Wharfedale hut - January 15/16th 2011

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No. 96

Wharfedale hut - January  15/16th 2011

This was the very first time Aunty Roddus has done a tramping trip. We had been talking about it for quite some time and had purchased a pair of new boots for Aunty Roddus several months ago in anticipation of this trip. I chose the wharfedale hut because it is very close to home and it is a relatively easy 4-5 hour walk to the hut with no major hill climbs or rivers to contend with and I hadn't been back to it in several years. We were going to do it a couple of weeks earlier but the weather forecast was rain, so I decided to hold off. It didn't rain  that weekend at all of course. Any how this time as she had the full weekend off work again we were determined to go. We left home about 11:30am on Saturday and were on the track just after 12PM. It was warm and slightly windy in the Nor'west direction. The forecast was for possible rain overnight and maybe in the morning. There were plenty of vehicles at the View hill car park but we were hoping the hut wouldn't be full as a lot of them would be mountain bikers. 

Off we set with me carrying most of the food, all the cooking gear and the tent etc... with Aunty Roddus struggling with my other pack which is a bit to large for her frame. She was carrying her bedding and warm cloths etc.. and managed the pack very well. I let Aunty lead the way so she could set her own pace, we had plenty of daylight and could take it slow if needed. She did pretty well setting a reasonable pace for the whole trip, reaching the hut in just under 5 hours. We were disappointed to find the small hut almost full, with just two bunks left, but we decidede to camp out behind the hut on the river as there were some great tent spots there and she was keen. With all those people in that small hut as well as the heat from their cooking and the fact that the hut has almost no windows that open and it was already a warm evening, the temperature in the hut was quite oppressive, so it was much more enjoyable camping on the river. Poor Aunty was pretty knackered after her walk but was in good spirits. She went to bed soon after dinner at about 7:30pm. Although the wind had been  fairly  strong during parts of the day, after dark the nor'west really started to blow and the sound of the trees roaring in the wind kept me awake hoping we wouldn't get blown away, but the site I had picked  under some small trees by the bank afforded us such excellent shelter that the tent hardly felt the wind at all. Got up around 7am with Aunty feeling a bit sore and stiff but I knew she would be fine once we got moving again. After breakfast I packed her pack for her and said if she wanted to make a start I would catch her up after I had packed the tent and cleared our camp site. We were going back out the same  way we came in and the track is very well used and easy  to follow so I felt confident to let her carry on ahead. She got a good 15 minute head start on me but I was very surprised to find that  I didn't catch her until we were nearly at the Black hill turnoff. She had done really well and was feeling ok and had enjoyed walking in the forest alone. We got back to the car, after avoiding the many mountain bikers on the track, in 4 hours and 10 minutes. A great effort by Aunty and an enjoyable trip had by both of us. she is already asking where next.

and we saw a few plants and trees.

A very well used track.

A lovley carpet of ferns.

This interesting structure we found on the Saddle.