Showing posts with label Tramping Etiquette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tramping Etiquette. Show all posts

Thursday 21 October 2021

Guidelines for using backcountry huts...

 ...10 rules to live by when using backcountry huts...  

Here are a set of ten golden rules to follow when utilising any of the backcountry huts here in New Zealand. These are relevant to both Kiwi tramper's and our international visitors...


Interior of West Sabine Hut, Nelson Lakes NP


1. Keep huts clean and tidy. A broom, brush and pan are provided—please use them, and leave muddy equipment outside. 

2. Conserve gas when using gas heaters and cookers. During cooking always open a window or door to allow dangerous carbon monoxide fumes to escape. Keep an eye on boiling water/food, and be sure to turn gas heaters off overnight and make sure it is properly off when you leave. 

3. Take care using wood burners, keep the fire contained and never leave it unattended. Only burn dead dry wood and be careful with hot ashes. Make sure the fire is extinguished before leaving. Use wood sparingly and replace any you use for the next visitors. 

4. Share huts with others by being considerate, make room for late comers and keep quiet if others are sleeping. Share boiled water with other tramper's to help conserve gas. 

5. Carry it in, carry it out—recycle ALL your rubbish. Take two bags, one for recycling and the other for rubbish/food scraps to carry out with you and dispose of responsibly. Refer to the Environmental Care Code on the DOC website

6. No smoking in huts, take your cigarette butts out with the rest of your rubbish. 

7. Hunters must follow the New Zealand Arms Code; see also the DOC hunting pages

8. No dogs allowed inside huts. 

9. Before leaving, close doors and windows securely. 

10. Always pay hut fees.


Lower Apirama Hut, Takatimu Mountain Range

These recommendations should be followed along with the tenants of Leave No Trace (LNT) theory to protect and conserve these precious resources...

Friday 21 May 2021

Hut Users Code of conduct

 Hut users code...10 rules to live by...


Here are a set of ten golden rules to follow when utilising any of the backcountry huts here in New Zealand...These are relevant to both Kiwi trampers and our international visitors..

Interior of Ces Clarke Hut, Croseus/Paparoa GW Track, Paparoa NP


1. Keep huts clean and tidy. A broom, brush and pan are provided—please use them, and leave muddy boots outside. 

2. Conserve gas when using gas heaters and cookers. During cooking always open a window or door to allow dangerous carbon monoxide fumes to escape. Keep an eye on boiling water/food, and be sure to turn gas heaters off overnight and make sure it is properly off when you leave. 

3. Take care using wood burners, keep the fire contained and never leave it unattended. Only burn dead dry wood and be careful with hot ashes. Make sure the fire is extinguished before leaving. Use wood sparingly and replace any you use for the next visitors. 

4. Share huts with others by being considerate, make room for late comers and keep quiet if others are sleeping. Share boiled water with other trampers to help conserve gas. 

5. Carry it in, carry it out—recycle ALL your rubbish. Take two bags, one for recycling and the other for rubbish/food scraps to carry out with you and dispose of responsibly. Refer to the Environmental Care Code on the DOC website

6. No smoking in huts, take your cigarette butts out with the rest of your rubbish. 

7. Hunters must follow the New Zealand Arms Code; see also the DOC hunting pages

8. No dogs allowed inside huts. 

9. Before leaving, close doors and windows securely. 

10. Always pay hut fees.


Crow Hut, Crow Valley, Arthur's Pass NP

These recommendations should be followed along with the tenants of Leave No Trace (LNT) theory to protect and conserve these precious resources...

Also have a look at my previous post: What's in a DOC Hut?


Tuesday 17 March 2020

DOC Hut Intentions Books....what they are and why you should fill them in!!!

A source of information for the tramper, SAR and DOC


One thing you will find in every back country hut in New Zealand is the ubiquitous green and gold intentions book. They are supplied by the Department of Conservation and are there to impart useful information to trampers and to record the passage of anyone who has stayed at or visited that hut. 


Cover of the ubiquitous back-country hut intentions book

The front of the book has pages of excellent general tramping information covering a broad range of topics This is followed by a number of pre-formatted pages where you can add you name, date of arrival, hut payment method, home location and intended movements once you leave the hut.

Every solo tramper or a designated member of any group should be filling in these details at each and every back country hut they are visiting. 

Typical entries in a DOC Intentions Book, Kahikatea Shelter, Pelorous Bridge

You will often find the intentions book sitting on the dining table in the hut but they can also be found in specially built book holders on a convenient wall, bunk or flat surface. They usually have a pen attached or close to the book but you should always carry your own pen for writing messages in an emergency. 


