Moonbeam Hut
(Moonbeam Hut: Photo Mark Watson - www.highlux.co.nz 2008)
Maintenance Status
Moonbeam Hut is designated as fully
maintain and will be replaced with
a smaller structure at the end of its life. Interestingly, the valley tracks
providing access won't be officially maintained.
In 2007 Permolat volunteers recut the tracks in the mid and upper
Waitaha valley including those to Moonbeam. The severe winter storms
of 2008 and ongoing slippage have undone a lot of the good work, particularly
on the sections upriver
from the Hut.
Location
Waitaha catchment: Map BW18. Altitude 475m. Grid Ref: E1421728/ N5221267.
Moonbeam Hut and the adjacent
swingbridge
across the Waitaha are incorrectly
marked on the topo map as being closer to Moonbeam Torrent.
The swingbridge is actually 10 minutes upriver from Moonbeam Torrent (around E1421715/ N5221367)
and the Hut directly above it on the river terrace.
The surrounding forest is monatne rata/ kamahi, and the Hut
provides a comfy mid-valley stopover for those heading
up or downstream.
Access
Visits to Moonbeam Hut
fell markedly from the early 90's due to the deteriorating track systems.
Trampers were increasingly using tops routes from adjacent
valleys to access the Waiataha headwaters rather than endure the gruelling 2-3-day
bush-bash up the main valley valley.
The tracks were restored briefly to good order in 2007 by volunteers, before
being trashed
by the 2008 winter storms. The section from Kiwi Flat Hut up to
Moonbeam wasn't hit as hard, but reports from April 2010 indicate
that it is proving difficult again in places with
fresh slips, windthrow, and loss of markers.
The track to Moonbeam from
Kiwi Flat Hut climbs steeply up onto the terrace behind the Hut,
flattens, and follows the terrace
for a 1/2 hour to the Headlong Spur turnoff. From here it sidles across the faces above
the Waitaha Gorge, climbing gradually. There are a couple of large slips around 1/2 an hour
above the
turnoff. The first is currently stable, the other still active.
To cross the latter you need to drop down a distance, cross, climb back up to the track at
the same level on the other side. A couple of
hours of sidling with ups and downs follows. There is one new slip on this section
that has taken out a few markers.
The track eventually starts dropping back down
to the Waitaha, hitting the River
just upstream of Mark Creek. It is around an hour's boulderhopping from here
over large boulders to
Moonbeam Torrent. There is a short section of track about 2/3's of the way up. Moonbeam
Torrent is large and fast flowing and is uncrossable after
heavy rain. Ford the Torrent and continue upriver for 10 minutes to the swingbridge.
The track enters the bush 20 metres upstream of the bridge and climbs steeply for 10 minutes
onto the terrace where the Hut is located. Allow
6-7 hours to get to Moonbeam Hut from Kiwi Flat currently.
Type
Moonbeam is a standard
six-bunk NZFZ design built in 1971. It is lined and has an open fire, a loo and water tank.
Condition
Moonbeam Hut is in good condition. It was painted and had
some minor repairs done by DOC in 2003. A small leak in the
skylight where a nail had cracked the plastic was patched
in 2007 and hopefully keeps the water out.
Routes
The original main valley track above Moonbeam
Top Waitaha was cut as far as Chainman Creek, and to
County Stream Hut. Volunteers recut both in 2007.
The work in the County was more rudimentary, but a big improvement on a track
that had pretty much vanished in a lot of places. The 2008 storms
have done considerable damage above Moonbeam Hut and probably in the County as well.
From Moonbeam Hut the track follows a terrace through totara/
pahutea
forest for 20 minutes before dropping down to the riverbed. This bit is still OK and
is followed by a short section of river travel past Dorothy
and Alexander creeks. The track re-enters the bush and sidles up around to the County
turnoff, then drops down to the swingbridge. There is a reasonable dry rock
just before the turnoff. The section to the swingbridge and up the TR of the Waitaha
as far as the second side creek
below the climb over Windhover Gorge is a mess.
Extensive areas of windthrow have completely obliterated trail in places
and progress is extremely slow and difficult.
Once past the second side creek the track improves
somewhat, although is still in need of some
clearing and re-marking. It sidles up-valley
briefly before climbing steeply up onto the ridge on the TR
of Chainman Creek. At about 900m
the track drops into Chainman Creek and down towards
the River, exiting 50m up Chainman Creek
on the TR. The upper Waitaha valley from here to Top
Waitaha Hut is lengthy, untracked and
and rough, with numerous large
boulders that have to be scrub-bashed around.
There is a dry rock on this section 20 metres up
and 20 metres east of the second side creek above Chainmain Creek.
