Wilkinson Hut
(Wilkinson Hut: Photo DOC 2003/ 4: Double click to get larger image)
Maintenance Status
Wilkinson Hut is designated as minimal
maintenance. The tracks providing access to it up the Whitcombe valley are fully maintain
as part of the Whitcombe Pass circuit and were last cut in 2011.
Location
Whitcombe
catchment. Map BW18. Grid Ref: E1436568/ N5219830.
Altitude 605m. Wilkinson Hut sits on a river flat on
the TL of the Whitcombe valley, about 2/3's of the way to the Pass.
A swingbridge 10 minutes upriver provides access from the main valley track
on the TR, although most folk are en route between Price Flat and Neave huts, and tend to bypass Wilkinson.
Wilkinson Hut is a relic of the 1950's. It is pokey, dark, and cosy
with the fire going, but watch your forehead on the low
door frame. The Hut is in a grassy clearing ringed by regenerating small hardwoods, with mature rata, kamahi, totara and broadleaf
forest on the adjacent valley walls.
Wilkinson is sometimes used as a stopover for trampers on the Whitcombe Pass
circuit, or by parties heading to Price Basin Hut, or the
Wilkinson River and Bracken Snowfield. There are occasional fly-in hunting parties, and the odd possumer has been known to
set up camp there for a winter.
Access
Wilkinson Hut can be accessed from the Hokitika roadend, or from Canterbury via the Rakai valley and Whitcombe
Pass.
The main valley tracks and TR huts in the Whitcombe
are fully maintained and generally in good nick. Some of the gorge sections
between Wilkinson, Price Flat and Frews huts are
actively slipping into the River, have been for years, and often take the odd bit of trail with them.
It currently takes around 3-3.5 hours to get up to Wilkinson Hut from Price Flat Hut, and
1.5 hours down from Neave Hut. Allow two days travel from either the Rakaia or Hokitika roadends.
Type
The original Wilkinson Hut
was built in the winter of 1957 by Ron Turner and Bill Radumski of the NZFS. It was a B48 design specific
to the West Coast.
Materials were dropped in by fixed wing aircraft and some of the timber framing was damaged in
the drop. Ron fashioned an adze
from an old mattock and squared totara poles to replace the damaged bits and make the bunk uprights. A porch
was added later in the story, along with corrugated iron to replace the flat iron roof.
Wilkinson has an
open fire and is unlined. There is a toilet. Water is from the River.
Condition
Wilkinson is in good condition currently. It was repainted,
resealed and had floor and chimney work done by DOC during the summer of 2003/ 4.
Routes
The route to Price Basin Hut
is down the TL of the Whitcombe from Wilkinson. Tops access is up Pahlow Creek, the second big side creek downriver from
the Hut. An old NZFS track down the TL of the Whitcombe to Pahlow Creek is mostly gone and river travel where possible is
easier than bush-bashing along the old trackline. Allow a good hour down to Pahlow Creek from the Hut. Head
up the Creek taking the TL branch at each of two consecutive forks. The going is steep
and bouldery to where the route exits the Creek on the TL
just under the bluffy faces of Mt. Van Redan. Sidle NE from here along an obvious tussock bench
to around E1435855/ N5222464, then climb up an old rock scree onto
Pahlow Ridge. Follow the ridge up to around the 1500m level where a cairn marks the point where you begin to
sidle due West around and
into Price Basin. Drop to the River down some reasonably gentle tussock faces with scattered large boulders
once you have the basin in sight.
Good
visibilty is required for the tops sections of this route.
Allow 6-8 hours for the journey from Wilkinson Hut to Price Basin Hut.
The Mt. Thorndike tops can be accessed from Wilkinson Hut via the first large side creek
downriver on the TL. Head up the Creek and climb out up a large slip
on the TR onto the ridge at
point 1036m. There are good views of Mt. Evans, the Bracken Snowfield, and
the upper Wilkinson from here. There is band of alpine scrub to get through
between here and the open tops.
To access the Wilkinson River, boulderhop
for an hour up the TL of the Whitcombe from the Hut.
There are three short sections between the swingbridge and the
Wilkinson confluence that you need to go into the bush to get around,
all with thickish scrub and a dash of bush lawyer.
The Wilkinson is a rough, swift river with very slippery boulders
and freezing, opaque glacial
water. It is difficult to ford at most times of year, mid winter being the most likely exception.
Water levels rise considerably over the day with glacial ice melt, moreso in hot
spring and summer conditions. Travel up the riverbed is rough
with numerous large boulders and unforgiving scrub to negotiate.
Instead, head away from the River a bit and bush bash along the low terraces on the TL.
It is usually possible to pick up a deer trail to get through the thicker patches of montane forest.
Above Walcott Creek there is a steep section where the River cascades over large,
jumbled boulders fringed by dense alpine scrub. There doesn't seem to be an easy way up this stretch.
Ford Seddon Creek
above the cascade and sidle back into the Wilkinson by bashing over a low scrub covered ridge.
The last stretch of the Wilkinson is reasonably level, fast travel, and can be crossed at will on very
slippery rocks.
The Wilkinson Ice Lake is a stunning and spectacular spot. A serene mirror
with scattered
small icebergs,
framed by the sheer rock
buttresses of Mt. Evans. The stillness is punctuated by
the regular crackle and roar of ice avalanches coming
off the Bracken Snowfield.
From the Lake it is relatively easy to cross
over the low saddle behind Agfa Knob into Seddon Creek. Another large-boulder cascade
just upstream from here is rough going, and easier to negotiate on the TL.
The Bevernage Rock Bivs on the TR at the top of the cascade are tricky
to cross to. A short uphill scrub bash is required to reach what are
a pair of disappointing low, shallow overhangs, hardly worth
marking on the map. The largest would take two people at a squeeze.
There is a more spacious rock shelter
under a gigantic boulder, clearly visible
and easily accessable, 15 minutes
up Walcott Creek.
Above the rock bivs the Seddon becomes
much easier going and travel is possible to the base of Seddon Col.
The creek draining McKenzie Col comes in on the TR of the Seddon. It turns into
a dry rock gut filled with avalanche debris a short distance up from the confluence.
Travel would be straightforward up to the col with appriopriate gear for appropriate seasons,
with constant rockfall danger.
Allow eight hours with a day-pack for a return trip from Wilkinson Hut to the Ice lake,
or a good 5+ with a real pack, one-way.
Repairs needed
None currently.
Provisions on site
Five litres of Lichen coloured paint, a very blunt axe, two hearth shovels, a broom, an adze,
a hearth brush, a shovel,
a small camp oven, a billy (no lid), and a small pot. There is a roll of wire rope under the Hut.
