Top Waitaha Hut
(Top Waitaha Hut looking
downriver:
Photo Nicola Noble 2007)
Maintenance Status
Top Waitaha Hut has been designated as minimal
maintenance. The tracked section of the route to it up the Waitaha valley is no longer
officially maintained. It was recut by volunteers in 2007, but trashed a
year later by some severe winter storms.
Location
Waitaha catchment. Map BW18. Grid Ref: E1427288/ N5222410.
Altitude 1060m. Top Waitaha Hut is located
in an expansive tussock basin at the head of the Waitaha
valley. It is a serene and remote spot that backs on to
the pristine, permanent snowfields,
glaciers and ice plateaux of the Mt. Evans massif.
The alpine meadows and gently flowing river are a stark contrast
to the rugged, wild and gorgy river valley that must be negotiated to reach them.
The Hut is seldom visited due to its remoteness and the roughness of the lower valley.
Access
DOC ceased maintaining the tracks in the upper
Waitaha in the early 90's, making access to Top Waitaha, already somewhat of a challenge,
increasingly difficult.
Permolat volunteers recut and
reamrked the track from Moonbeam Hut to
Chainman Creek above the Windhover Gorge in 2007 and again in 2011. The track was only ever
cut as far as Chainman Creek and the rest has always been
river travel. From Moonbeam the main valley
track follows the river terraces on the
TL of the Waitaha for around 20 minutes. The forest here is delightful mature montane totara, pahautea, rata and kamhai.
The track then drops down a steep bank to the riverbed just before Dorothy Creek, re-entering the bush just after Alexander Creek.
It sidles along the bush faces from here to the Top
Waitaha turnoff.
There is a reasonable dry
rock just before the turnoff, from where the Top Waitaha track drops
directly to the River, crosses
the swingbridge, and continues up the TR of the Waitaha. There is a short section of boulderhopping
which ends at a small side creek. The track enters the bush 20 metres up the creek on its
TL. It climb/ sidles up-valley and around into a second side creek with some attractive sculpted
rock in the bed. From here it ascends the ridge dividing this creek and Chainman Creek.
At around the 900m level the ridge flattens and the track drops down a bushed rib into Chainman Creek,
entering the Creek 50m above where it meets the Waitaha.
It continues on the TL of Chainman and passes through a flat area of tall olearia scrub to the River.
The remainder of the upper Waitaha valley
to Top
Waitaha Hut is untracked and
and rough, with numerous large
boulders and dense scrub surrounds.
There is another dry rock 20 metres up
and 20 metres east of the second side creek above Chainmain Creek.
The rough river section ends eventually at the Waitaha basin where the Hut is located.
This large and benign tussock
expanse with open vistas makes for an idyllic stroll in comparison
to what preceded it. Allow 7-10 hours currently to get from Moonbeam Hut
to Top Waitaha Hut.
Type
Top Waitaha is a Standard six-bunk NZFS design with no open fire
or woodburner. It is unlined. Water is from the river. There is no toilet.
Condition
Top Waitaha Hut is in reasonably good condition. It was repainted and possibly also received
some minor repairs
in 2003.
Some water damage under the western window and walls was reported a while back,
possibly from the 2008 storms.
Routes
The route from Top Waitaha up to Ivory Lake Hut is reasonably straightforward.
Follow the River flats up to the Reid/ Stag Creek confluence and
climb from here due East up onto
a flat tussock bench on the TL of Stag Creek.
There are numerous small tarns here and it is reasonably pleasant travel.
The bench eventually tapers out as Stag Creek rises. Drop into the Creek and continue up to where the
Ivory Lake outlet creek cascades
down a rock face from the lip of Ivory Lake. The Hut is
on the lip of the cirque above the cliffs and not visible from the Creek.
Continue up Stag Creek 100m past the outlet, exit, and
pick a route up a series of ledges
onto the bench where the Hut is. Ice axes and crampons may
be necessary on this section in
winter and spring. There is a less exposed route to the route a bit further up Stag Creek. This is up
a very small creek that drops down the faces at the eastern end of the Lake. Head up the TL of the
creek to Hut level,
then sidle back towards the Lake. Allow around two hours for the journey from
Top Waitaha Hut to Ivory Lake.
