Scamper Torrent Hut

(Scamper Torrent Hut: Photo Andrew Buglass 2005)

Maintenance Status

Scamper Torrent Hut and track were designated as fully maintain in DOC's 2004 High-Country review. The Hut remains fully maintain, but because of Government austerity measures, it now looks like the track will be dropped from the maintenance regime. This leaves volunteers or community groups to pick it up.

Location

Waitaha catchment. Map BW17. Grid Ref: E1416408/ N5219654. Altitude 975m. Scamper Torrent Hut is located in the Torrent's upper basin, a superb alpine location that is accessible in a day from the Waitaha roadend by a reasonably fit party. Scamper Torrent drains the Smyth Range and tumbles from the basin over waterfalls and through a steep-sided gorge into Whirling Water in the Waitaha. The Hut has historically been low-use, although frequency of visits increased in recent years due to profiling in Wilderness Magazine and on this website. It currently receives around five per year.

Access

Track access to Scamper Torrent is from the bottom end of Kiwi Flat in the Waitaha valley. The route has not been officially cut for some years and is starting to get quite overgrown in places. A good portion of it is on a well-defined spur however, and this is still pretty easy to follow. The track starts 15 minutes downriver from Kiwi Flat Hut at Labyrinth Creek. Its entrance is 75m up the Creek on the TR and is overgrown. A cruise-taped DOC stoatline enters the bush just below this and connects with the track proper further up. The track climbs steeply out of the Creek, before flattening and heading up a sloping terrace towards the Range. Some trimming and marking was done here in early 2012. Patches of windthrow on this section from the 2008 storms may slow progress somewhat. The track leaves the terrace and climbs steeply up a spur, and becomes easier to follow as the spur becomes bettter defined. The odd bit of trimming and cruise-taping work has been done by various folk over the years, the most recent in February 2010.

At the tussock line the side spur connects with the main spur bounding the TL of Scamper Torrent basin. Snow poles lead over this and down into the basin, with the Hut coming into view just below the crest. Permolat, cruise-tape and the odd snow-pole mark a rough trail through an alpine scrub band into the creekbed. It is 10-15 minutes walk up from here to the Hut, which is located on a tussock terrace on the TL, 30 vertical metres above the creek. Allow three hours from Kiwi Flat Hut to Scamper Torrent Hut, or 6-8 hours from the Waitaha roadend.

Type

Scamper Torrent is a standard four-bunk NZFS design built in 1971 at a cost of around $1600. It is lined and has the original kerosine cooker and stove, although there is no hut kero supply. A small roof-fed watertank was added in 2001. There is no toilet.

Condition

Scamper is in good condition currently apart from some of the plywood lining under the end window, which is buckling in places where moisture has been getting in. The tie-downs are slack, although the Hut is in a pretty sheltered site and they are probably not essential. Scamper Torrent was repainted and had a water tank added by a DOC volunteer party in 2001. The repairs were financed by a high-country philanthropist concerned about the state of the Hut after two decades of zero maintenance. The water tank was placed on a bench at the front of the Hut, and droops slightly over one end. It'll be interesting to see how long it holds up there. Scamper was designated as fully maintain in DOC's 2004 High Country Review.

Routes

There is a good tops route into Scamper Torrent from the Wanganui valley via a track up Tarpot Creek track onto Karnback. It starts up the Wanganui valley access road 400m from State Highway 6. Head up Tarpot Creek taking the TR branch at each of two forks. The start of the track proper is next to a small moss covered slip on the TR in the head of the Creek where it begins to peter out. The track climbs and sidles across a bush face onto a side ridge that connects with a ridge leading up onto Karnback. The ridge is steep and the track is overgrowing in places. Someone trimmed it in places around 2005, but the work wasn't consistent. More work may have been done since then by some of the Hari Hari locals, although this hasn't been confirmed. A waratah with cruise tape stands on the crest of Karnback just above where the track emerges from the alpine scrub. The top 20 metres down to the first permolat marker on the side ridge was cruise taped in 2005.

Head up Karnback from the top of the track through a narrow belt of alpine scrub with scattered tussock patches. A short climb takes you from here out onto some sloping tussock benches on the Amethyst Ravine side of Karnback. Sidle under Mt. Ashmore on this side and reconnect with the main ridge where it commences a steep drop to a saddle (1199m) at the head of the Ravine. Climb from the saddle on the Amethyst side of spot height 1453m to point 1411m. Traverse this and point 1502m and drop onto the the broad spur on the TL of Scamper Torrent basin. There are a number of access points into the basin. Don't drop in from directly above the Hut however, as there is a significant scrub band at this point.

