Wilkinson Hut
(Wilkinson Hut: Photo DOC 2003/ 4)
Maintenance Status
Wilkinson Hut is designated as minimal
maintenance.
Location
Whitcombe
catchment. Map BW18. Grid Ref: E1436568/ N5219830.
Altitude 605m. Wilkinson Hut is located on a river flat on
the upper TL end of the Whitcombe valley.
A swingbridge 10 minutes upriver provides access to the TR main valley track
between Price Flat and Neave huts.
Wilkinson Hut, a relic of the 1950's
deer culling days, is pokey and dark, but cosy
with the fire going. Watch your forehead on the low
door frame tho'. It stands in a grassy clearing ringed by regenerating small hardwoods. Further up
the valley sides the bush is mature rata, kamahi, totara forest.
Wilkinson provides stopover for trampers on the Whitcombe Pass
circuit, and is used by parties heading to Price Basin Hut, or the
Wilkinson River and Bracken Snowfield.
Access
Wilkinson can be accessed from the Rakaia catchment in Canterbury via Whitcombe
Pass, or from the Hokitika roadend.
The main valley tracks and TR huts in the Whitcombe
are fully maintained and generally in good nick, although
some sections traversing the gorges between Wilkinson, Price Flat and Frews huts are
actively slipping into the River and regularly taking bits of the trail with them.
It currently takes around three hours to get up to Wilkinson Hut from Price Flat Hut,
or 1.5 hours down from Neave Creek Hut. Allow two days travel from both Rakaia and Hokitika roadends.
Type
The original Wilkinson Hut
was built in the winter of 1957 by Ron Turner and Bill Radumski of the NZFS.
Materials were dropped in by fixed wing aircraft. Some of the framing timber was damaged in
the airdrop and Ron fashioned an adze
from an old mattock and used squared totara poles for the bunk uprights. A porch
was added later in its history along with and corrugated iron which replaced the flat iron cladding on the 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 and up Pahlow Creek. This is the second big side creek downriver from
Wilkinson Hut. An old NZFS track on the TL is mostly gone, and boulderhopping where possible is
easier than bush-bashing along the old trackline. Allow two hours 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. Exit the Creek on its TL
just under the bluffy faces of Mt. Van Redan and sidle NE along an obvious tussock bench
to around E1435855/ N5222464. Climb from here up an old rock scree onto
Pahlow Ridge and follow the ridge up to around the 1500m level. Sidle due West along this contour line
into Price Basin. Drop down reasonably gentle tussock faces with scattered large boulders to the River.
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.
