Dark Horse in Painted Forest (Dunedin, Otago) Traditional Cache
Hidden : 1/4/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
3.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


Dark horse: a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence. The term began as horse racing parlance for a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus is difficult to place betting odds on.

Here in Otago, Dark Horse is a little-known hut tucked away in the mysterious Painted Forest. An interesting place to trot for lunch on a nice day (don’t say “neigh”).

From the Mountain Road carpark it is a bit over 6 km and 2½ to 3 hours walk to reach Dark Horse Hut. Turn off the main Silverpeaks track just before Silverpeak summit and follow the old 4WD road about 800 m along the upper edge of the Painted Forest. Duck into the bush, and there you are… Dark Horse Hut.

Dark Horse Hut was erected by “persons unknown” shortly after Green Hut was demolished in July 1988 (as was Little Green Hut).

The hut is unauthorised and it is likely that the Department of Conservation will remove it sometime in the future.

The hut environs are untidy – watch out for the coil of barbed wire close to the approach route. You’ll see the large amount of pig rooting, so be aware of the possibility of a sow with piglets.

Dark Horse Hut is a hunters’ bivvy built partly from some ex-Green Hut corrugated iron and partly from plastic sheeting over a low framework of branches.

Facilities are limited…! The hut has a fireplace and two camp stretchers, but there is no toilet and the water supply is from the stream in the gully.

You'll find the 1.6 litre screwtop cache tucked under a beech tree root slightly up the bank from the hut. Please leave it completely concealed.

Further information:
• Outdoor Recreation in Otago: Vol Two. Bruce Mason. FMC (1989): Silverpeaks and Maungatua Range Visit link
• The Silver Peaks Recreational Reserve: Mapping wilderness values (Masters thesis, 2014) Oliver O'Sullivan Visit link
• Hutbagger NZ Visit link
• Vegetation and Climate in the Dunedin District. P Wardle & A F Mark. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand Volume 84, 1956-57 Visit link



Enjoy the shade and the beech trees! And a warning...it's home for fierce and predatory peripatus.
The 75 ha Painted Forest is the largest surviving stand of silver beech in the Silverpeaks. These hills were originally bush-covered up to 600-700 m, but prehistoric and historic burning led to the tops being tussock-covered. Since the Silverpeaks Scenic Reserve was gazetted in 1991 the area is now protected from fire and grazing. It’s exciting to see beech seedlings creeping up and over the main Silverpeak-Pulpit ridge – come back in 30 years to see how they’ve grown!



SAFETY: The weather in the Silverpeaks can turn nasty very rapidly at any time of the year. As the "team" attribute indicates, it's much safer to walk with one or more friends. Always tell someone where you are going and when you are due back. Carry warm and waterproof clothing, snacks and drink, a map, cellphone and extra batteries for your GPS.

The Silverpeaks topographic map can be printed out from the NZ Walking Access Commission's Walking Access Mapping System.

For information on tramping routes and safety in the Silverpeaks see the Department of Conservation website Silverpeaks Routes and pamphlet Tramping in the Silverpeaks.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ghpxrq haqre gerr ebbg. Nobhg guveq ynetr orrpu gerr hc onax sebz uhg. Terra gjvar ba fncyvat znexf fcbg.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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