Jacko Flat Hut
The start of the second gorge.
Maintenance Status
Jacko Flat Hut is ostensibly a DOC fully maintain hut, although minimal maintenance would probably be a more accurate description. The track to it from the Crooked roadend is also supposed to be officially maintained however DOC Greymouth with their current budget and operating capacity have acknowledged that they aren't able to get to this one. The lower Crooked is rugged and gorgy and the route up the valley's true left has always been a rough one. It is now overgrowing and difficult to follow in places. DOC are open to community input on this one and it's likely a Permolat project with ensue at some point.
Location
Crooked River catchment. Map BU20. Grid Ref: E1487860/ N5270715 (BU20 879 707). Altitude 415m. Jacko Flat Hut is located on the TL of the Crooked River at the top end of Jacko Flat. The bush covered slopes around the Flat rise rapidly to sheer rock on the Northern face of Mt Alexander. Visitors to the hut regularly report hearing kiwi close by. There are two gorges in the lower Crooked valley and the terrain is rough underfoot. Upstream of Jacko Flat the River is a mix of rougher terrain and reasonably gentle river flats. The Crooked has always been a fairly low-use valley, with visitor numbers declining further in the 90's and 00's due to unmaintained and overgrowing tracks. DOC did some work on them in 2009 and 2015 and recut the section from Jacko Flat to Top Crooked Hut in 2019. Jacko Flat has remained consistently low use over the decades, averaging around 10 parties a year. There has been increased interest in recent times in those doing a circuit around the Lake Morgan tops and back down the Morgan Range to the Crooked carpark.
Access
Crooked Valley access is up the old Rotomanu - Kopara Road, which turns off Bell Hill Road just after Puzzle Creek. There is a padlocked gate here, the key for which can be obtained from the farmer Bruce Burgess, who lives just down the road (03-4290901). The road to the track start isn't too bad and OK for 2WD vehicles. The Jacko Flat track starts behind the Kopara Reserve sign adjacent to the piles of the old Crooked River bridge. It climb/ sidles around the first gorge for an hour or so and the going is undulating and boggy in places. It drops back to the river briefly then re-enters the push for a rather long quite rough sidle section with lots of ups and downs through gullies and creeks catchments. This bit has a fair amount of quite thick seedling and fern regen in places and bit of care and fossicking around is required to stay on the line. I cruise-taped the worst patches in January 2023, augmenting what others had already done, to help make it more followable. Steve Grossi did some more trimming and flagging down to the Morgan River in April. The track hits the riverbed again just before the Morgan River confluence, then a lovely uncharacteristically flat section of track across a bend in the river to a short stretch of boulders at the start of the second gorge.
The track re-enters the bush here and climb/ sidles along the bush faces through steep, uneven, rocky terrain with two short riverbed sections. After an hour or so of sidling the bottom end of Jacko Flat is reached. The track emerges where the main channel of the Crooked has cut in against the riverbank and your easiest bet is to cross here and make a beeline straight up the flat crossing and recrossing where necessary. The Fords are easy when the river is at its normal level. There is a track down the TL from the Hut to just below Jack's Creek (unnamed on the NZ Topomap) where the bottom entrance has been scoured out. It's not really necessary. to use this and it can be picked up at whatever point you choose to leave the riverbed. Jacko Flat Hut is in a grassy clearing surrounded by small hardwoods, 20 metres from the river. Some people are taking up to 11 hours for the trip from the road-end, but around six is still more common, and should be a realistic time for a fit, experienced party.
The Hut clearing was widened by DOC in 2017 and has plenty of space for a helicopter to get in.
Jacko Flat Hut is ostensibly a DOC fully maintain hut, although minimal maintenance would probably be a more accurate description. The track to it from the Crooked roadend is also supposed to be officially maintained however DOC Greymouth with their current budget and operating capacity have acknowledged that they aren't able to get to this one. The lower Crooked is rugged and gorgy and the route up the valley's true left has always been a rough one. It is now overgrowing and difficult to follow in places. DOC are open to community input on this one and it's likely a Permolat project with ensue at some point.
Location
Crooked River catchment. Map BU20. Grid Ref: E1487860/ N5270715 (BU20 879 707). Altitude 415m. Jacko Flat Hut is located on the TL of the Crooked River at the top end of Jacko Flat. The bush covered slopes around the Flat rise rapidly to sheer rock on the Northern face of Mt Alexander. Visitors to the hut regularly report hearing kiwi close by. There are two gorges in the lower Crooked valley and the terrain is rough underfoot. Upstream of Jacko Flat the River is a mix of rougher terrain and reasonably gentle river flats. The Crooked has always been a fairly low-use valley, with visitor numbers declining further in the 90's and 00's due to unmaintained and overgrowing tracks. DOC did some work on them in 2009 and 2015 and recut the section from Jacko Flat to Top Crooked Hut in 2019. Jacko Flat has remained consistently low use over the decades, averaging around 10 parties a year. There has been increased interest in recent times in those doing a circuit around the Lake Morgan tops and back down the Morgan Range to the Crooked carpark.
