Wednesday 8 May 2013

Hawdon Hut: Arthurs Pass National Park: 1-2 Feb 2013

An overnight tramp up the Hawdon Valley


In early December I went for an overnight trip to Hawdon Hut at the head of the Hawdon river valley. I had been this way back in the 1980's but I've not visited since then. 


Hawdon Hut II, Arthur's Pass National Park

There is a new hut built to replace the old Lockwood version which burnt down in 2010. Some arse chucked embers under the hut and ...surprise...it caught fire!!! 


The older Lockwood style Hawdon Hut in the early 2000's

I am very impressed with this new hut, it has been moved to a much better location and is very tidy and spacious. The hut has 18 bunks but could quite easily take more than this if required lots of space on the benches anf floors for another 10 people at least. 


Map of the Hawdon Valley

Day one: Heading to Hawdon Hut from Hawdon Shelter


The tramp to Hawdon Hut starts at the Howdon Campsite at the end of  the Hawdon Valley. If you don't like wet feet then you are out of luck, because you have to cross the Hawdon River in the first five minutes. Mostly the river is ankle to knee high, but can get much higher when in flood.


Map: the Hawdon Camp site, Arthur's Pass NP

Hawdon River, near Hawdon shelter, Arthurs Pass NP

True right of Hawdon River after a successful crossing

Over Sudden Valley Stream and heading up Hawdon Valley, Arthurs Pass NP


After crossing the Hawdon river and Sudden Valley stream you look for and follow the old 4WD track leading up valley. This is by far the easiest and quickest way to travel, it goes all the way up to the East Hawdon confluence, which is the ridge line in the middle of the photo.


4 WD track heading up Hawdon Valley from near Sudden Valley Stream
The 4 W/D track was built to facilitate a study of the native bird population in the valley, this is one of those happy coincidences when trampers benefit from some other activity in the bush.

Thanks DOC!

Arthurs Pass NP: Hawdon Valley: 2 kms up valley, before East Hawdon confluence


Looking up East Branch Hawdon valley, Arthurs Pass NP

 Once over the East Hawdon, you follow along the river banks and move along short lengths of bush track, there are at least 4 required crossings of the Hawdon River, this is not a track too be attempted in heavy rain, as the river would become impassable.

Sidle track, through bush heading up valley

Track following alongside Hawdon River

 The track closely follows the river, with some areas of travel on the riverbed itself, you need to keep an open eye for the markers etc. as some of them are not very obvious.

Hawdon River Valley; 5 km point up valley from the campsite
 

The hut up this valley is new, the original burnt down in 2010 after some fool threw hot ashes under the hut. I stayed in Hawdon Hut way back in the 1990's it was one of the Lockwood designs that were so popular with the Arthurs Pass NP board. A nice hut in a good location, but the new location is so much better.

Hawdon Hut Mark I in the early 2000's


Here is Hawdon Hut II, built in 2010 to replace the old hut, it is 1 km upstream from the old hut site. It is very nice and sits in an excellent location with views of the surrounding mountains, this is a much nicer spot than the old location, so at least something good came of the fire.


Hawdon Hut Mark II, Arthurs Pass NP

Me on the veranda of Hawdon Hut
Very spacious and light within, the facilities are excellent, with bunk platforms and mattresses for 18 people. There were 12 people here on the night I stayed, they all arrived after 3pm, I had the hut to myself up to that point.

Interior of Hawdon Hut: bunkroom, cooking bench, wood burner


Interior of Hawdon Hut: the common area


Interior of Hawdon Hut: Bunk room
Lovely view from the veranda, there are lots of excellent looking camping spots on the river flats across the river.

View from veranda of Hawdon Hut, Arthurs Pass NP


Mountains at head of Hawdon valley

Sunset on the tops, from Hawdon Hut


At Hawdon Hut: a hand hewn wooden bench, cool!

Jon Moake inside Hawdon Hut, Arthur's Pass NP

Woodshed and toilets out the back of Hawdon Hut, Arthurs Pass NP

Day Two: Hawdon Hut to Hawdon Shelter


  The next morning I set off at 7am for the road head, here is one of the forest sidles you pass on the way down valley. I always start out early in the morning, it is the best time of the day to travel in my opinion.


