The traps on these tracks are likely to be recoverable.
It is important that we stay out of the mountain bike park until we are notified that access has been restored. The forestry guys know that we have traps buried and there may be some recovered but it is not likely to be many.
It seems that there are 50-80 traps which will not be seen again, and it will be a while until we can even plan a recovery phase.
Possums on the Red Bridge Line – some good news!
Historically there have been lots of possums on the Red Bridge line (Huka Falls to Red Bridge) and Ian Issacs has been battling away on this line for a couple of years. In November last year we added some traps on the TDC lucerne beside the ETA following advice that the lucerne up there was providing the possums with an unlimited food source. Since then, the TDC line has caught 32 possums. Progress on the Red Bridge line has been dramatic as shown by the graph below:
Well done, Ian!
Happy trapping
Clyff