In Lakehead hut, Nelson Lakes National Park...note hut book holder...
..a more elaborate intentions book holder in Bark Bay Hut, Abel Tasman NP...

Reading the entries in the intentions book is one of the stand out pleasures I get when staying in a hut...you will read stories of raging rivers crossed, mountain peaks conquered, bush bashed, new routes discovered, epic meals consumed, adventures long dreamed of finally completed. 

If you are a keen tramper like me you will get to recognize some of the names...legendary names like Spearpoint, Barnett, Potton, Ledbrook and Salisbury but also others less well known. You will also see tramping clubs, walking clubs, people you work with or might have once met in some tramping hut. 

There is almost always something interesting and or relevant to be gleamed from the pages. 


Hut book open in John Tait Hut ready for Jon to complete...

Lets have a look at this icon of the back country hut and see what information it can impart to us. 


What information will I find in an intentions book

The DOC intentions book is jammed full of valuable information for the novice and experienced tramper alike and it is well worth taking time to read the first ten pages of the book the next time you are at a hut.

The hut intentions book on a table in Rod Donald Hut, Banks Peninsula

I thought it might be useful to break the information down and look at the contents in the front of the book on a page by page basis. Let us take a typical hut intentions book say from Mangetepopo Hut in Tongariro National Park and look at that information....


Hut intentions book: front page and hut details...Mangatepopo Hut

Headings covered in the front of a DOC intentions book

Each of the pages has a different heading, the first heading is.....


Hut Users Guide

These are general recommendations on proper behavior and good etiquette in and around back country huts. This includes making space for newcomers, not taking more space than required, not moving another trampers gear, conserving firewood, cleaning huts before you go etc. etc.

Huts are a communal space & tramping is a communal activity but modern society is anything but communal. The modern world is programmed for self gratification so people can often be selfish and have little thought or sympathy for those around them.

Tramping involves an awful lot of communal living....

Most of this should not need explanation to any tramper but as I have seen recently people need to be educated. This stuff is second nature to people who have spent time in the military or emergency services if they come from a big family or have attended a boarding school or halls of residence.

I personally feel the old trampers ethos of mutually supportive self sufficiency is eroding....trampers, hunters and climbers used to get along well in the confines of a hut. I see increasing tension and more selfish behavior... I think it is directly related to the growing numbers using the back-country hut system.

More crowded conditions = more aggro = less enjoyable tramping!


Hut intentions book: the hut users code....


The basic tenet for happy hut life should always be...show kindness and consideration to those around you...



What to do in an emergency:

This page contains some basic information about immediate actions you should consider in the event of an emergency. There is a list of emergency service phone numbers, advice on activating a PLB and the information you need to provide to SAR/DOC/Police if you manage to contact them and can pas this information on.



Hut intentions book: Emergency information
This stuff is vital and is probably some of the most important information provided in the intentions book...


Don't get sick/Look after the environment(Leave no trace):

This is general health and hygiene information for outdoor enthusiasts...not everyone knows how to keep themselves healthy in a communal outdoor situation. We are having increasing problems with gastrointestinal viruses at huts...Norovirus and Salmonella are two of the worst. A few key points;

  • wash your hands regularly and thoroughly
  • keep human waste out of the water table
  • use outside sinks for washing/cleaning your teeth. 
  • Indoor sinks for food preparation, dish washing only
  • treat drinking water if recommended or required
  • if you get sick take steps to minimise the spread of germs
  • inform the authorities if there is a widespread outbreak of sickness

Hut intentions book: LNT Leave No Trace information

When they talk about looking after the environment they are talking about Leave No Trace (LNT) principles. The seven LNT principles are intended to minimise your impact on the outdoor environment...they are;

  • Plan ahead and prepare
  • Travel and camp on durable surfaces
  • Dispose of waste properly
  • Leave what you find
  • Minimise the effects of fire
  • Respect wildlife and farm animals
  • Be considerate of others

You should always try to minimise your environmental impact...remember....take only photos, leave only footprints!





General Survival Information

There are a couple of pages of general survival information that can help to keep you safe when you are out exploring the outdoors. The first two are about hypothermia and navigation. 

Hypothermia is one of the most dangerous health concerns when tramping...it is an over cooling of the body's core temperature which can lead to lethargy, irrational thought patterns, physical collapse and ultimately death. It is not as prevalent as it used to be due to advances in tramping clothing BUT there are still several deaths a year from hypothermia.


Hypothermia is a silent killer here in New Zealand...