There is a second route from the Wanganui via the Bryan Hill track behind the old Amethyst powerhouse. This provides access to Terra Quinn, which has some big tarns and good campsites, and Carl's Ridge. Some of the Hari Hari locals reportedly trimmed this track a while back. There are some steep sections higher on the Carl's Ridge that some have have found daunting. The Ridge connects with the Smyth Range West of Mt. Durward. From Mt. Durward, drop/ sidle in a WNW direction down the flat sloping benches above the two TR upper forks of Scamper Torrent. Once past these, drop down a fairly obvious flattish face on the TR of the main branch of the Torrent to just opposite the Hut. There are a few snow poles lower down on this route.

A side-track drops from the sub-alpine zone on Terra Quinn track into the upper Amethyst basin. It is possible to follow the Amethyst into its headwaters and cross over to Scamper Torrent from here. Access into the basin would be the same as for the Karnback Route.

There tops circuit with maintained access tracks linking Scamper Torrent to Kiwi Flat Hut via the Smyth Range and Headlong Spur. The Smyth Range can be accessed from Scamper Torrent by crossing the Torrent and heading up the face directly opposite the Hut. Two snow poles and a bit of permolat lead onto the ridge between the TL and middle upper branches of Scamper Torrent. Continue up the ridge to just above a small waterfall. Cross the middle branch here and head up the ridge on the TR over a series of smooth rock ledges. These provide access into a gully that runs diagonally under Mt. Durward and onto the crest of the Range. Once past Durward the Smyth Range is easy going for some distance with good campsites. There is permanent snow and small glacial remnants on the approaches to Mts. Neville and Barry. Ice axes may be necessary here at specific times of the year.

A route leads from the Attic down Headlong Spur and back to Kiwi Flat Hut. The track down the Spur intially designated as fully maintain, may be dropped now along with the Scamper track from DOC's maintenance schedule. It is getting quite overgrown in places. There is a section at the top which is pretty vague and some permolat was added here in 2012. The middle section is more open and easy to travel, but on the lower bush faces, false leads and deer tracks confound things somewhat. Allow 3 days for the Scamper - Kiwi circuit, including a night bivouacing at the top of Headlong Spur.

It is possible to access Moonbeam Hut from the Headlong Spur tops by dropping down into the TR fork of the first main side creek on the TL of Moonbeam Torrent. This is a rough route, with some obligatory scrub-bashing, and care needs to be taken. Another way to get to Moonbeam is via Mts. Neville and Barry and Clearview Spur. There is one steep exposed section that requires down-climbing between points 1945m and 1690m. Below this it is easy going. The Clearview Spur tops track was recut by Permolat in 2007, and aside from possible windthrow from the 2008 storms, it should be in pretty good shape. It drops down the narrow spur that separates Dorothy Creek from Moonbeam Torrent. It can be accessed from the dry gut at head of Dorothy Creek. The track exits from the top of the gut in the alpine scrub zone, sidles up onto the ridge, then follows the ridge down.

County Stream Hut can also be accessed from the Smyth Range down Clearview Spur. Drop into the County via the faces between Canary Creek and the next side creek down. A band of scrub near the bottom can be avoided by dropping into Canary Creek for the last few hundred metres.

It is possible to drop from the saddle NE of Mt. Barry into the upper Smyth catchment. This avoids a gnarly bit further along the Range at the head of Bradshaw Creek. Once in the upper Smyth it is good travel down to just beyond the Bradshaw confluence. Below this the Smyth becomes more bouldery and rough going. This traverse is for experienced parties with alpine skills. Allow a long day in good conditions to get from Scamper Torrent to Smyth Hut.

It is possible, although not much fun, to drop from the Smyth Range to Mirage Knob and then down some remnants of old tops track to Hunters Hut in the Wanganui. The track is non-existant in it's upper section and a difficult scrub-bash is required to get down to where the ridge is more defined. Below this the track is followable in places, but vanishes again near the bottom. Its original entrance is right behind the cableway on the TR of the Wanganui. I wouldn't recommend this route for uphill access, and there is no water until the flat section of ridge at 1500m is reached.

Repairs

A proper watertank stand needs to be constructed and the tap on the watertank replaced. The leak at the end of the Hut needs to be checked out during heavy rain, and sealed if necessary. A toilet wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Provisions on Site

A few odds and ends of timber under the Hut along with three home made ladders, a large coil of wire rope, and two waratahs. Inside there is a kero cooker and stove (no kero), a tin rubbish bin, an aluminium wash basin, one large billy, a shovel, a slasher (with spare handle), a broom, a metal bucket, an NZFS First Aid Box (reasonably replete), assorted tins of paint including a full large tin of Hut-coloured enamel, 1/2 a dozen medium sized u-bolts, a box of nails (assorted), a roll of permolat, an old oven that can be attached to the kero cooker, a flat file, 1/3 tube of sealant, a roll of denzo tape, sugar soap, and a spare louvre pane.