Tramping Day 40 Jan 8th 2018 Hamilton Hut to Bealey Hut 14 km
Another shortish day - the walk itself is fairly straightforward - along the Harper river and up to Lagoon Saddle which is a great lunch spot with an awesome view. As for the final destination there are lots of options - stay at Bealey or continue to the State Highway and stay at Greyney's or Avalanche Creek Shelters. I opted to stay at Bealey but it's quite a small cramped hut. I saw Avalanche Creek Shelter the next day and it would have been a good spot for camping - if I had the option again I would plump for Avalanche Creek.
Tramping Day 41 Jan 9th 2018 Bealey Hut to Goat Pass Hut 20 km
It was roadwalking down from Bealey Hut and then a bit of State Highway - 10km - not very busy fortunately - then it was across the highway to the Bealey River which I crossed on some stepping stones - hardly got my feet wet - it's then pretty straightforward up the Mingha River valley to Goat Pass Hut.
I made my biggest TA error here.... I had gotten a weather forecast for Arthur's Pass on the Saturday morning in Methven but had not got any signal to update it in the following 3 days. The forecast had been Okish but not awful. When I got to the State Highway there was still no signal - no mobile internet and no phone signal to phone Arthur's Pass DOC office. What I didn't know was the forecast had changed dramatically and that a huge belt of rain was going to hit Goat Pass/Deception River.
Two
and half days at Goat Pass - not recommended! There was another person there thank
God - a possum trapper called Dom - ask me anything about possum
trapping I know it all!! It was just amazing how the streams became
rivers and how waterfalls just sprouted out of the hills. The roar of
the water all around the hut was amazing... No wood burner there and
pretty cold - had to sit in my sleeping bag all day to keep warm. There
was a shortwave radio in the hut but unfortunately it didn't work so I
had no way of getting an ongoing forecast. The next stage was The
Deception River - tricky in good weather but in flood a potential death
trap.
There was no alternative but to turn back and retrace my steps to the State Highway and exit to Greymouth. Sadly it meant an end to the possibility of a complete South Island Thru Hike but when its Man vs Nature - Nature wins every time.
Left
Greymouth early and hitched out to Boyle Village. I had mailed a food
parcel there and picked that up. I handy tip is to write down the
contents of your food package before you mail it - several months later
you will have forgotten what you put in it - like me!
By the time I got my food sorted and packed it was early afternoon and Boyle Flat Hut was as far as I wanted to head. Flat easy walking - nothing really inspiring but pleasant enough.
Waiau Hut was new in 2018 although they had forgot to fully seal the
windows against sandflies...Kiwi hut making 101 I would have thought!
Hopefully sorted...
Tramping Day 46 Jan 18th 2018 Blue Lake Hut to Upper Travers Hut 15km
The descent to the hut is pretty easy - again through forest but not particularly steep or uneven
Tramping Day 47 Jan 19th 2018 Upper Travers Hut to Wild Camping 100m from Angelus Hut 21 km
I
followed the TA for about 15km until the junction to Cascade Track
- from there it's a steep climb up to Angelus Hut - about 1.5km before the hut
there is a nice flat plateau which would be good for camping - or
continue up to Angelus Lake - I wild camped 100m from the hut - out
of sight and I was up and away before anyone got up.
Tramping Day 48 Jan 20th 2018 Wild Camping 200m from Angelus Hut to St Arnaud 12km
The views from the ridge are very good and I would recommend this as a good alternative to the TA. However if I was doing it again I would probably change it even more because I thought the track over Travers Saddle was a slight disappointment. This is what I would recommend from Blue Lake Hut onwards..
It was roadwalking down from Bealey Hut and then a bit of State Highway - 10km - not very busy fortunately - then it was across the highway to the Bealey River which I crossed on some stepping stones - hardly got my feet wet - it's then pretty straightforward up the Mingha River valley to Goat Pass Hut.
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| The clues are there...warning board before entering Goat Pass! |
I made my biggest TA error here.... I had gotten a weather forecast for Arthur's Pass on the Saturday morning in Methven but had not got any signal to update it in the following 3 days. The forecast had been Okish but not awful. When I got to the State Highway there was still no signal - no mobile internet and no phone signal to phone Arthur's Pass DOC office. What I didn't know was the forecast had changed dramatically and that a huge belt of rain was going to hit Goat Pass/Deception River.
What I should have done was hitched up to Arthurs Pass (6km away) and gone to the DOC office - it would have saved me much grief. If you can't get signal to check the weather take the time to go up to the DOC office...:-)
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| Rainfall records on the 10th and 11th of January!! |
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| View from the hut door Goat Pass |
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| Massive amounts of water coming down the mountain |
On the third morning I woke around 6am and something was different - the roar of water had stopped - I had been measuring the rainfall in a bucket and there had been little rain overnight - the streams and waterfalls had gone down. Who knows when it might start up again so we made the decison to move out - it wasn't easy - rivers that had been ankle deep were now full flowing and up to out knees or deeper - the route back involves several crossings too and fro - we decided to keep on the right bank the whole way even if it involved a bit of bushwhacking to get through. Eventually we came to the Bealey River - it was only about 100m from the State Highway but in was in full flow - we had to bushwhack about 500m upstream until it braided and then crossed the braids which had less flow...we had made it but what an effort - then there was the small matter of catching a hitch to Greymouth 100km away - but fortune was smiling on us and some holidaymakers picked us up.
