A dip into my hut bagging bucket list

A hut bagging bucket list

Bucket lists seem to be all the rage, people have lists of the places they want to visit, beers they want to sup, concerts they would like to see. Whatever your hobby there is sure to be a aspirational bucket list and the outdoors is no exception.

Personally, I have a bucket list of huts I would like to visit, or "bag" as we say in New Zealand.

What is hut bagging?

 Minchin Bivouac, Arthur's Pass NP (2 bunks)

  We are very lucky in New Zealand to have a collection of public huts available for general use. At last count there were over 970 huts ranging from tiny  2 person "dog box" (they look like a doghouse) bivouacs right up to Great Walk monster huts which sleep 50-100 people.

Magdalen Hut, Mt Sumner FP (6 Bunks)...most consecutive nights stayed at a hut (3 nights...)

They have a varied background: DOC huts, ex New Zealand Forestry Service huts, miner's huts, research stations, climbing/skiing/tramping club shelters or ex farm accommodation.

Coldwater Hut, Nelson Lakes NP (12 bunks)

These are almost universally managed by the Department of Conservation or DOC as we call it.

Luxmore Lodge on the Kepler Track (54 bunks)

Because of this profusion of huts we have a peculiar outdoor hobby in New Zealand of visiting or "bagging" as many of them as possible. My current "bag" is 236 huts visited, there are many trampers who have visited over 400 huts and there several people close to reaching all 970+ huts.

  A selection from my personal hut bagging bucket list

Here is a list of 12 interesting huts I would like to visit....and bag!

NB: All photos are from the DOC website unless free commons or linked to the source...

Field Hut

 Ah, good old Field Hut.

Field is one of the first purpose built tramping huts in New Zealand and the oldest original hut in the Tararua Ranges. Field Hut was built by the the Tararua Tamping Club (TTC) in 1924 to encourage more people to visit the mountain range where tramping began in this country.

It may be old but it is still serviceable, Field Hut, Tararua Range

Field Hut is an integral part of the classic Southern Crossing of the Tararua Range from Otaki to the Wairarapa Plains. Although a lot of the outside of the hut has been replaced over time it still resides in its original location. 

A true classic!

 (I am embarrassed to say that in more than 20 years of tramping I have never ventured into the Tararua Ranges. Shameful really....in my defence I have never lived in Wellington)

A note on tramping in the Tararua Range:

 This range of mountains is clearly visible from parts of Wellington, our capital and third largest city.

November 2014, southerly front slams Wellington and the distant Tararua Ranges

 Don't let that fool you, this range can be dangerous.  It is mountainous, rugged and because it sits beside Cook Strait powerful storm fronts can blow in at any time of the year. The Tararua's have more memorial huts named after trampers who died tramping locally than any other place in New Zealand.
Bear this in mind and give it the respect it deserves! 

Ivory Lake Hut

 Ivory Lake Hut is Mecca for hut baggers, it is one of the most difficult huts to bag in New Zealand. If you have reached it you have already been tramping for 4 solid days up Westland's Waitaha Valley, arguably one of the most rugged locations in the country.

Ivory Lake Hut, from remotehuts.com

The hut is an old glacial research station, the glacier is almost gone but there is a beautiful lake remaining.  Probably less than 300 people have ever visited the hut in its 50 year history.

 This is absolutely NOT a hut for a solo tramper to visit: you need tramping companions, superb fitness, great gear and a LOT of alpine/backcountry experience. But I can dream......

Welcome Flat Hut

 Beautiful Westland valley location, fantastic two story hut, 100 meters from some of the best natural hot springs in New Zealand....whats not to like?

Welcome Flat Hut, Westland Tai Poutini NP

It takes 5 hours to reach the hut from the car park off State Highway 6, and requires you to cross a number of un bridged side stream enroute.

The Welcome Flat Hot Pools

If you are completing the alpine crossing of the Southern Alps via Copland Pass this is your final nights accommodation. 

