Maratoto is a very prominent peak in a beautiful, and little
travelled valley. When viewed from the road, it is simply begging
to be climbed, but unless you know the route, it is quite a
formidable undertaking. I bush-bashed my way up here on a recce
mission around the other side, and it wasn’t until I’d
almost got to the summit that I stumbled upon ‘the
track’. I took the easy way down and found out where it
starts - it is not marked or signposted at all on the roadside, but
directions are as follows:
Drive down Maratoto Road and the peak will become obvious after
a few kilometres. The sealed road becomes metal, and just after you
cross a culvert you will find a small grass parking area on the
LHSide of the road (see below). Leave your car here and walk across
the grass towards the peak. Cross the stream and you will find the
track begins up the other side. Beware of the Maratoto Monster
rumoured to be living at the lookout point half way up. Allow
around 1 hour to the top from the carpark.
Yep, you're going up there...
I was first introduced to this area when rockclimbing on this
outcrop. The climbing has mostly good rock, great exposure and a
lot of potential (especially on the awesome upper tier). All the
established climbing routes are on the bottom tier, but there is a
chain rap-off point at the summit which will take you to the bottom
of the top tier in two pitches, and includes an exciting
overhanging abseil of 25m.
I came up here with my two merry gerblings to plant this cache
on the shortest day of the year, and ended up descending in the
pouring rain (definitely not recommended). The track is very steep
in places and there are some quite tricky exposed sections up high
which are slippery in the wet. The wind also tends to whistle
through here, so be prepared, and take care! However the views from
the top are superb, and it is a very satisfying peak to summit.
Cache is a 1 litre clear Sistema, containing log book, pencil
and the usual assortment of goodies.