Newton Creek Hut
(Newton Creek Hut: Photo Mauricio Lloreda 2006)
Maintenance Status
Newton Hut and the access track
to it are designated as fully maintain.
Location
Arahura catchment. Map BV19. Grid Ref: E1467495/
N5255620. Altitude 725m. Newton Creek Hut
is located in the montane zone
at the lower end of the Newton Creek basin. Downriver from the Hut the Creek drops steeply through a
gorge into the Arahura River.
Newton Creek is ringed by the peaks of the Campbell and Tara Tama Ranges. The Hut is on a reasonably popular
circuit linking the Arahura and
Taipo valleys and much of the through traffic is doing the Newton Saddle crossing.
Upstream from the Hut Newton Creek is rough and untracked with montane forest transitioning to alpine scrub, before
opening out to tussock in the headwaters. There is tops
access from the head of the valley to a number of other remote huts and bivs in the area.
During the 80's and 90's Newton Creek Hut received
minimal attention from DOC, but was kept
clean and well provisioned by Alan Reith, a blue duck enthusiast from Hokitika.
The Hut was stripped of its NZFS provisions and some of Allan's gear
during a DOC purge in 2004. Utensils, tools and an interesting
little hut library were flown out as some kind of ideological austerity measure intended to
encourge greater self-sufficiency in the high-country.
Access
The track form the Arahura valley up to Newton Hut was designated as full maintenance in 2004, and recut by DOC in 2009.
Ffrom Lower Arahura Hut follow the the Browning Pass bench track for around two hours,
climb/ sidling to the Newton Creek turnoff just before
Third Gorge Creek. The track
drops from the turnoff down to the River and crosses the swingbridge to the TR.
Head up the riverbed for 200m to the track entrace just
downstream of the small side creek with a conspicuous waterfall, opposite Third Gorge Creek.
The track enters the bush and climbs steeply up the faces on the TR of
the waterfall and over a low ridge into Newton Creek Basin. It is 15 minute's walk up river flats to the Hut.
Allow around three hours to get from
Lower Arahura Hut to Newton Creek Hut.
Access downriver from Mudflats Hut takes around two hours.
An old track down the TR of the Arahura River from Mudflats over the third gorge was recently
recut in a rudimentary fashion by DOC for use as a stoatline, but the main valley
track on the TL is probably more user friendly.
Access to Newton Hut
from the Taipo valley and Dunns Hut is usually via Newton
Saddle. The route from Dunns is up the TR upper branch
of Dunns Creek, tracked in the odd place, and snow-poled in the tussock zone.
It is a fairly straightforward alpine crossing with a drop of some 700m in altitude down the access creek
to Newton Hut. Entries in the hutbook show big variations in travel times
for the crossing, reflecting the fitness and experience of those doing it. Average times commensurate with
others on this site would be 5-6 hours.
Type
Newton is a basic 4-bunk NZFS design built in the 1960's to replace
an older hut built a decade or so earlier.
Newton's open fire was replaced with
a wood burner in the '70's and the Hut was lined at some point.
Water is from the Creek, and there is a toilet.
It is a damp location and there is not a great deal of dry firewood in the vicinity.
Supplies are best fossicked from dead standing trees or track offcuts.
Condition
The Hut was repainted inside and out and resealed
in 2004. There is a rat hole on the floor abutting the food cupboard
which has been blocked with a tin lid. The floor board round the hole
may be a bit rotten but the rest of the floor is reasonably sound.
The orange paint is flaking away on the iron cladding around the door.
The wood shed doesn't keep the wood completely dry and is in the process of collapsing.
Routes
Dunns Saddle is a far less attractive or practical route to
Dunns Hut and involves a bush-bash up the TR of Newton Creek and a 300m climb up
a steep rock gut to the Saddle. It is higher
than Newton Saddle with more likelihood of snow in the upper basin. There is some
avalanche danger from Tara Tama after heavy snowfalls in the upper TL branch of Dunns Creek.
The best way to have a look at Dunns Saddle from Newton Hut is via a traverse of Mt. Eidelweiss
from Newton Saddle, a easy route in good conditions. The descent from Dunns Saddle down
the TL branch of Dunns Creek to Dunns Hut is reasonably straightforward.
A number of high-level routes are
possible from Newton Hut. The Campbell Range
can be traversed southward from Newton Saddle. Top Olderog
Biv via Mt. Olson, and Scottys Biv
and Griffin
Creek Hut from the head of Newton Creek via the Tara Tama Range.
Upriver of the Hut Newton Creek is intially a rough cascade with big boulders
and it's advisable to stay up in the bush the TR for a stretch
until the creekbed becomes easier to follow.
Once back in the Creek it is a mix of bush and riverbed
travel up through the sub-alpine and alpine scrub zone to
the open tussock in the headwaters.
Top Olderog
Biv can be reached by traversing Mt. Olson. Access is via a side creek coming
in on the TR at E1467575/ N5256880. The ridge dividing the
Olderog and Wainihinihi catchments below spot height 1566m is
difficult and unpleasant with a number of exposed, vertical sections.
It is easier to drop down the steep gut from the col between
Mt. Olson and spot height 1566m into the head of Olderog Creek. There ia a rock biv
down in here somewhere. Travel down the Creek a short distance then
climb up to the Biv via the small side creek that
comes in on the TR at E1464688/ N5257080.
Repairs needed
Some minor floor repairs are needed and some repainting around the door.
A new woodshed needs to be built. Use the bowsaw in the
Hut on the basin track and stack the green wood
at the Hut for future use.
Provisions on Site
A paint scraper, a small quantity of light green
paint, an axe, a handsaw, an old paint brush, a camp oven, two buckets,
a plastic basin, three billies, two hand brushes and a broom. There are 2 metal food
storage drums. Outside is a ladder. There are 3 banana boxes inside
for storing wood.