It can happen to anyone..I have personally had very mild hypothermia a couple of times over the years...you often don't realise you have hypothermia when it is happening to you. This is because one of the symptoms is dis-associative behavior i.e. you are acting out of character but do not realise you are.


Cold, wet and windy conditions contribute to hypothermia...
On my recent tramp on the Routeburn track last December we had several people in the mid stages of hypothermia at Howdon Hut. It was perfect weather for it...cold, windy, heavy rain and people woefully ill prepared to be out in those conditions. Luckily some of us old timer trampers recognised the symptoms and took action to assist the people affected. I actually had my PLB out at one stage as one woman was looking really unwell but she recovered with warm clothes, some food and a couple of hours of rest.

Awful weather on the Routeburn Track in December 2019...

You need to know the signs of hypothermia and how to deal with it effectively both for your sake and for those around you.  The hut book is a good start but read some general tramping manuals, books on outdoor medicine, look for authoritative online information and keep yourself and your tramping buddies safe.  



Hut intentions book: survival information

The information about navigation is not so much how to as how to avoid making navigation errors. Basically it is important to always be in the here and now i.e keep your mind on the task at hand...stay together if in a group, regroup on a regular basis, think before you act, consider the results of your actions and do not let outside distractions lead you from the righteous path...hallelujah brothers and sisters!

Stay together when tramping in a group......

The second two topics are about weather and river crossings....if you are new to this country be aware that we can have warm sunny conditions in the morning and be in the middle of a raging beast of a storm by 12 noon! We have a oceanic environment so our weather is unpredictable, fickle and changes in a heartbeat. Keep up to date with weather forecasts, know how to identify different weather conditions and be prepared for all eventualities with good clothing and appropriate outdoor skills.


Hut intentions book: outdoor safety information
River crossing is a vital skill in New Zealand as we are surrounded by potentially dangerous lakes, rivers and the oceans. So many people drowned in colonial times that it was known as the "New Zealand Death" !!! Even now with our modern gear and vastly better water skills people are  constantly dying crossing waterways...point of illustration...six people have already drowned in tramping accidents since January 2020.

Stop, look, think...is this river safe to cross!!!!

The information in the intentions book is a very condensed version...the best thing you can do is to take an approved river crossing course with experienced instructors. You also gain experience as you tramp...I have been tramping for more than 20 years and I am still learning new river crossing skills all the time.
Key points here are:


  • Always scout possible river crossing points before entering the water
  • Ensure that your exit from the opposite side of the river will be smooth and safe
  • Never cross a river solo if you can cross as part of a group.
  • If you must cross solo use a stout branch as a crossing aid
  • Do not cross a river if it is flowing faster than walking pace, is discolored or you can hear debris rolling along the bottom 
  • Do not cross a flooded river.


Never cross a fast flowing, discolored and swollen river...

If there is any doubt around crossing a river DONT...find a better crossing place or wait for better conditions.

Always ask...do I need to cross that river???


What goes wrong/Prevent accidents occurring


A good way to enhance your safety outdoors is to cultivate an interest in the stories of those who have come to grief. You often find that outdoor accidents are repetitive...they happen in the same location or the injury has happened to many different people. If you learn about the way other trampers have injured themselves you can adjust your own behaviour to avoid the same result.


Hut intentions book: consider outdoor accident information
Good sources of information about outdoor accidents abound...the Mountain Safety Council or  MSC publish regular reports on the accidents that occur in the New Zealand outdoors. You can also find discussions about outdoor accidents in the FMC journal Backcountry as they have a regular column on this topic called Backcountry Accidents.

An excellent book about this subject is High Misadventures: New Zealand mountaineering tragedies and survival stories by Paul Hersey.


Backcountry has a regular column about outdoor accidents...

I just did a quick search of our library catalogue and we have over 20 books on the subject...other libraries will have similar numbers. 


The outdoor safety code

The outdoor safety code is a New Zealand specific list of steps you should take before undertaking any trip to the back-country. Following these steps can help to keep you safe, healthy and happy while tramping.

The 5 key points are:

  • Plan your trip
  • Tell someone your plans
  • Be aware of the weather
  • Know your limits
  • Take sufficient supplies

Follow these steps every time you go out tramping to help get you home safe....

Hut intentions book: the outdoor safety code
Hut intentions book: how to make it home.....


Lastly there is a list of important emergency numbers on the inside cover of every hut book...if you have cell reception use these numbers to contact DOC/SAR/Police. 


Hut intentions book: useful phone numbers/email addresses

Note: If you arrive at a hut and find the intentions book is full please let the closest DOC office know so they can replace them. I often stop at local DOC offices and ask if they need one taken to a hut on my intended route. They appreciate the help....

