You will be aware
of VUWTC's tradition of hut-bagging, well here's a brief trip report
on just how addicted one can become. You have been warned.
On the way out
from a recent Lake Sumner Forest Park tramp with Christchurch friends
Simon and Mauricio (of Permolat www.remotehuts.co.nz), I convinced
them that we should attempt to bag Woolshed Hut* on the other side of
the Hurunui river from the Lake Sumner road. It is visible from the
road, and is on the Parkmap and M33 topo sheet. All I knew was that
is was old (historic), had disappeared off DOC's radar (i.e. the
Recreation Opportunities Review had mentioned ceasing maintenance on
the track to it, but didn't mention a status or future of the hut),
the bridge to it was long gone, and the track from the bridge to the
hut probably non-existent. From the road it looked very dilapidated,
like some of the wall was missing.
The best looking
ford of the river we could find was about 1km downstream of hut. The
ford was OK (it is a surprisingly big river) and so was the initial
rock-hop, often in the water to avoid the gorse. A bluff meant
pushing through gorse (ouch, and we were all in shorts!), but once in
the patchy mountain beech it wasn't too bad. Indeed some foot/animal
trails were found and led to the hut. It took nearly an hour.
Of course it was
worth it for a classic bag: a genuine historic hut with mud walls
boxed with manuka poles and open ends. I have no idea what it was
build for, or when. Nathan and Terry (whoever they are) have made it
their private fishing/hunting base and left it all equipped with two
camp stretchers, food and gear. No one else seems to visit (at least
since N & T installed a logbook last year) despite it being
visible from the road.
But it was not
over yet. To avoid the messy gorse, on the way back we went up the
old but followable track upstream to the old bridge site looking for
a ford to take us back across. Alas, we got 1km upstream without
finding one and ended up crashing through as much gorse to get there.
Attempted one but when the water reached the rib-cage and was still
getting deeper, we pulled back. So, back downstream through all the
gorse again to the original ford... To top it off Simon got stung
twice by wasps while we were in the beech avoiding gorse... and he
was the 'non-hut-bagger' among us! (although he does bag vertical
metres!)
Needless to say,
we were laughing at ourselves by the end - it took 3 hours all up.
But it was worth it, and constitutes another tick on my hut list.
I'll try and post a photo on here in due course.
If you are also
addicted, a few gems I've got to this summer and I thoroughly
recommend are: McCormacks Hut, Westland NP; Robin Saddle Hut,
Fiordland NP; Pyke Camp Buildings, Mt Aspiring NP; Spoon Hut, Mt
Aspiring NP; The Dog Box Biv and Beech Hut, Eyre Mountains CP;
Hideaway Biv, Ruataniwha CP.
Quentin Duthie
* Not to be
confused with the new Woolshed Creek Hut at Mt Somers.
Quentin Duthie
quentin.duthie@gmail.com