The rough section ends eventually at the bottom of a large, gentle tussock
basin. From here to the Hut is an idyllic stroll in comparison
to what preceded it. Allow 10-12 hours currently to get from Moonbeam Hut
to Top Waitaha Hut.
The
County track continues up TL of the Waitaha above the Top Waitaha Turnoff. It is marked with
a mix of permolat and cruise tape and climb-sidles in a
series of steps up and around into the County at a much lower level than marked on the Topo map.
The permolat becomes less frequent and is replaced by cruise tape as you get higher,
and there are lots of
ups and downs. Key exit and entry points on
slips and side creeks are marked with permolat crosses. The track drops briefly to the river in a steep section of
large boulders just above O'Reilly Creek. It re-enters the scrub almost immediatey, climbs steeply
for 15 minutes before re-entering the riverbed at a blown-out creek bed. From here there is an easy section
of river travel 15-20 minutes, followed by a couple of longish sections of track and a series of shorter sections
that negotiate large bouders. The going here is not as tough as the lower section, and the cut bits
are cruise-taped. There may have been some serious storm damage in the County as well, with one
unconfirmed report of a party
needing an hour to travel around 400 metres in one section.
You'll
need to ford the County at some point in the upper section and this can be challenging even in
fine weather. Water levels here are
influenced by snow and ice melt as well as rain, and tend to rise markedly over
the day on warm sunny days. The best crossing currently is one upstream of
the Bloomfield/ County confluence. Warren Chinn re-marked the start of the
track up to County Hut below the Bloomfield confluence with white
permolat crosses on a mountain holly tree, high on a washed out bank. This
is directly opposite a large old cairn on the true left of the County Stream.
Someone has also cut a track 100m up
Bloomfield Creek that leads up to the Hut. Allow 5-8 hours for the trip from Moonbeam to County.
A good fine weather route from Moonbeam to County is via the Clearview Spur tops track.
This was also recut and re-marked in 2007 and may now be quicker since the 2008 storms damaged the
main valley tracks. The track ascends a sloping terrace behind Moonbeam Hut on
the true right of Moonbeam Torrent. From here it climbs a narrow ridge
beween Moonbeam Torrent and Dorothy Creek to the alpine scrub zone
where drops into the head of Dorothy Creek, a dry rocky gut at this stage.
The gut provides access through scattered scrub onto open tussock faces
from where it is an easy climb eastward to Clearview Spur.
From the flat area just above point 1690m
you can drop down the faces
between Canary Creek and the next side creek down, into the County. There are great views of
Mt Evans and the Red Lion on this route (Allow five hours + from Moonbeam). You could
also continue up Clearview Spur if you want and around to Smyth
Saddle via Mts. Neville and Barry.
You can also get from Moonbeam
Torrent to Scamper Torrent
in a day via the Smyth Range. This involves heading
up the first side creek that comes in on the true
left of Moonbeam Torrent. An old NZFS route guide says
take the ridge on the true right of this creek. The top section
of scrub on the side ridge a bit of a grovel. The ridge
continues up onto the broad North-facing flank of Mt Neville,
which is easy travel. There is one steep South-facing section
of ridge when dropping off Mt Neville, just above the Kea
Glacier where a few steps may need to be cut, so take an ice
axe. The rest of the Smyth Range is good, reasonably fast travel,
with lots of good campsites.
To get down
to Scamper Torrent Hut from Mt Durward, drop/ sidle in a WNW direction
down some flat sloping benches above and around the two quite
deeply slotted true right forks of Scamper Torrent. Then drop down
a fairly obvious flattish face in a NE direction on the true right
of the main branch of the Torrent to the Hut.
The old NZFS guide states
that access is possible to the top of the Hitchen
Range in around three hours from the swingbridge opposite
Moonbeam Hut. Because there has never been a track this estimate
shouldn't have changed over the decades. DOC is planning to
remove the bridge at some point although they don't seem to be in any particular
hurry to do this. Removal is probably quite justifiable given
the amount of use the bridge gets (zilch to the best of my knowledge), but the river
may be fordable at this spot anyhow.
Repairs needed
Nil Currently.
Provisions on Site
There is a heap of track marking gear at Moonbeam. This includes ample nails
of many sizes and a huge supply of permolat. A small hammer and some loppers were left behind by the Permolat
crew in 2007 (please make use of them). There is an axe, a broom, a shovel, a tommahawk, rasps, falt files, a
ruler, a bow saw and sandpaper. There are two camp ovens, 6 billies, two old F.S. food bins (one contains
leftover food from the trackwork), an old F.S. First Aid Kit, a sleeping mat, one aluminium washbasin and some
sealant. There is a wooden ladder under the bunk. There is a radio aerial attached to the Hut, but
unfortunately it doesn't work.