 NB: The other boot drops.....this hut is on the international tourist circuit, just like the Great Walks, Lake Angelus Hut and the Tongariro Crossing...CROWDS and CROWDS and god-damn CROWDS of people is the result! It is now on the DOC hut booking system and in the summer this IS absolutely a hut you will get chucked out of if you don't have a booking.

Be warned!

Blue Lake Hut

 Blue Lake Hut is just off the classic Travers-Sabine Circuit in Nelson Lakes NP, it is one of the huts you must pass on the way to completing the Te Araroa Trail route over Waiau Pass. 

Blue Lake Hut, Nelson Lake NP

The hut is lovely and well located but what you are here for is to see the Blue Lake. Blue Lake has the clearest water in the world, it was measured in 2014 and has underwater visibility of over 80 meters meaning it is clearer than distilled water.

The world famous Blue Lake, Nelson Lakes NP

 I have been over Waiau Pass before but I have never visited the hut/lake as we hurried past on the way to points west. I'm planning to walk this section of Te Araroa in the summer of 2017-18.

  Colenso Hut

  Colenso Hut is in the North Island, it sits on the strenuous Ruahine Corner to Rangitane Road tramp in Ruahine Forest Park. Most visitors will fly in by helicopter and then spend the next 4-5 days following the route out to civilisation. The track is mostly high ridge travel inter spaced with river bed walking making fine weather an imperative.

Colenso Hut, Ruahine FP

  I have tramped in the North Island before but never in the Ruahine Range.

Fenella Hut

  Fenella Hut is in the beautiful Cobb Valley, Kahurangi National Park in the north-west corner of the South Island. The hut is named after Fenella Druce who was one of 4 people killed when the Three Johns Hut in Mt Cook was blown off its ridge in a massive storm in 1977. Her family and friends provided most of the funds for this hut.

Fenella Hut, Cobb Valley, Kahurangi NP

  The hut is not particularly difficult to reach it is just a long way from Christchurch at the end of a torturous gravel road from Upper Takaka. I will eventually visit the Cobb Valley area as there are several huts/routes/tracks/lakes in the area I would like to visit. Its going to be a big mission...

I did a trip to the Cobb Valley in October 2020 and visited Fenella Hut on that trip. 

   Roaring Stag Hut

Look at that gorgeous hunk of a hut...it has it all. Nice sunny location, right next to a river (but far enough away so that it won't flood), relatively easy access, lots of trees around it....perfection in a hut thy name is Roaring Stag.

 

Roaring Stag Hut II, Tararua FP

The hut is in the less visited North Eastern part of Tararua Forest Park, entailing access from the Wairarapa Plains.

 Park-Morpeth Hut

  Park-Morpeth Hut is owned by the Canterbury Mountaineering Club (CMC) and is another memorial hut. This hut was built in 1931 in memory of James Park and John Morpeth who lost their lives, drowned in a nearby stream when attempting a difficult river crossing during a storm.

The classic "New Zealand Death" in action...

Climbing to Harman Pass via the Taipoiti River

Materials to build this hut were carried in by pack horse from Mt Algidus Station by the CMC who then built the hut over several weekends.
 DOC hut passes cannot be used at this hut, instead:

Hut fees can be paid by direct credit to the CMC account 03 1592 0103242 00, putting your name and the hut name in the payment details.  Alternatively send a cheque to the Club Treasurer, PO Box 2415, Christchurch with a note of your name and the hut you stayed in. (from the CMC website)

Park-Morpeth Hut Wilbourforce River Valley

  A visit to Park Morpeth is part of the classic Three Passes Tramp from Arthurs Pass NP to the West Coast via Harman/Whitehorn/Browning Pass. This is not a route for amateurs as it requires crossing three Alpine passes as well as over 100 river crossings!

Mt Brown Hut

This started as an old hut relocated from the Lower Arahura Valley, but as it required a lot of new material and wind strengthening it is basically a new hut. Construction was carried out by the Mt Brown Community Project Team and involved significant unpaid volunteer work. Many of the materials were given as donations from businesses in the Hokitika area. It was one of the first joint public/private outdoor projects to be completed and showed that this model could be made to work in New Zealand.

