Poet Hut
(Poet Hut: Photo DOC 2003/ 4)
Maintenance status
Poet Hut and its access tracks are fully maintain currently.
Location
Mungo River
catchment. Topo Map BV19. Grid Ref: E1449475/ N5233573.
Altitude 580m. Poet Hut is located on the TR of the Mungo River around two kilometres
above its confluence with the Hokitika. The Hut is
a relic of the 1950's, small and pokey, but cosy with the fire
going. The bush surrounds are a mix of rata, kamahi, totara, pahautea, and broadleaf.
Poet Hut is on the Frew Saddle -
Toaroha Saddle circuit, a relatively popular
tramp of medium-difficulty, which was recently profiled in the revised edition
of Classic Tramps by Shaun Barnett. DOC recut the tracks on the circuit in February 2009.
Access
The quickest and most direct
route to Poet Hut is up the Toaroha valley and over Toaroha Saddle. It can be done in around 13
hours by a fit, experienced person with a light pack, however two days are the recommended and sensible time frame.
Allow 8-11 hours to Top Toaroha Hut from the Toaroha roadend.
From Top Toaroha it is a two-hour climb up from up to Toaroha Saddle Biv,
and another two down to Poet Hut.
Snow poles lead from the Biv down
steep tussock faces to the scrubline where the track starts. The track is well-cut and drops steeply down the ridge
on the TL of the Beta Creek to the main valley track in the Mungo River.
Follow the Mungo track downriver past Beta Creek and along a short section
of riverbed. A 10 minute stretch of track leads from here to the Hut.
Those coming from the Whitcombe end via Frews Saddle and Bluff Hut
need to allow three days.
The track down from Bluff Hut is very steep. It drops adjacent to the Hokitika River, which plunges over a series of
cataracts several hundred vertical
metres to meet the Mungo valley. A footbridge spans the Hokitika below the Mungo confluence. Cross this and
head up the TR of the Mungo to Poet, a mix
of track and riverbed travel. Allow 2 - 2.5 hours to get from Bluff Hut to Poet Hut.
Type
Poet Hut is a standard late-50's NZFS 4-bunk design with open fire.
The original hut had a flat-iron roof, which was later replaced with corrugated iron.
NZFS added a toilet in the mid 80's and DOC replaced the perspex window
with louvres and added a small deck with steps. Water is from the River.
Condition
DOC did some painting, sealing and maintenance work on Poet in the Summer of 2003/4. It should still
be in pretty good condition, although there is reportedly a leak in the wall opposite the fireplace.
Routes
The TR of the Hokitika below the Bluff swingbridge once boasted a well-maintained track, however NZFS ceased
maintaining this in
the mid 1970's and within a couple of decades it was virtually unfollowable. The two Huts on this section,
Frisco, and Serpentine, were effectively isolated, and seldom visited.
Both continued to receive maintenance during this period however, once in the early 80's by NZFS, and again in 2003/ 4 by DOC.
In 2011 the old FS track up the ridge from Darby Creek to Frisco was recut and marked in a
rudimentary but serviceable fashion by volunteers.
It can be accessed by boulderhopping from Bluff swingbridge
down the TR of the Hokitika 15 minutes to Darby Creek. The boulders on this section
are large and some are slippery, and another option
would be to bush-bash along the River terrace.
Darby Creek is easy to cross at normal flows, but would be tricky after heavy rain.
The track entrance is 100m up its TR and is marked with white permolat. It follows the ridge
up to around the 800m contour, then sidles West for a kilometre across the montane
faces above the Hokitika to the Hut. This section crosses a series of regenerating and
actively eroding guts. There are steep climbs up two of the guts to gain a bit of
height, the entry and exit points of which are marked with a mix of permolat, cruise-tape and cairns.
The track re-enters the montane forest further along, sidling in and out of the upper branches of Detour Creek.
A short climb up a small regenerating slip
leads to the bench where the Hut is located. Allow 3-4 hours travel time from Poet Hut to Frisco.
The track that provides access to Sir Robert Hut
commences on the TL of the Mungo 20 minutes
upriver from Poet Hut. A swingbrige provides access to the TL of the River. There are patches of windthrow
on the terrace
that need to be skirted, but once on Homeward Ridge the track is in good shape. It is
a long climb from here up to the 1440m
contour line (1449130E/ 5231595N) where it is necessary drop off the main Ridge, down a
steep side spur East into Sir Robert Creek. Ices axes and possibly crampons may be necessary for the
top part of this descent
during the winter and spring.
Where side spur flattens briefly around the 1250m mark, drop in a SE direction into
a gut and follow it down through a band of ribbonwood where becomes a small creek.
Follow the creek down a small bluff into the main side creek from where is
another 200m down to Sir Robert Creek. Sir Robert Hut is around 300m
up from the confluence, on a terrace on the TL, 20m from the Creek. A short section of track up to it
was cleared and marked in 2010.
Allow 5-6 hours from Poet Hut to Sir Robert Hut.
It is probably still possible to drop into Sir Robert Creek from lower down Homeward Ridge at the 940m contour,
around 1449957E/ 5232801N, but I don't know of anyone who's gone this way since acolleague did it
in the mid-80's. It involves dropping from the Ridge
down a steep scree and gut into the Creek and boulderhopping the rest of the way up.
An indeterminate number of detours may be required to get around the gorgy bits. This is a dry weather
route at best, but could be useful if the high-level
route was impassable due to snow or ice.
The route from Poet Hut to Mungo Hut is also a dry-weather one.
An old Forest Service track that once went all the way up
the TR of the Mungo has long vanished, aside from a short maintained stretch
from the Toaroha Saddle
turnoff
to Saddle Creek. This was re-cut in February 2009.
At Saddle Creek the track drops steeply down
to the River and from here it is mostly boulderhopping with a few small marked detours.
Stay on the TR until a point midway on the route where the Mungo cuts
in against some bluffs. Cross to the TL here. This is not usually
problematic at normal flows, but the riverbed is changeable, and on occasions the ford has been known to be
difficult.
Once on the TL of the valley it's straightforward river travel up to Brunswick Creek.
The Brunswick is fast flowing and care is needed fording it. A old NZFS three-wire
marked on older maps has been long washed away. Rex Taylor
has suggested cutting a short section of track from a point 200 yards
up the TL of the Creek down to the Mungo. This would connect
with a safer ford a couple of 100
metres upstream from the Mungo, instead of the dodgier one nearer the forks. DOC
are OK with this being done and Rex plans to get on to it early in 2012.
Continue boulderhopping upriver from the Brunwick confluence for another 10 minutes
then cross to the TR of the Mungo. A swingbridge on this section was removed by DOC in 2010, but
fording here or further up the Mungo is not normally problematic. Continue up the TR
and across Park Stream. A large orange triangle 100m further up the Mungo
marks the start of the track up to the Hut. This is a steep ridge climb of 10-15 minutes, recut
by DOC in 2009.
Allow 2.5 - 3.5 hours from Poet Hut to Mungo Hut.
Repairs needed
The wall leak probably needs sealing.
Provisions on Site:
Unknown.
