Missing tramper safe, sound

The woman missing on Monday night on Mt Te Aroha has walked out unaided.

The 52-year-old made her own way out of the bush and walked to her home in Te Aroha where she phoned police to say she was safe and well around midday yesterday, Waikato Police Senior Sergeant Charles Burgess said.

Officers had gone to check on the woman who appeared to have a few ‘‘bumps and bruises’’ but was otherwise uninjured, he said.

After speaking with the woman it was still unclear where exactly she thought she was located, he said. The Te Aroha woman had phoned for help after wandering off a track and becoming lost while descending the mountain on Monday night.

Police were notified at 8.25pm with the woman reporting she was somewhere near the Buck Rock track, Waikato police Senior Sergeant Simon Cherry said yesterday morning.

Buck Rock is a fin of rock stretching about 60 to 90 metres tall and over 500m long on the high southwest ridge of the mountain.

Search and rescue were activated and had been speaking with the lost woman via cellphone up until 1am but had lost contact with her.

Waikato police Search and Rescue Sergeant Bruce Bogan believed the woman may have turned her phone off.

‘‘She was mobile and was going in and out of coverage, so I think she may have turned her phone off to save battery.’’

Dressed in shorts and a shirt, the woman set off for a tramp in the Waiorongomai Valley around midday on Monday. She was aiming to visit the Premier Creek site, a scenic area featuring a tunnel and swing bridge, along the High Level Track, Bogan said. She was hiking alone.

The woman described herself as being ‘‘fit and healthy’’. She was equipped with water and a hoodie, although had limited supplies and was not intending on a night in the bush, he said.