26 October update
The final piece of the Upper Leaping Lizard puzzle was tidied up this week by Ricky, who widened, tweaked, and finished off the short link between the new (upper upper?) and lower (original/lower upper) bits of track. So you can now avoid the pinch climb all the way up to the 4WD track.
14 October update
TGL have been busy upgrading the lower section of Upper Leaping Lizard over the last few weeks, which has been paid for by WCC. They’ve been widening some narrow sections, removing ruts, improving the drainage, berming up some corners, and building an intermediate bypass of the advanced steep rocky section - which is being kept open for those who prefer a steeper line. The best of both worlds!
They’ve done a great job retaining as much of the natural, rugged feel of the track, while giving it an update as it hasn’t seen any major maintenance in quite a few years. This is a key section of track that all riders will use to access the south west corner of the park, where we’ll be building a lot of new intermediate and advanced grade tracks. So getting it back to intermediate grade was a priority.
There are some great views from the track over Cook Strait and the South Island, plus looking back to the swing bridge and the Peak. Once it’s complete, there’s going to be a great intermediate loop in the South West from the summit down Upper Leaping Lizard, into the easy section of Leaping Lizard and then back along Supa Kanuka and Aratihi. Advanced riders have got a bit more choice with Nikau Valley or Leaping Lizard into Bail Out or back up via Possum.
We’ll post something on Facebook as soon as it’s open - only a couple of weeks of finishing and surfacing to go.