Mt Brown Hut, Lake Kaniere, West Coast

It is a bit of steep hike to get to the hut site but the views are supposed to be spectacular from there.

Larrikin Creek Hut (Thousand Acres Plateau)

  Larrikin Creek Hut sits on the 1000 Acres Plateau just to the north of Murchison on the West Coast of the South Island. Both the 1000 and the 100 acre plateau are ancient pene-plains thrust up through geologic action. Stunning tussock grasslands, limestone caves, sharp limestone peaks are all features of the area.

 

Larrikin Creek Hut, Kahurangi NP

  A good itinerary for a visit to the area is:

• Day 1: Walk into Lake Matiri Hut (half day).
• Day 2: Climb onto the plateau, pass Poor Pete's Hut, and continue on to Larrikin Creek Hut.
• Day 3: Visit the Needle ( a local peak) and Hundred Acres Plateau, and walk back to Poor Pete's Hut, camp in vacinity of the hut
• Day 4: Descend off the plateau down to Lake Matiri Hut and out.

This trip is very firmly on my to do list and while not easy can be achieved by a solo tramper. 

The view from The Needle of the Haystack and 1000 Acre Plateau

Soper Shelter Tent camp

  The majority of our back country huts were built to facilitate deer culling in the 1960-70's. Most were of solid construction, wood or metal but a small number were temporary tent-huts made of canvas. Using canvas meant a cullers hut could be raised cheaply and quickly by two men over a couple of days and often in locations where a solid hut was impractical.

Soper Shelter in Kahurangi National Park is a new built example (2015) of this iconic design.

Soper Tent shelter

The framing is made from local timber while the walls and roof have an inner and outer canvas skin.
This is one of only two ( the other is Cobb Tent Camp in the Cobb Valley) left in the country, most of the others have just rotted away. The hut was built jointly by Golden Bay Alpine and Tramping Club and DOC staff over five days in 2015.

If you are interested there is a nice article about the build in the July 2016 FMC Bulletin if you can find a copy. There is an on-line report about the build on the FMC website

  Martins Bay Hut 

 As with many of the other huts on this list, the hut itself is not the focus, it is the location that matters. If you are staying the night in Martins Bay Hut you have just finished or are about to start the Hollyford Track. 

The Hollyford Track should be on the bucket list of all serious New Zealand trampers. This Fiordland track is a lot more rugged than the Great Walks in the same area. Because it is at sea level it can be walked for most of the year, not just in the busy summer season.

Martins Bay Hut

 The hut sits on the mouth of Lake McKerrow with views out to the wild Tasman Sea. It is at least a 4 day journey from here to civilisation (if you want to call it that) at the Lower Hollyford road end.

Interior of Martins Bay hut

Obviously this list is far from exhaustive, but it gives you a taste of the kind of huts I have on my bucket list!

My favourite DOC hut, Packhorse Hut, Banks Peninsula (10 bunks), 12 visits so far...

If you are interested in hut bagging you should check out the Hut Bagger NZ site, register and bag some huts. 

Historic Tramps: Into the Kaimanawa Range

A trip into the southern Kaimanawa Range...

Way back in 1987 I visited the Kaimanawa Forest Park as a part of an Army exercise I was a part of at the Army Training Ground (ATG) in Waiouru. During my basic training my unit was dropped by truck on the eastern boundary of the ATG and we had to walk out to the Desert Road over five days.

Mt Ruapehu from inside the Waiouru ATG

We started at the end of  Moawhanga Bridge Road in the Stowman Range where we walked along the range before dropping down and staying the night in the vicinity of Bobs Hut. This was an old musterers hut just inside the ATG used by the farmer who managed the land in the southern part of the training area. We weren't allowed inside the hut itself as this was officer country and the unit HQ.....we slept in the forest and tall tussock outside.

 

Bobs Hut on the Upper Wairakatoke Stream from ATVrider.com

Map: Waiouru ATG, near Bobs Hut

Sleeping in tussock is an interesting experience...it keeps you warm and reasonably dry but you do get uncomfortable sleeping on the hump of roots at the base of each tussock. You can make a nice little rats nest under the tussock with just your head and shoulders outside so you can observe, brew up or cook some food. 

