Mullins Basin Hut
(Mullins Basin Hut looking up onto the Diedrich Range: Photo Richard Wesley 2005)
Maintenance Status
Mullins Hut is designated as minimal maintenance. The
access track to Mullins basin from the Toaroha valley is no longer officially maintained,
but volunteers have been keeping it trimmed and marked for the last decade.
The most recent maintenance was in July 2010 and it is currently in
good order.
Location
Toaroha catchment. Grid Ref: E1447042/ N5237920. Map BV19. Altitude 870m. Mullins Hut
is located in the montane zone at the top end of a large tussock flat in Mullins basin.
Sub-alpine forest cloaks the hillsides surrounding the flat and there are views out over to
the Toaroha Range.
Mullins Creek drops from the basin into the Toaroha River over a spectacular
waterfall. The basin is a small patch of paradise, infrequently visited
despite being accessible in a day from the
Toaroha roadend. A small population of whio has made its home in the
deep crystal clear pools and rapids of the Creek, great for a dip on a hot day.
For the more adventurous Mullins basin can be accessed
and exited from several directions over the Diedrich
Range tops.
The Mullins hutbook is an interesting read going back 30 years in just a few pages.
Vistits have gone from 2-3 per year to around six since the Hut was profiled on this site and the trackwork done.
Access
Access to Mullins Hut from Toaroha valley is from the Top Toaroha track, an
hour or so up from Cedar Flat. The turnoff is just downstream from the Mullins confluence and a ford of the Toaroha
is required, usually straightforward at normal flows.
It has been possible on occasions to jump the large boulders without
getting wet feet.
The Mullins track starts 20 metres up on the TR of a small side
creek directly across the River from turn-off sign (around E1447482/ 5239373N).
The track ascends a steep, narrow ridge to
around the 700m contour, then sidles South across the bush faces above the Toaroha
for 20 minutes. The trail enters a dry stoney creek bed, and exits
20m further up it on its TR. A short steep climb follows onto a narrow, gently sloping ridge with
pink pine and leatherwood forest.
The track sidles off the ridge further along into
a small creek catchment and up the creek itself for a bit. It exits the creek on the TR and winds up
through scattered pink
pine and sub-alpine scrub onto a knoll that looks out over the main basin.
The Hut is visible from this point and is a straightforward 20 minute
stroll up the river flats to it.
Allow around three hours to Mullins Hut from Cedar Flat, or 6-7 hours from the Toaroha roadend.
Type
Mullins is a standard NZFS 4-bunk design with open fire built in the mid 1960's. The fireplace was
removed in the early 70's. The Hut is unlined and there is
no toilet. Water is from the Creek 20 metres away.
Condition
In 2004 DOC repainted and resealed the exterior of Mullins Hut and replaced some of the framing and piles.
It is in reasonable shape currently, although the floor is a tad unlevel in places. The floorboards and
studs around the door are starting to rot from water getting in at the bottom.
A makeshift flashing was nailed on in 2007 to try and keep some of the water out.
There is a roof leak somewhere also, and a patch of rot where one of the roof studs meets the rafter.
Alan Jemison says the Hut didn't leak during rain when he was there in 2007.
Volunteers sealed under the door and northern window in 2008.
Routes
There is a great tops route
to Mullins over Squall Peak and the Diedrich Range from Cedar Flat.
The track up to Squall Peak has been recut by volunteers and is in reasonable shape
currently. Its entrance is cairned and permolatted on the TL of Percy Creek,
20m above where it enters the Toaroha. The first section of track
through the rata belt is reasonably open, but steep
in places. Above this in the montane zone, patches of flax and cutty grass
crowd the trail, and need a trim and more marking. In the alpine scrub zone
there is a small dip
and a wallow hole on the lee of a prominent knob.
The track cuts North across the face of the spur from here through a
grove of leatherwood, before resuming an upward trajectory. It passes through
a band scattered alpine scrub around the 1100m mark, continuing up through
the tussock to a rock outcrop at 1200m. There is a large
tarn with good campsites on the South side of the ridge at 1240m.
From Squall Peak,
the main Jumbletop
peak is easily traversable, but the second, a small peak (E1445735/
N5240927) has a steep, exposed crumbling rock section on its northern side.
This can be traversed with care, or bypassed on its western side down a steep scree and back
up an adjoining scree to the crest of the Range.
This detour takes around 20 minutes and doesn't lose too much altitude.
From here it is a scramble over points 1612m and 1610m to a flat area
just before the ridges starts a gentle climb to Mt. O'Connor
There is a rock cairn and an iron stake
just below the crest here and nearby, the flattened remains of the
old Jumbletop Biv. This is the drop-off point
to Mullins basin.
Head in a SE direction
down the broad face which is dissected by small streams and deep slots.
The best entry point into the basin is a sloping
bench between two small creeks with waterfalls around E1446865/ N5237960.
The alpine scrub band here is narrow and less dense,
and the route through it was cruise-taped
in 2008. Allow a full day for the traverse from Cedar Flat. The reverse trip can be done in
slightly less time.
The route to
Gerhardt Spur Biv from Mullins is the same as the Cedar Flat route
as far as the crest of the Diedrich Range. Drop from the col between points 1612 and 1610m
down the TL upper fork of Diedrich Creek to its junction with the TR fork (E1445315/ N5240267).