Why it is important to fill in your personal details

The actual purpose of the intentions book is as a guide to SAR/DOC if you become lost and to gather generalized information about who is staying in that particular hut. It has never and will never be used to try to track down people who have not paid their hut fees. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by filling out the intentions book...


Hut intentions book on table in Rod Donald Hut, Banks Peninsula

DOC use the information in the hut book to parcel out funding for such things as track maintenance, hut maintenance and replacement of old facilities. More entries (i.e: more people visiting the hut...) means more dirty lucre for that location. If you do not sign the book DOC (as a government department is apt to do) just assume that nobody is using the hut. 

No usage statistics = no money....it is as simple as that!!!!


Hut intentions book: in depth details of individuals/parties

The other main use for the hut intentions book is as an aid to Search and Rescue operations for lost trampers. If you go missing in the hills or forests the very first place SAR will go to look for information about you is in the intentions books. If they know for instance that you were at Upper Travers Hut one night but did not turn up to West Sabine the next it immediately narrows the radius of any search efforts.


Hut intentions books are the first place DOC/Police/SAR look when you go missing...

You should become religious in filling out the intentions book...after grabbing a bunk and putting on a brew it is the next considered action I take every time I arrive at a hut. Make sure you clearly note your intended route as well as any alternate routes you might be using. Try to encourage other hut users to also fill in their intentions but obviously don't pressure them to do so. 

The hut book as an expression of being...

I have seen a variety of different things in hut books but other than track information the main things you see are art works and non tramping related writing. People often get bored in huts once the meal has been consumed and the card game or book doesn't entice as once it might have.

Resting on my bunk in Magdalen Hut...bit of light reading...brew to hand...nice!!!

Many people have artistic talents and when you are sitting bored in a hut on a zero day it always seems like you are looking for something to do...hey I know lets draw in the hut book. The quality ranges from poor to excellent..the example below is a very nicely drawn picture of a Weta from the hut book in Magdalen Hut. This is typical of the genre...rivers, mountain vistas, flora and fauna are all well represented.

Little stick men with huge appendages and stick women with massive chestal shelves also put in a regular appearance...


Hut intentions book: artwork on the front cover of a book

Closer detail of artwork in a hut intentions book
I have often seen poetry, ditty's, haiku's, philosophical ramblings and deep inner thoughts expressed in intentions books. Usually they are thoughtful and considered but sometimes they can get a bit ribald. So long as you don't go too far.....try to limit the swearing thanks. Don't rant about 1080 either!!!! Remember kids stay in huts and they can read your nasty, smutty comments just as well as an adult...

If you are walking along a section of the Te Araroa Trail you will often see communications between various trekkers telling each other where they intend to go, where to meet up, good or bad track conditions and if they are doing o.k. It makes for some interesting reading....especially the colorful nicknames.


Hut intentions book: an ongoing (slightly sleazy) conversation in a book..

What about Jon...does he add his own personal contribution to hut books?

By gawd yes he says...this is my usual witty entry...

I went to say goodnight to Pwarse the fish, 
I said '...Goodnight Pwarse..."

If you ever see this in a hut book then you know I have visited at some stage.....I cannot claim authorship of this ditty, one of my school mates made it up for our end of year journal back in 1985.....I just like it.

I have also been known to quote from the Anonymous riff on West Coast rain...


Anonymous poem about New Zealand rain...

I look forward to reading your intentions book entries in the future...

Tuesday 10 September 2019

Listening to music while tramping

 Do you listen to music when you are out tramping? 


I have been asked this question before and in my case the answer is yes....I like to listen to music when I am walking as I find it increases my enjoyment and makes me cover distance quicker. 


Music makes the gravel bash up the Waimakiriri River Valley bearable...


There are caveats though; I do not listen to music when I am walking through a bird filled forest, alongside a lake or river or when I am looking at a beautiful vista. I would never spoil another persons enjoyment of the outdoors by blaring music out as I walk or in a hut unless they asked.


"...Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The Boulevard is not that bad
Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows the tune she hums..."

If I'm playing music I do so through headphones....old school, Walkman style headphones with the foam pads over the ear piece.


Out walking on the Summit Walkway in 2016

I don't mind listening to music in huts...its quite nice to lay on your bunk and zone the rest of the people out with music. If I could find a super light weight blue tooth speaker I would take one as I have been in huts when people have one and it can make for a nice ambiance. I just don't want to carry the extra weight....


"...Way down the lane away, living for another day
The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze
Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle
My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze..."

Using music to burn the miles...