Tramping Day 42 Jan 13th 2018 Boyle Village to Boyle Flat Hut 12km
By the time I got my food sorted and packed it was early afternoon and Boyle Flat Hut was as far as I wanted to head. Flat easy walking - nothing really inspiring but pleasant enough.
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| Boyle Flat Hut |
Tramping Day 43 Jan 14th 2018 Boyle Flat Hut to Anne Hut 17km
Pretty flat walk on a beautiful day - easy tramping and lots of time to lay soaking up the sun...
Anne Hut is big and modern - was meeting quite a few SOBO's by now.
Anne Hut is big and modern - was meeting quite a few SOBO's by now.
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| Anne Hut |
Tramping Day 44 Jan 15th 2018 Anne Hut to Waiau Hut 25km
Easy walking on a well trodden path that you can whizz along about 4km an hour.
Easy walking on a well trodden path that you can whizz along about 4km an hour.
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| The leaky flyscreens - I had to do my own number 8 wire fix by jamming some of the left over wood over the gaps...Wow I'm practically a Kiwi!! |
Tramping Day 45 Jan 16th 2018 Waiau Hut to Blue Lake Hut 15km
This is a tough day - the terrain is challenging all day even when it's flat - and there isn't much of that! The climb up to the pass is steep with a fair amount of scrambling and would be tricky in rainy conditions/wet rocks.
River crossings might be challenging in the
area before the track climbs steeply.
The descent is tough - also on scree -
very steep at times and pretty easy to loose your footing - poles a
Godsend!
Then it's round Lake Constance and Blue Lake comes into sight - almost there!
This is a tough day - the terrain is challenging all day even when it's flat - and there isn't much of that! The climb up to the pass is steep with a fair amount of scrambling and would be tricky in rainy conditions/wet rocks.
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| Early departure from Waiau Hut top left - weather looked promising but soon closed in making it a slippy tramp across the wet boulders |
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| Yeah it really is that steep!! |
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| The top of Waiau Pass |
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| Great view from the top |
Then it's round Lake Constance and Blue Lake comes into sight - almost there!
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| Amazing views down onto Lake Constance |
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| The crystal clear waters of Blue Lake |
Jan 17 2018 was a zero day as it was pouring with rain - no real need to push on as I had a spare day to play with and the next section is over Travers Saddle - there would be zero visibility on a day like this. It was also my 55th birthday so the day off was a present to myself. Hut was pretty full as the SOBO's couldn't take on Waiau pass today - an eclectic mix of trampers from all over the world which made for good stories...
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| Blue Lake Hut |
Another quite tough day - about 3 hours to West Sabine hut and then another 3 to the top of the saddle - pretty steep - 1000m of ascent over 4km. Unfortunately there's not much of a view on the way up as you are mostly in forest apart from near the top.
The descent to the hut is pretty easy - again through forest but not particularly steep or uneven  |
| Upper Travers Hut |
I
followed the TA for about 15km until the junction to Cascade Track
- from there it's a steep climb up to Angelus Hut - about 1.5km before the hut
there is a nice flat plateau which would be good for camping - or
continue up to Angelus Lake - I wild camped 100m from the hut - out
of sight and I was up and away before anyone got up. |
| Sometimes the track is well and truly blocked - 8 big logs! |
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| Late night sun illuminating one of the ridges... |
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| If you do the steep climbs you get the rewards - I watched this Tahr pick its way over the ridges for half an hour.. |
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| Wild camping about 100m before the posh Angelus Hut - only the tahr knew I was there... |
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| Angelus Hut |
The first few km are pretty tough - over some massive boulders - I
thought the whole ridgeline was going to be like that but luckily it
wasn't and it got pretty straightforward - the last part down to the
car park in very easy.
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| Top - early morning views over Lake Angelus Bottom - heading up Robert's Ridge |
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| Top - amazing views from the ridge - Bottom left - the traverse up to the ridge was kind of rocky! Bottom right - superb view of Lake Rotoiti |
Day 1 Blue Lake Hut to Sabine Hut
Day 2 Sabine Hut to St Arnaud via Mt Cedric Track and Roberts Ridge
Scenery on this option will be much better than the TA route and avoids the use of Lakehead Hut which can get very busy. Another option would be to overnight near St Angelus Hut - the official DOC campsite needs to be booked but wild camping a few hundred metres away is totally possible. And then tramp to St Arnaud the next day via Roberts Ridge which is superb.
At this point I left the TA to go and do Heaphy and Abel Tasman tracks. If you have the time it's a great side trip. See how I did it here
Tramping Day 49 Feb 2nd 2018 Red Hills Car Park to Red Hills Hut 7km
Originally I had intended to walk every step including all the roads but as I was unable to do The Arthur's Pass to Boyle section that dream was over - as a result I started to skip some of the road walking sections - this included the 10km of State Highway 63 out of St Arnaud to Red Hills Car Park! It was then an easy 7km up a 4WD track to the hut - although I believe there is a new route now which is 3km longer
Originally I had intended to walk every step including all the roads but as I was unable to do The Arthur's Pass to Boyle section that dream was over - as a result I started to skip some of the road walking sections - this included the 10km of State Highway 63 out of St Arnaud to Red Hills Car Park! It was then an easy 7km up a 4WD track to the hut - although I believe there is a new route now which is 3km longer
