Waimack Falls Hut, Labour Weekend 24-26th October 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No.78

Waimack Falls Hut, Labour Weekend 24-26th October 2009

This exellent trip was a three day expedition over Labour weekend, with the Christchurch Tramping Club. Our intention was to head up to the Waimack Falls hut on day one. Spend day two exploring the Waimack Col or any of the other peaks that took our fancy, dependant on weather conditions and how much snow was around, then of course head back out the way we came on day three. The extended weather forcast was for clear over the weekend with possible snow on Monday, our last day.

Four of us left Klondyke Corner on Saturday morning, after our drive out from the city. Our leader, myself and two young ladies, who it turned out were new to the club and although fit and well equipped, were much less experienced with the type  terain we were to cover.

This wasn't a major issue as we wanted everyone to have the maximum experience that they could and being a club trip, I belive it is our duty to support less experienced trampers to new levels of confidence and capability. I, myself, certainly gained most of my experience with the club. What this did mean, was that our pace was a bit slower than what was required to get to our destination within the time we had allocated. The day was fine and not too hot and after the long slog up the Waimack river bed to the Carrington hut, our leader suggested that we best look out for a good camp site as we continued up the Waimack Falls Valley. About an hour and a half up the valley we found a sutiable spot and set up our tents for the night.

Sunday again dawned clear and we broke camp and continued upstream and into more scenic country, stopping to admire the Waimack Falls and also a stop at the flood bypass swingbridge to check out the a small sort of canyon with Falls at the end. A short climb from here then brought us to the Waimack Falls hut, which is situated just above the Falls that tumble down into the short canyon. Lunch was then had at the hut with majestic views of the Waimack col and the lovely snowy basin leading up to it.

After lunch myself and out leader decide to fill in the afternoon with a stroll further up the valley, and I also wanted to do some crampon work on the ice, so we headed up towards the gap(see photos) at the end of the valley and while our leader waited, as he decided not to unpack his crampons, I  cramponed through the gap and part way up on to the Col itself and would have gone all the way but decided to return to our leader who was still waiting for me on the other side of the gap, and I didn't want him to think someting had happened to me.

Foretunatly, the sonwy weather we were expecting on Monday morning  failed to arrive and an early start was made for our return trip, to allow the young ladies  plenty of time to walk out. It was a pretty straight forward trip back to the car, retracing our route in and of course the rain arrived for the last hour of the slog down the Waimack.

The Waimack hut is quite often used as an overnight stopover for parties continuing over the Waimack Col and down the Rolleston river. I will do this next time.

Remnants of an avalanche on the bank of the Waimack.

Roddus

Looking up the Valley Sunday Morning.

Great shot of Carrington Peak

Looking down on Waimack falls

The Swing Bridge

Near the Hut

Approching the hut

Some idiot with the Gap and the Col in the background from the hut

 

The hut from up valley

 

Me ready to head for the gap

Looking back throught the gap towards the hut.

Hinewai Reserve (Banks Peninsula) - Late 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No. 77

Hinewai Reserve (Banks Peninsula) - Late 2009

This was suppose to be a CTC trip up onto the tops above Wainui, on the opposite side of Akaroa harbour, but the weather wan't co-operating and so our leader lead 18 of us on a more leisurely stroll round The Hinewai Reserve, where I had been before on a much earlier club trip back in 2000. There is some lovely regenerating native bush in this valley and an impressive stand of original Totora where we had a damp lunch.  A worthwhile place to visit and on warmer days a swim in the bay is an option. I can't find any photos of this trip.  

Kirwans Hut - 6-7 June 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No.76

Kirwans Hut - 6-7 June 2009

This was my first trip to Kirwans hut, a fabulous 12 bunk hut near Reefton. It was a CTC trip that I ended up leading as the original leader fell ill. It was a cool winters day as 6 of us(4 women and Me) set off from Capleton for the 5 hour walk through magnificent West Coast Forest up the gradual incline to the hut, perched in a clearing and surrounded by snow. After cranking the fire and a cuppa, some of us attempted to summit kirwan Hill, but turned back in fading daylight and forgotten headlights.

Sunday, and we continued along the Kirwans track to the old mining relics before heading down to the Montgomery river, with Uncle Roddus getting slightly lost on an abandoned section of track before someone came looking for me. We stopped for lunch at The Montgomery hut before the long slog along the four wheel drive track on the Waitahu river. We then crossed the hill back to the cars where we had quite a long wait for two of our group who took a wrong turn at the top of the hill. Took 8 1/2 hours back to car.