Nice!!! 

It is best done with a bivy bag or cover for your sleeping bag to keep it dry and free of bugs...give it a go sometime.

Typical terrain in the northwest of the Waiouru ATG, from Zoomology.com

Over the next two days we patrolled along a series of old tank tracks to the remote north eastern edge of the Waiouru ATG. This is an area of low rolling hills and tussock lands seldom visited by anyone including the Army and criss-crossed with a number of creeks, streams and rivers. There are a series of swamps in the low points but we tended to walk around the worst of them on the low sides of the surrounding hills. 

Tussock valleys in the north east of the Waiouru ATG, from Zoomology.com

Late 1980's early 1990's Kiwi soldier patrolling...

This corner of the ATG is home to the famous Kaimanawa wild horses. We often used to see the horses in the distance when in this corner of the ATG.  Beautiful animals...they are the descendants of escaped farm animals which have lived in this area since the late 1880's. They are super cautious about humans and will try to stay at least a kilometer away from you at all times. 

Map: Waiouru ATG, Motumatai Range

At one stage the herd was as big as 1500 horses but it has been reduced now to around 100 as they are hellishly destructive on the environment. Some were rounded up and sold or given away but unfortunately some were also put down. There is a group dedicated to maintaining the breed called Kaimanawa Heritage Horses who work with DOC and the Army to manage the herd.

Some of the wild Kaimanawa horses from Kaimanawa Heritage horse site

We conducted some live fire exercises around the Motumatai Range from dug in positions on Pt. 1470 and Pt.1454.  These are a couple of flat peaks here which dominate the surrounding area...perfect for a live fire exercise!!! 

View from the Motumatai Range, Waiouru ATG

Then over the next two days we moved along the northern edge of the ATG using the well known Kaimanawa Forest Park Walkway and Southern Access Corridor on both sides of the ATG boundary. 

DOC sign along the Southern Access Corridor, Kaimanawa Ranges from Geocache.com

On the border of Waiouru ATG and the Kaimanawas's

Army tarp set up in bush in the Kaimanawa Mountains

The Southern Access Corridor is a right of way open to civilians so they can access the southern Kaimanawa Range from the Desert Road. This area is more mountainous and covered with bush, forest with open tops along the dry crests of the ridges. It is mostly on the northern side of the ATG boundary but does cross into ATG land at a couple of spots. 

Map: Waiouru ATG,  Southern Access Corridor

Scattered bush pockets along the Southern Access Corridor

The walk along the Kaimanawa Range is one of the classic tramping trips in the North Island with views out over the ATG, north to Lake Taupo and the volcanoes of the Central Plateau. There are few huts along this track and camping is discouraged near the ATG border as the area is sometimes used by the Army for live fire exercises. Most tramping parties will walk the length of the Access Corridor over one day...it is about 20 kilometers or 5-6 hours walking. 

Southern Access Corridor: the threat is very real, from Geocache.com

Approaching the Desert Highway along the Southern Access Corridor

We eventually arrived out on the Desert Highway near the Rangipo Desert where we were collected and trucked back the Waiouru Army Camp for a well deserved shower and some hot food. I actually enjoyed this Army exercise a lot as it was some beautiful terrain we were covering. We also got to fire off a pile of live ordinance which is always a lot of fun....

The Kaimanawa Range from the opposite side of Desert Road

The Desert Road near the northern edge of the Waiouru ATG

The Rangipo Desert backs onto Tongariro National Park and is a massive expanse of sand, stone, rocks and ash left over from when the Central Plateau volcanoes were more active. I did one exercise in the area and it is really like a desert as the poor volcanic soils will not support much life. It is not utilised much anymore as it is such a delicate environment but it is still part of the Army Training Area.

View towards Waiouru ATG across the Rangipo Desert

This was the first of three trips I made into this area the second was a hunting trip with some of my Army buddies and the third another Army exercise but I might cover that trip separately one day. I can recommend the Kaimanawa's to you as a trip destination...it is good classic back to basics tramping terrain. 

Cheers.....