Sidle track heading down valley towards Discovery Stream


Crossing Discovery Stream near the old Hawdon Hut site

Hawdon Valley Track, meadow next to Hawdon River

 There are a lot of good camping spots in this valley, this is about 200m from the East Hawdon, heading down valley. I will be coming back and camping in this area sometime in the future.

Hawdon Valley: a meadow, up valley from East Hawdon River

Woolshed Hill from the Hawdon Valley floor, Arthurs Pass NP

As you can see the 4 W/D track is fairly easy to see, following this track will save you about 45mins each way, so it is worth finding it.

View of the Black Range from near Sudden Valley Stream


Hawdon Valley: 4WD track looking back up valley

Back over Hawdon Stream heading for home

 I stopped at the Sheffield pie shop on the way home to get a pie, they are excellent and they have won several awards. Nothing like a pie after eating dehydrated food the previous evening!


Sheffield pie shop, yum!
The Hawdon Valley might not be the most remote area but it is beautiful nonetheless. You don't have to go to a wilderness area to enjoy solitude in New Zealand, we are very lucky in that respect.



Access: SH73 to the Mt White Road turn off, once over the Mt White bridge head left to Hawdon Shelter. From Hawdon Shelter follow the track crossing the Hawdon River and Surprise Stream, follow the 4 W/D track up valley.
Track Times: 4 hours from the Hawdon Shelter
Hut Details: Hawdon Shelter: day shelter only- no bunks, no water but does have open fireplace. There are plenty of rough camp-sites here: Hawdon Hut; serviced, 18  bunks, wood burner, water tank, wood shed.
Miscellaneous: Hawdon River, East Hawdon and Sudden Valley Stream susceptible to flooding in heavy rain, none of the rivers or side streams are bridged. Numerous required river crossings. This IS NOT a wet weather destination.

Monday 29 April 2013

Ryde Falls: Mt Oxford Forest Park: November 2012

An overnight camp at Ryde Falls, Mt Oxford Forest Park


In late November I went for an overnight tramp to Ryde Falls, in Mt Oxford Forest Park. There is not a hut near the falls, so I took my tent and pitched up in a clear space provided. It is a 2.5-3 hour trip each way, following a track through regenerating bush and scrub.

Ryde Falls, Mt Oxford Forest Park

 I started out at the car park at the end of Mountain View Road and started walking in. 

Tramping the Ryde Falls Track, Mt Oxford Forest


The area around Mt Oxford was once heavily forested, timber felling in the area decimated the native bush until only remnants remain in steep inaccessible spots. There are a network of tracks leading towards Mt Oxford, Wharefdale Hut and the Black Hill range.


DOC sign, start of the Ryde Falls Track, Coopers Creek entrance
There is quite a big car park at the beginning of the track. This photo was taken on the Sunday morning, a lot of people do the track as a day walk, I passed numerous people on both days.



Ryde Falls car park at Coopers Creek
You start on river flats and gradually ascend into exotic and native forest. The track is clear and easy to follow for its whole length, reflecting its front country location.

Ryde Falls Track: Ascending through broken scrub, Mt Oxford Forest


Mt Oxford and Coopers Creek area, Mt Oxford Forest


Looking down on Coopers Creek and the Mt Oxford Massif
The track leads to both Ryde Falls and the Wharfedale track, there is a turn off point about an hour and a half after starting out. As you can see the travelling is easy, it is well maintained and the gradient is relatively flat. I noticed a lot of mountain bike wheel tracks, this is not an official mountain bike track but that obviously doesn't stop anyone.

Descending the Ryde Falls track towards the Falls

Ryde Falls Track, travelling along the first rideline



Mt Oxford Forest: junction of Wharfedale/Ryde Falls track

The track to Ryde Falls descending to Coopers Creek



Area of old growth forest, Ryde Falls Track, Mt Oxford Forest


There was an old tramway for moving the timber out of the area, this is mostly overgrown now but there is an option to explore the area near these information panels. The Wharfedale Track turn off is close to this point, it is all down hill to Ryde Falls from this point.

Info board at site of old tramway, Coopers Creek, Mt Oxford Forest


Descending towards Ryde Falls on the Ryde Falls Track


Ryde Falls Track: just before the descent to Ryde Falls

You pop out at the bottom of the Ryde Falls Track right on Coopers Creek, a quick stream crossing and you are at the Ryde Falls camp-site. In the photo below the Falls are behind me, end of the track back to Mountain View Road is on the right.


