⛰️#19 - Hut Books, Vandals, Slips, Quality Interviews, & More

And we are back with the 19th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday Friday for the next two weeks.

I'll let you know what’s going on in the hiking scene in New Zealand, along with other related bits and pieces I find interesting.

Alright, let’s get into it.

✍️ To Or Not To Sign The Hut Book?

That’s not a trick question, always sign the hut book. If people had, they would have made life much easier for the Alpine Team Canterbury recently.

They were on a callout and when they couldn’t determine which party they were looking for, they landed the chopper at Barker Hut. They met a hiker at the hut who was able to tell them there were three parties of two and a solo party in the hut the night before. But none of the four parties had signed the hut book 😕 Fortunately there was a good outcome, but things could have been figured out a lot quicker if the hut book had been filled out with intentions.

Whenever you visit a hut, sign the book regardless of your length of stay. The data helps give DOC and other related ventures better data about how much the huts, tracks, and facilities are used year-round. It’s also interesting to read other entries from previous people. And if shit does help the fan it can help you be found faster if there are issues in locating you.

😹 Hiking Funny

(Click through for the video…my pack/vest collection is starting to lean towards this 😕 )

wanderingrainbow

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🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

• Two pou whenua were vandalised along the Abel Tasman Track. It appears one was attacked with a hammer, and the other had paint splashed over it. WHY HUMANS WHY :( Hopefully the culprits are found and held accountable (source)

• It’s that time of year when accidental fires can quickly get out of control (see the Cragie, in addition to those starting when nature natures. Give this a read if you’re going to light a fire at some point over the simmer. Checkitsalright.nz is also a great resource to learn if you can light a fire somewhere or not. Having played around with the site, it goes good.

• The Old Ghost Road has had a slip close the full loop. It’s located between Lyell Camground and Lyell Saddle Hut. You can still stay at Lyell Saddle Hut during the closure, you’ll just have to head the way you came as the slip is large and unpassable. Things should be back up and running on Jan 10th…but keep an eye on the Old Ghost Road website for updates.

• The Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand have been transparent about their submission (theres a link there to the PDF) on the Te Tai Poutini West Coast Conservation Management Strategy. It all seems to make sense to me as I read it…though we should probably read some of the submissions on ‘the other side’ too.

• Wilderness Magazine has been sharing some of their most popular articles of the year, with the most popular trip report being this one of the ‘Kepler of the North’ a.k.a. the Jumbo-Holdsworth Circuit in the Tararua Mountain Range near Wellington.

• Here’s a 5-minute interview with Maree Limpus from the Kauaeranga DOC Visitor Centre (Coromandel).

• If hut bagging is your thing (or aren’t even sure what it is), you’ll enjoy listening to episode 118 on the Aoteroa Adventures podcast. Abigail Hannah interviews Benjamin Piggott about his work with DOC, how he got into hut bagging (he’s been to 500+), and about some of his favourite huts and adventures. Listen on Spotify.

• It’s off topic, but this is a cool 25-minute walk about the biking scene in Alexandra. It’s well produced and has some awesome scenery that almost makes me want to go hang out in Alex for a while…I actually do want to spend more time there exploring the trails…but on foot as some of those trails looks scary…the rail trail is enough for me. The Documentary hopefully puts Alex on the map for types of bikers.

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

It was another fun week of trails for me, with the highlight being the Pisa Range Ridge Track. I’ve been on most of the trails on the Pisa Conservation Area, but have yet to do the full Pisa Range Ridge Track.

It’s really cool scenery up that there, with the ridge not what your usual ridge looks like in Otago…it’s more of a plateau with a 4WD track running along it.

Lunar-esque?

As the lad I hitched a ride back with from Bannockburn to Queenstown today said “We do live in a pretty good shithole”.

We both determined we are stoked to be lucky enough to be born in NZ and live here for the time being. Nothings’ perfect, but Otago is pretty close.

Have a great week, hike it up.

As always, email [email protected] (or message me on Whatsapp +642041702764) with anything and everything…I’m happy to chat.

Chur,

Jub

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