Healey Spur Hut
(Healey Spur Hut looking out to the coast: Photo Simon Johnson 2004)
Maintenance status
Healey Spur has been designated as
minimal maintenance. The track to it is not going to be officially maintained,
but volunteer input over the past six years has kept it in reasonably good
condition.
Location
Mikonui catchment: Grid Ref:
E1429870/ N5231505. Map BV18. Altitude 1170m.
Healey Hut is located on a
tussock bench above the TL of Healey Creek, a tributary of the Mikonui River.
It can be accessed easily in a day from the Mikonui roadend and has fabulous
views out over the frontal ranges to the Tasman Sea. The tops
above Healey provide access to a tract of rugged, remote alpine country that separates the
Whitcombe and Waitaha valleys.
Access
It is a reasonably long, steep climb up to Healey Hut from Mikonui Flat.
The track
was recut by volunteers in 2005 and is in resonable condition, although beginning to
overgrow again in places. There is also
windthrow on the lower portions from the 2008 storms which needs to be skirted.
Access to the Mikonui valley is via a gravel road
up the Totara Valley and over a low bush saddle to Mikonui Flat.
Half an hour's walking up the river gets you Mikonui Flat Hut, and another
20 minutes to the start of the Healey track.
It begins on the bush edge
about 100m upriver from a shingle fan of a normally dry creek
that spills out onto the flats.
The track climbs a rib between two creeks onto a steep face
that leads to the ridge. The ridge is followed from here with several ups and
downs nearer the top.
The trail was cruise-taped in 2005, but is overgrowing a bit in a few places,
particularly in the alpine scrub zone.
At the tussock line the ridge flattens (around E1429500/ N5231925) and
rough wooden stakes lead
in a SE direction down to the bench where the Hut is
located. A moderately fit party should be able to reach it from the roadend in
5-6 hours.
Type
Healey Spur is a standard NZFS 4-bunk design built in the 1960's.
It was lined at some point, probably in the early 80's. There is no form of heating or toilet.
Water is from small tarns and
waterholes in the surrounding peat bog. The small stream marked next to the Hut
is often dry, and finding water here could
be an
issue during long dry spells.
Condition
Healy is in good condition and was painted
and resealed during the summer of 2003/4. It has new mattresses.
There is a leak in the SW corner at the end of the bunk, and in the cupboard area.
The floorboards get damp as a result. Some of the recent paint
has already flaked off on the outside West wall.
Routes
Healey Spur provides access to Galena Ridge and high-level
routes to a number of remote locations. Healey Spur has a
narrow, jagged section just below the last steep bit up onto Galena Ridge.
This can be traversed with care, but for those prone to vertigo a
sidle below the ridge
on the tussock faces the Healey Creek side is recommended. A direct route
along these benches from Healey Hut is
prevented by a deep slot just East of the Hut. This neccessitates a
climb up to the 1500m mark on the main ridge, and a drop
back down onto the benches.
Galena Ridge is traversable in both directions
from the top of Healey Spur.
To reach Mt. Bowen and Mikonui
Biv it is necessary to sidle around and under Remarkable
Peak on the Cropp River side to
Dickson Pass. A ridge dropping
SE from the flat area just West of Remarkable
Peak provides easy access to the Cropp Basin.
The section of Galena Ridge from Healey Spur to Mt. Beaumont
is mostly straightforward aside from a notch in the ridge just
before the col West of Beaumont that requires a bit of care. There
are a number of routes down from Galena Ridge and Mt. Beaumont
into the Tuke and Tuke
Hut. The most direct from the Healey end is the side spur running SW off Galena Ridge
from spot height 1974m. Follow this down and drop into the tussock basin it borders.
Drop from into the Tuke via a
steep rib on the TR of the waterfall at the lip of the basin. The rib can be accessed
through a small
gap in the bluffs at the end of the bench just above the fall (around E1428665/ N5227080).
Drop down the rib and veer right and into the small
side creek just upsriver from Tuke Hut. Sidle out of the creek on its TR and down
the tussock faces to Tuke Hut.
The views from Mt.
Beaumont are superb and the old wooden trig
on the summit has been beautifully sculpted
and polished by wind and ice.
It is easy travel from here around to spot
height 1870m above Ivory Lake and down the ridge
on its TR to Ivory Lake
Hut. There is a route from 1870m
in a SE direction down the
faces between Watson and Stag Creeks, to
Top Waitaha.
From Mt. Beaumont it is easy travel down Cropp Brow to a maintained
tops track on Steadman Brow leading down to Prices Flat in the Whitcombe.
DOC finished recutting this track in 2010. Allow two hours from the scrubline to the Prices
Flat swingbridge. The Steadman Brow track is back on fully maintain status due to it's
strategic access value.
The old NZMS1 series maps had a track going down from Healey Hut into the river below. I found the
start of this in December 06 at the bottom of the bench on which the Hut is sited (NW from the Hut). The
permolat peters out about 100 down the spur, and from here on is pure alpine scrub and bluffs. Not recommended.
Repairs needed:
The leak needs to be located and sealed (a rainy day operation),
the louvre handle needs
replacing on East-facing window,
the tie-downs need tightening, and the areas where the paint is flaking need redoing. A
water tank and loo would be useful.
Provisions
on Site
Shovel, broom, basin, hearth brush
and shovel. Two bench seats, two metal top cooking benches,
and two spare panes of glass for the louvres. One frypan and two plastic buckets.