Peel Range Roaming

The weather was perfect so Brendan took Friday afternoon off work and we drove up the Cobb Valley. A short 15 minute walk brought us to our accommodation for the night: the cosy 4-bunk Myttons Hut. This wee hut, discarded by DOC in 1994 and now maintained by Friends of Mytton Hut, turned out to be one of our favourite huts we have ever stayed at. A couple of beech trees which had been felled beside the hut provided ample firewood.

Saturday was blue skies and hardly a puff of wind. An easy hour up the track to Peel Ridge then we turned right and continued up the ridge to Mt Peel, which turned out to be easier than it looked. Munching our sandwiches on the summit we decided to make the most of the amazing weather and continue exploring Peel Ridge (the opportunity was too ap-peel-ing to pass up). Dropping off the back of Mt Peel what looked like a nice runnable 150m high scree slope turned out to be semi-frozen and required care to negotiate. We carried on 3.5km northwest along the tops hoping we might be able to drop down into the Cobb near Chaffeys Hut. It was incredible gazing out over Kahurangi and seeing ridge after ridge in the distance. Too much country to explore! Just past Mt Mytton the ridge got pretty gnarly so it would have taken a lot of time and effort to get any further (although it looked possible) so we opted to save the route for a future adventure.

Instead we turned around and headed back to Balloon Hut, which had been our original destination for the night. To our dismay this meant retracing our steps back up the 150m scree slope to Mt Peel, which by this time had thawed out. From Mt Peel it was an easy amble along the ridge southeast of Lake Peel to pick up the track to Balloon Hut. We had successfully managed to make the most of being out on the tops in such glorious weather, extending a 8.5km 3 hour trip into a solid 17+km over 7 hours.

The stars were brilliant when we went to bed but by morning the hut was in the cloud, and we woke up to a dusting of snow falling and a strong icy southeasterly wind. It was a cold, windy walk back past Lake Peel, where we had an obligatory stop to attempt to break the skin of ice. Despite heaving the biggest rocks he could find Brendan only managed to crack the ice at the very outlet of the lake, which proved to be over an inch thick!

As we descended through the beech forest to the Cobb Valley the bellbird song gradually increased until the air was filled with golden notes, reaching a crescendo five minutes above Myttons Hut. I don't think I've ever heard such a chorus in the middle of the day on mainland New Zealand! That is yet one more reason why Kahurangi is my favourite national park.

Beeby's Hut

An 800m climb sounds daunting for a Saturday afternoon, but spread over 8km the walk up to Beeby's Hut was actually relatively gentle (relative to other tracks in the Richmond Ranges anyway). Meandering its way up through open beech forest Beeby's track is interesting both underfoot and around about, with road noise and farm sounds quickly dying away into the distance. Rich earthy-smelling brown humus, black honeydew-covered beech trunks, vibrant green leaves, melodic bellbirds; a soothing feast for the senses.

Intriguingly we came across a white post and a newly formed track marked with orange flagging tape leading off into the bush at 900m. Curiosity got the better of me so we dropped packs and followed the trail for 300m to investigate. From this junction up to the 4WD track there was fresh trail work and flagged deviations leading me to deduce (correctly) that a new mountain bike trail was being put in. There was one steep pinch two-thirds of the way up, gaining 100m altitude in about 300m, but after that it was a lovely gentle stroll through stunted, mossy beech.

Emerging onto the 4WD track the temperature plummeted as we were hit by the icy southwesterly wind. Wooly hats and extra jerseys were hurriedly donned before we briskly strode along the road, glad that the sun was shining. Turning around we were treated to panoramic views of Lake Rotoiti and the snow-capped peaks of Nelson Lakes; Mt Owen and Mt Arthur dominated the skyline to the west, while eastward lay the Red Hills and a cheeky glimpse of the Inland Kaikoura Range. The 3km of 4WD track to Beeby's Hut was pleasant enough despite the biting wind and the views were definitely well worth the walk. In terms of the Effort-to-Interest-to-Views ratio this track would have to rate pretty highly!

Beeby's Hut is a standard six bunk Forest Service hut but was recently refurbished so is nice and light inside. There are no views from the hut itself as it is tucked into the bush edge but it is only a minute up to the ridge. One little gripe is that the fireplace is extraordinarily smokey and unless both windows were open the hut filled up with smoke. At one point Brendan got smoked out from his perch on the top bunk, making a dash for the door with watering eyes.