I would normally only listen to music when I'm walking if I was doing a long, boring road walk or gravel bash up some braided river. In both these cases the walking is relatively easy and concentration is not required. 

Out waking around the Travis Wetlands in 2017



"...Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of waterline, nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realised why twice you ran away..."


Music is also an integral part of my fitness walking, wither it is up the beach, along the Port Hills or just around town music makes the distance fade. 



Fitness walking out by the Travis Wetlands

I would never wear headphones or listen to music if I was in a hazard zone as you need all your faculties to stay save in those situations. Take an avalanche zone...you are going to hear it before you see it so if your hearing is impaired your going to be toast....!!!

What gear do I use....


I was a denizen of the 80-90's so I still use a MP3 player...for you youngster out there an MP3 player is a small electronic device with digital music stored on it. I know you can use your phone for music storage but I still prefer the small size and light weight of a late model MP3.

My MP3 player is similar to this Sony product

I currently have six MP3 players from Sony, Apple and other generic brands but the one I use most often is a Sony Digital Walkman. It is about 5cms long by 2 cms wide, holds 16GB of data and weights about 50gms.


"...Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake..."


With a full charge it will last for about 4 hours constant play and can be recharged with a power bank.  This beast will hold about 40 albums or roughly 400 songs which is way more music than battery life.


Sony MP3 player....easy controls, good memory, long battery life...


I pair this with a set of $15 dollar headphones from the Warehouse or JB Hifi, not ear buds as I find them incredibly uncomfortable to wear.



Old style Sony Walkman over ear headphones

This type of headphone is becoming difficult to find now so I guess I will be looking for an alternate soon...


"..And if we should die tonight
Then we should all die together
Raise a glass of wine for the last time
Calling out for the rope
Prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn on and on the mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky..."

Good tramping tunes....

What music do I like...1960's music through to now really,... a bit of classic 60-70's rock/folk, punk and post punk, anything from the 1980's,  90's grunge and clubbing music, modern jazz styles (cool, acid, trip, crossover and fusion), some rap and hip-hop....an eclectic mixture.


One of my favorite albums: Icehouse,  Sidewalk, 1984...its a long story...


"..Well I wonder some times as I look at you
Was it so very long ago
There were times
There were so many times....
Holding on 
And it comes only 
Once in your life..."


I like whole albums as originally arranged over singles...hey the artist placed the songs in that order on an album for a reason.  Also just listening to the hit singles deprives you of all those good songs that don't make it into the charts. Single sales are one of the things wrong with modern music...but I digress!

More Waimakiriri gravel bashing......flat, hot and never ending

Artists....?

I'm a old dude so people who were around when I was in my teens, twenties and thirties....and others I have enjoyed since.

Miles Davis, Chet Baker, George Benson, Crosby Stills and Nash, Beatles/Stones, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Smiths/Cure/Cult ( yeah I know....), Split Enz/Tim Finn/Crowded House, U2, Police/Sting, Icehouse, Dire Straits, Wham/George Micheal, Elton John (I like those old Bernie Taupin songs...),





I also like any Kiwi band, Ultravox/Visage/Midge Ure, Peter Gabriel/Genesis/Mike and the Mechanics/Phil Collins (all much maligned) any new romantic 1980's band....1990-2000's bands like Level 42, Foo Fighters, Chilli Peppers, REM,  Paramore, Eminen, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, ... a bit of Gary Moore, Queen, Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd.....Metallica, AC-DC..more modern stuff like Six-60, Sons of Zion, Halsey, Ed Sheeran, Khalid and I like some of Post Malones songs...

On the Christchurch 360 Trail listening to some tunes...

Name these song....

"Oh mother, I can feel...
the soil falling over my head...
and as I climb into an empty bed...
Oh well, enough said.."

How about this...

"So over the mountains and over the plains
into the Muskeg and into the rain
Up the St Lawrence all the way to Gaspe
Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay
Drivin' 'em in and tyin' 'em down
Away to the bunkhouse and into the town
A dollar a day and a place for my head
A drink to the livin' and a toast to the dead...."

Genesis, Invisible Touch, 1986...a stonking good album


If you know any of these lyrics then we probably like the same kind of music...


"...You're hiding from me now
There's something in the way that you're talking
Words don't sound right
But I hear them all moving inside you
Go, I'll be waiting when you call..."



On the beach between North Beach and Spencer Park, Canterbury
And of course my favorite song I first remember hearing when I was about 6-7 years old...Wildfire by Micheal Murphy:

"...By the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl outside my window now 
'Bout six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go..."


Party on dudes......chur!!!!