The top of this route is steep with
crumbling rock, and care needs to be taken. From the Creek forks climb the steep tussock faces
up onto Gerhart Spur. The Biv is visible from the drop-off point in fine conditions.
Allow around four hours to reach Gerhardt from Mullins.
The upper TL branch of Mullins Creek can be
followed as far as a waterfall around E1446515/ N5237253.
From here it is possible to access the Mt. O'Connor tops via
a small side creek coming in on the TL at the foot of the fall. Climb to
an altitude of around 1600m on the SE ridge of the low peak O'Connor. There is
an easy sidle at this level across the basin under the middle and high peaks. A
conspicuous bench can be followed over to the low point between
Mt. O'Connor and spot height 1718m.
It is possible to
drop down to Serpentine Hut
in the Hokitika from the crest of the Range around E1445682/ N5236537.
The faces are very steep initially, but provide access to the ridge
that leads down towards the Hut. There used to be an old NZFS tops track
down the ridge and this had an NZFS survey line superimposed on it in the mid 1980's. Unfortunately,
there is virtually nothing remaining of either, aside from the odd bit of permolat. It's a
real grovel
getting down this way.
An alternative, possibly easier, but longer route to Serpentine is over the top of
O'Connor and down Serpentine Creek.
There are good campsites in the upper basin
of Serpentine Creek. Travel down the Creek
is rough with some
waterfalls which need sidling around through steep bush.
From Serpentine Creek
up to the Hut it is mostly boulderhopping with one small detour up into the bush
get around a small gorge. If the river is low you can drop straight back down to the
River after the gorge and wade a short distance to get back onto the good boulderhopping.
To access
the upper TR basin of Mullins Creek, head upstream from the Hut
100m past the fork with the TL branch, until just
before the start of the gorge.
There is a rock cairn and cruise tape here at small stream coming in on the TR. The
route up the stream is cruised-taped. Take the TR fork midway up and
continue upstream to where the route
emerges in the tussock in the upper basin (around
E1447205/ N5237440). The entrance here is marked with cruise tape and permolat.
There are a number of routes from this point
up onto the northern slopes of Mt. Ross.
Access to spot height 1520m on the northern spur of Mt. Ross
can be gained through scattered scrub and tussock.
Frisco Hut in the Hokitika
can be accessed by traversing Mt. Ross and dropping down the broad SE face
towards the Mungo. From the edge of a bench around the 1500m contour
(E1447065/ N5234895) an open rocky gut provides easy access down into the
Darby Creek basin.
Head up Darby Creek and climb on the TR and up a steep ridge onto spot height
1510m. Drop down the SW spur of this peak to a tussock
bench with tarns just above the scrubline (E1446195/ N5234400).
Head down to the SW end of this bench. Cruise tape and the odd bit of permolat
lead from here through scattered alpine in a SW direction
to the top of the alpine scrub faces above the Hut. The toilet and part of its roof
are visible from here. The cruise tape leads down into
a small steep gut. This opens out further down, passes through scattered Olearia,
down through a dry regenerating gut, eventually intersecting
the old Frisco trackline on a regenerating slip face 50m East of the Hut.
Some trimming work
has been done in odd places on the route down. Make sure you don't overshoot the track
and end up down in the
Hokitika. Allow 4-5 hours for the crossing.
It is also possble to cross directly into the Darby Creek basin via the obvious
Saddle at the head of the upper Mullins basin. Access to the upper basin is the same as for the Mt. Ross
route. The faces on the Darby Creek
side of the saddle aare steep and eroding with vertical sections not visible from above. Care needs to be taken
here picking your route down.
Once in Darby Creek, cross and climb up to the top of the ridge on the TR of the basin and follow this down to
spot height 1510m. The route from here down to the Hut is the same as the Mt. Ross route.
To get to Top Toaroha Hut from Mullins climb from the top basin
onto the Northern spur of Mt. Ross. There is a flat
bench at around 1460m from where it is possible to drop down into
the large creek draining the East faces of Ross. It is steep initially.
Further down it is a steep rock staircase with a few small
waterfalls further down that aren't too difficult to negotiate.
There is an excellent two-tier rock bivvy on the TL of this creek 100m upstream from where
it crosses the Top Toaroha
track. The remains of the old Top Toaraoha Hut can be found in olearia scrub just below the
rock biv.
To get to Toaroha Saddle Biv from Mullins, head straight up over
the top of Mt. Ross and down the Crest of the
Diedrich Range to the Saddle. This is a very enjoyable
and relatively easy traverse in good conditions.
Repairs needed
The roof leak still needs investigating, and sealing if required. A toilet is needed
for this site. Reasonable quantities
of driftwood in the Creek make installation of a
small wood burner quite viable also.
Provisions on Site
A billy, a small camp oven, a slasher,
two can openers, an egg beater, a shovel, a broom, an aluminium bucket, an aluminium basin,
a dust pan and brush,
and a spare slasher handle.
Under the Hut there are three large tanalised posts, two sheets of corrugated iron,
one sheet of flat iron,
and the odd short bit of 4x2.