It turned out to be "Local's Night" at Beeby's Hut. A few minutes after we arrived a group of four turned up, two of whom happened to live the next street over from us! They proved to be excellent company for the night. At 7:30pm a father and son turned up, and it turned out they they were also from Nelson. Despite having 8 people in a 6 bunk hut it wasn't crowded or chaotic at all. Merely pleasantly and courteously cosy.

One benefit of winter tramping is that you get to sleep in and yet still watch the sunrise. After a good sleep and surprisingly quiet night considering there were 8 potential snorers in the 6 bunk hut Brendan and I wandered up the hill to watch the dawn colour fade from the sky and the first rays of sunlight strike the mountains. First Mt Owen was lit up then Mount Arthur, soon followed by the Raglan Range. At 8:05am the sun peeped over the Red Hills. The breeze was still cool but had swung around to the east and was not quite so bitter as the day before. We were reluctant to leave this magnificent spot, but after a lazy breakfast of milo/coffee and half of a Chelsea bun each it was a quick stroll down to the car and out to Wakefield for a pie.

Death Valley

No, not THAT Death Valley.

Halfway along Wakatipu's Humboldt Mountains, Death Valley is a hanging valley which feeds into the head of Kay Creek. Previously I'd been up the track from the Caples Valley as far as Kay Creek Hut and had also explored up Scott Creek from the Routeburn Road as far as Scott Basin. But I hadn't connected the two. Now was the time to make the missing link.

Lydia above Scott Basin

Saddling up on the Routeburn Road I was unpleasantly surprised by the weight of my pack. Scott Creek Track has no gentle warm up; it is straight into one of the steepest parts of the track. We were spoiled by having our VIP (Very Impressive Porter) lug my pack the first 2.5 hours up to the bushline while Lydia & I had the luxury of taking turns with her pack.

The upper Scott was nice travel and pleasant going with a gentle breeze counteracting the blazing sun. Plans had been left rather open. but on reaching the saddle we decided to turn eastward, popping over the pass below Pt1960 to camp by Death Lake. It's not officially named that on maps, but being the only lake at the head of Death Valley it seems an apt moniker. The pass appeared dauntingly steep from a distance but lines of weakness in the ramparts became obvious as we approached. Still, it was plenty steep enough to lug overburdened packs up.

The pass into Death Valley.
We angled up left from the left hand end of the snow.

Picking our way down the loose rock (not quite loose enough to be scree) on the other side we were startled to hear voices. A couple was ascending and commented on the state of the track and how it was impossible to follow. "Hang on a minute" I thought, "There is no track up Death Valley." I'm not quite sure what they were expecting but they seemed a little out of their depth. In next to no time we had a serene camp set up on the shores of Death Lake and I dived into its sun-warmed waters.

Camp at Death Lake

Walking down Death Valley in the early morning was fun, albeit slow. We crisscrossed the stream a couple of times in search of greener shorter grass on the other side but managed to keep dry feet. On reaching the scrubline, the "strong animal trails" promised by Moirs Guide soon petered out into a vague nothingness but it didn't take too long to crash down to the trees, and from there it was easy down to Kay Creek Hut. Originally a musterers' hut, Kay Creek Hut was overhauled in 2016 by students from Otago University's Phys Ed department. Their humour is evident in the stone steps labeled "Stairway to Heaven"... leading to the long drop!

Looking up Death Valley from the scrubline

Having abandoned my original ambitious idea of pushing all the way through to Steele Creek we opted instead to relax at Kay Creek Hut for a few hours, knowing that we only had to drop down into the Caples Valley. Back in familiar territory I enjoyed Kay Creek and was unable to resist one alluring swimming hole we passed on the track. Arriving at Upper Caples Hut just before 5pm we lounged around for an hour in the hope of a rendezvous with my Dad, who coincidentally was planning to stay there that night. Without a key we were outside at the mercy of the sandflies so when 6pm rolled around and there was still no sign of Dad it was time to plod another 2 hours down the valley to Mid Caples Hut where we could be sure of a bed and a sandfly-free shelter. (we discovered later that Dad had also changed plans and didn't make it to Upper Caples).

Kay Creek

Feeling sticky from sweat, sunblock and insect repellent, I decided that a 9:30pm swim would be just the ticket - and it was! I didn't realise how tired I was until I lay down in bed and didn't so much as roll over for two hours.The forecast heavy rain never materialised overnight but nevertheless we were in no rush to get anywhere and spent the entire day sleeping and relaxing in the sunshine at Mid Caples Hut.

Caples Valley

The glorious swimming hole at Mid Caples