Lagoon Saddle/Mt Bruce - 24th May 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No.75

Lagoon Saddle/Mt Bruce - 24th May 2009

Another CTC trip that had to change tact due to weather conditions. The original plan was to head to Mt Barossa behind Mt Somers, but with a bitterly cold southerly and snow expected, it was decided to head inland more and see what we could do. It was decided to head to Lagoon Saddle for a womble and we sidled round the north face of Mt Bruce in quite a bit of snow before lunching at the saddle hut. The plan was to just head back the way we came but as the clouds lifted off Mt bruce, we decided to head up onto the top for a look. We plugged our way up through the snow for a very short stop at the top, as the wind was horrible, before plunging our way back down to the cars.

Black Hill Hut 9th-10th May 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No.74

Black Hill Hut  9th-10th May 2009

This was a wounderful trip I did with my friend and tramping buddy, Bryce.  The Track to Black Hill hut starts not too far from my home, so it is a place I have visited several times over the last 10 years, and Bryce and I went up there back in October 2003, when he first moved down here.
The weather forcast for this particular weekend was for frosty and clear on the Saturday, with snow down to 500 meters during the night and more snow most of Sunday. There has already been quite a bit of snow on the mountains earlier that week. With a forcast like that, the trip that I was planning to do with the Christchurch Tramping Club looked less appealing, especially as we had to cross over the Main Divide and the roads may have to close, so I called Bryce and suggested we do Black Hill hut instead, as it wouldn't be much of an issue in that type of weather, and besides I had never been up there in those conditions.
We left from the View Hill carpark at 10am on the Saturday and proceded along the Warfdale track, which apparently is an old cattle route into the Lees Valley. The Warfdale Track mainly sidles round the hills on the lower slopes of Mount Oxford, through regenerating beech forest. The forest was heavily milled at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Centuaries, which is partly why the town of Oxford came into existance, untill 2 large fires destroyed much of the forest.
We had lunch at 12:30, at the Warfdale summit and then left the Warfdale and started up the steep track to Black Hill just past 1:00pm. There were patches of snow even this far down from earlier in the week. Got to the hut around 4:00pm. The hut is at about 1220m altitude and there was still plenty of deep snow around the hut from the earlier falls. We decided to pop up the Black Hill sunmmit before dinner, which is usually a quick climb, but with snow up to our thighs it was tough going.
Once we got the fire going, with the slightly green wood that was available, we spent a cosy night in the hut, unbeware of what was happening outside.
The next morning, true to the weather forcast, when we finally ventured outside, we discovered that several inches of snow had fallen overnight and it was still snowing fairly vigourously. After breakfast, packing and cleaning the hut, we set off back down the hill the same way we had come. What and amazing contrast to the day before, with all the snow piling up on the trees, it was such a beautiful site to see and very plesent to be walking in the snow in the forest as the trees helped keep a lot of the snow of the track. It actually snowed all the way back to the car, but much less of it at the lower levels, so not as spectacular. This trip was the perfect one to do under these conditions and as the pictures below will suggest, a stunningly beautiful one.

The slog up to the top on Saturday evening

Looking back across to Mt Oxford

Black Hill, Almost, the top was a bit further on, but as we had been there

before and with all the snow, we couldn't be bothered.

Posing with shovel so people will think we had to dig our way out :)

Black Hill Hut after a nice dump of snow.

Where was the track again?

Just follow me

Awesome

 This way I think.

It was worth the effort to see this.

I think I'll have to come back next winter

 

 

 

Pinchgut Hut - 3rd May 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary: Tramp No.73

Pinchgut Hut - 3rd May 2009

This is an easy walk to the Pinchgut hut in behind Mt Thomas. It was a club trip which started from Taffes Glen Rd on a fine frosty morning with a cold crossing of the Okuku River. We got to the hut in 2.5 hours and had a pleasant lunch in the sun before returning to the cars the same way. Not many photos from this trip as most didn't come out at all well.

Mt Catherine - 1st Febuary 2009

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No.72

Mt Catherine - 1st February 2009

This was another club trip to a regular destination. It is a fairly rigorous climb which we took on a fine warm day, leaving the cars about 9:30am and headed along a farm track before going cross country to achieve the ridge we were to ascend. After the initial climbing through the short tussock the ridge turns to soft shingle and then more rocky further up. The views are fabulous. It was discussed as to the possibility of doing a loop around the tops and coming down the southerly ridge but it took longer to get to the summit than was required to allow enough time to complete that option so it was back down the gut in the middle, getting back to the cars around 5:00pm.