There are a number of reasonably challenging but very worthwhile alpine
routes in and out of the Top Waitaha Basin from and to the Kakapotahi, Mikonui and Whitcombe catchments.
These should be attempted by experienced parties only.
There is a route from
Top Waitaha to Tuke Hut via point 1870m above Ivory Lake,
Mt. Beaumont and Galena Ridge.
Head up the Waitaha River from the
Hut and follow Stag Creek up to the Watson Creek confluence. Climb
from here up the face on the TL of Watson Creek onto
the prominent spur that runs east onto point 1870m. The ridge from here to Beaumont is
easy travel with a number of possible routes down into the upper Tuke basin.
Mt. Beaumont has permanent snow on its summit and a small glacial remnant
on its South face.
Access to the Cropp
basin is possible from Mt. Beaumont or the Cropp Brow. Access into the Whitcombe valley
is be down the Cropp Brow and then a tops track from Steadman Brow to the Price Flat swingbridge.
This is a fully maintain track, which was
recut
in 2010. Allow two hours from the scrubline down to the bridge.
There is a route over
Ragged Peak and The Tusk to Dickie Ridge and Dickie
Spur Hut. A couple of parties in the Dickie Spur hutbook report having difficulty on a section
of the Ridge around spot height 1920m, just North of The Tusk. There are a couple of places here that
call for a moderate head for heights and an ability to downclimb, but are not technically difficult.
Take a rope if this description sounds a bit iffy. Dickie Ridge is a reasonably straightforward, but long
haul, down to Dickie Spur Hut. Around the 1200m contour a marker pole indicates the
turn-off down to the Hut. Drop down the side ridge here in a NE direction following small wooden stakes
with permolat and cruise tape. The Hut is on a tussock bench below the side ridge.
Good visibility is handy to locate it.
There are routes from Top Waitaha out over the Hitchen Range
to the Waitaha roadend and the Kakapotahi valley. Access to the Hitchen Range is
via a side creek that
enters the Waitaha at 235430E/ 5784370N. There is saddle at the top of the TR fork
of this creek. There are some steep exposed sections further along the Hitchen Range between
Mt. Allen and Mt. Hitchin.
Thes can be avoided by dropping from Ridland Saddle down the ridge on the TR of
the upper TR fork of Isobel Creek. Climb back onto the Range from the
confluence of the upper TR and TL forks to the col between points
1385m and 1585m. Continue along the crest of the Range from here to Mt. Allen.
An old track up to Mt.
Allen from the lower Waitaha valley no longer exists in useable form,
but access down is possible
via the Robinson Slip and MacGregor Creek. The top of the slip is very steep and unsafe
and shouldn't be attempted.
A route up the slip suggested by
Danilo Hegg in 2008 may be worth using to get down. This is via the second creek on the TR
before the main slip, which is accessed down the western spur of Mt. Allen.
Access from the top of Swandri
Spur down Slip Creek to Polluck Creek Hut
in the Kakapotahi is described in the old NZFS route guides from 30+ years back. No
information is available cuurently as to whether this route is still viable. Dropping down
Swandri Spur itself is certainly not recommended. A party that did this some time ago
found it to be a long and unpleasant scrub-bash.
There is are high-level routes
from Top Waitaha to County Stream Hut
via the Bloomfield Range. The easiest access is up an open side creek
that flows into the Waitaha
opposite Dropp Off Creek. The old Forest Service guides recommend
dropping of Bloomfield down O'Reillys Creek, but this has a waterfall
and alpine scrub, and it is a considerable distance from here up to County Hut.
A more sensible and direct approach if conditions permit would be
over the summit
Bloomfield and down a steep rib between the two
forks of Bloomfield Creek. The drop-off point is
just North of the saddle between Bloomfield
and Artist Dome.
Access onto Bloomfield is also possible from a spur
ascending West from Reid Creek. Ice axes may be required for a section of ridge just
South of the summit of Bloomfield.
A side trip to Reid Lake from Top Waiatah is recommended if you have the time.
There is an awesome
slot gorge just below the that can be
negotiated by terrace hopping on the TR.
Repairs needed
Some sealing is possibly required around the windows and on the West side of the Hut.
Provisions on Site:
Billies and one pair of downhill skis.