View down Coopers Creek from the end of the Ryde Falls Track


When you reach the bottom of the valley you are surrounded by a suprisingly thick area of bush, it is really quite beautiful. There is a small amenity area with cut up logs for seats, a concrete fire pit and flat camping area next to the river. You follow this sign up a side stream to visit the Falls.

Visiting Ryde Falls from the campsite


 Ryde Falls have seven steps, the flow at the time was very low as it has been so hot and dry in Canterbury for the previous month. There is always water flowing just not a lot at certain times of he year

Next to Ryde Falls camp-site, Mt Oxford Forest

The area immediately in front of the Falls is sand fly hell, when I stopped to take these photos about a thousand of the sods attacked me at once.

Be warned, cover up before you come down to the falls.

Ryde Falls in Oxford Forest Park


View of Ryde Falls, Mt Oxford Forest
The camping area doesn't look very promising, but it was actually very nice, with the dark forest, the sound of the river/wind and a cosy fire to keep you company. There are sites for about 4 tents, a couple of small fire pits and a toilet, water is from the stream right next to the camp-site.

I had my lunch here and after the day trippers had left set up my tent, had dinner and settled down next to a fire with a brew before turning in early.

Magic!


Camp site near Ryde Falls, Mt Oxford Forest

Coopers Creek passes right in front of the camp-site, the water is potable as there are no farms, forestry or industries upstream but I would still treat it before drinking the water. There is a nice shallow pool about 50 meters downstream from the camp-site.

View upstream of Coopers Creek, this is next to the camp-site

Here I am sitting in the picnic area, it is on a river terrace about 10-20 feet up from the river. There are a lot less sand flies near the camp-site, they must all be hanging out with their buddies up near the falls. There were two other groups here when I arrived all having lunch after the trek in.


Jon at Ryde Falls camp-site, Mt Oxford Forest, Canterbury foothills



Tent set up in the small camp site at Ryde Falls, Mt Oxford Forest

My small campfire at Ryde Falls for some night ambience

There isn't a lot of firewood in the immediate area, but if you go down river there is a lot more in the forest along Coopers Creek. I managed to find enough and just snapped it over rocks so it would fit in the existing firepit.

Home via the Korimako, Wharfedale and Connector Tracks


The next day, I was up early, packed up, had breakfast and headed back out to the car park. On the way back I followed the Korimako Track up to the Wharfedale Track, there were a lot of ferns growing alongside this trail, a fire a couple of years ago cleared away the competition.

Map: The relationship between the Korimako, Link and Ryde Falls Tracks


Lots of ferns on the Korimako Track, Oxford Forest Park
 There were several more open areas where the ferns predominated.


On Korimako Track: ascending track towards Wharfedale track, Mt Oxford Forest


Korimako Track: Ascending track towards Wharfedale track, Mt Oxford Forest

When you get to the Wharfedale Track, you travel along for 10-15 minutes and then join the Link Track to get back to the Coopers Creek/Mountain Road car park.


On the Wharfedale Track heading for the Link Track to Coopers Creek


Track sign at the Wharfedale Track - Link Track junction


On the Link Track heading back to Coopers Creek, Mt Oxford Forest


I passed some examples of windfall on the track heading back to the car park. This beast was at least 2-3 times taller than me (I'm 6'3") I'm glad I wasn't in the forest when that wind storm came through. There was a whole area of windfall and all of the dead trees were the same size. 

Big Wind!!!

Massive windfallen tree, Connector Track, Coopers Creek

All in all an excellent trip, next time I will do it as a day trip as the whole trek could be done in about 5 hours with a lighter pack. 


Access: From Oxford Township follow Woodside Road, turn right into Mountain Road and drive to car park at Coopers Creek. This is a relatively safe place to park overnight as there are house right next to the carpark.
Track Times: 7 kilometer's or 2-3 hours from Coopers Creek to Ryde Falls, same return
Miscellaneous: Toilets located at Coopers Creek and Ryde Falls camp site, the camp site is rough but will hold three 2 person tents. Treat water from Coopers Creek before drinking.