Access
Crooked Valley access is up the old Rotomanu - Kopara Road, which turns off Bell Hill Road just after Puzzle Creek. There is a padlocked gate here, the key for which can be obtained from the farmer Bruce Burgess, who lives just down the road (03-4290901). The road to the track start isn't too bad and OK for 2WD vehicles. The Jacko Flat track starts behind the Kopara Reserve sign adjacent to the piles of the old Crooked River bridge. It climb/ sidles around the first gorge for an hour or so and the going is undulating and boggy in places. It drops back to the river briefly then re-enters the push for a rather long quite rough sidle section with lots of ups and downs through gullies and creeks catchments. This bit has a fair amount of quite thick seedling and fern regen in places and bit of care and fossicking around is required to stay on the line. I cruise-taped the worst patches in January 2023, augmenting what others had already done, to help make it more followable. Steve Grossi did some more trimming and flagging down to the Morgan River in April. The track hits the riverbed again just before the Morgan River confluence, then a lovely uncharacteristically flat section of track across a bend in the river to a short stretch of boulders at the start of the second gorge.
The track re-enters the bush here and climb/ sidles along the bush faces through steep, uneven, rocky terrain with two short riverbed sections. After an hour or so of sidling the bottom end of Jacko Flat is reached. The track emerges where the main channel of the Crooked has cut in against the riverbank and your easiest bet is to cross here and make a beeline straight up the flat crossing and recrossing where necessary. The Fords are easy when the river is at its normal level. There is a track down the TL from the Hut to just below Jack's Creek (unnamed on the NZ Topomap) where the bottom entrance has been scoured out. It's not really necessary. to use this and it can be picked up at whatever point you choose to leave the riverbed. Jacko Flat Hut is in a grassy clearing surrounded by small hardwoods, 20 metres from the river. Some people are taking up to 11 hours for the trip from the road-end, but around six is still more common, and should be a realistic time for a fit, experienced party.
The Hut clearing was widened by DOC in 2017 and has plenty of space for a helicopter to get in.
The wooden wall plaque.
Type
Jacko Flat is a standard NZFS S70 six-bunk design with an open fireplace built in the 1960's. The interior walls and ceiling were lined at some point and one of the door cupboards removed to create more space. There is a long drop toilet and water is from the river. There is a wooden plaque on the wall incised with "NZFS Hall of Fame" and the names; Arnie E, Alf H, Grant D, John S, Duncan H. & Nimrod 1977 and Blair G, Ritchie & Parker S. 1979.
Condition
The last DOC maintenance on Jacko Flat was carried out in 2015. A new door and fireplace surround and hearth were installed, the chimney patched, and the louvres repaired. The hut was also repainted, and repairs done on the toilet. The floor is starting to sag a bit in the middle and is a bit spongy near the wall on the north side of the door. The piles are original and untreated, and a few are starting to rot out at their feet. There is a damp patch on the floor abutting the left side of the hearth where the chimney joins with the external wall cladding. There is some buckling on the inner wall lining to the right of the side window indicating water entering somewhere, perhaps from the adjacent window flashing. There is also a bit of water getting in at the bottom of the door stud on the hinge side. The mattresses are quite mouldy due to due to the site not getting much sun in winter. In summer mosquitos can be a bit of a pest. There are no window screens and they probably come down the chimney as well.
Routes
The track from Jacko Flat to Top Crooked Hut was last cut in 2019. It passes through fairly open beech forest initially, hits the river and then climbs up and around a small gorge. After this it alternates between bush face and riverbed sections, climbing gradually towards the headwaters. Top Crooked Hut is up a short (20m) side track from the clearing beside the river at the end of the track (where the hut used to be sited before being moved higher in 1991). The hut is visible from the riverbed on a low terrace on the TL. The track was still in pretty good shape in September 22. Allow around 2.5 - 3 hours to Top Crooked Hut from Jacko Flat Hut.
An old NZFS track up Jack's Creek onto the Alexander Range probably no longer exists in any useful form, although it is rumoured that the occasional bit of permolat can still be found. It is necessary now to follow the Creek and there are a couple of waterfalls that need skirting in the lower and mid sections. The upper Creek is reportedly an unpleasant scrub-bash. An entry in the Jacko Flat hutbook describes a trip down from the Alexander Range tarns taking seven hours, although the party concerned had plenty of stops.
The spur directly opposite Jacko Flat Hut has been used on occasions to access the Lake Morgan tops and Lake Morgan Hut It looks OK on the map but has been described in the Lake Morgan hutbook as having an extensive and difficult alpine scrub band with bluffs from 700-1100m. It is probably quicker and less hassle to continue up the main valley track and use the maintained tops track opposite Top Crooked Hut.
Repairs Needed
I guess there are two maintenance options for Jacko Flat, the first being just to attend to the minor leaks as they arise. The re-piling and sub-floor work would need to happen in the medium term and the piles required for this are under the bunks. Option two is a major overhaul in line with what has been carried out over the past few years on other remote huts by BCT or BCT/ DOC collaborations. This usually involves roof and/ or ridging replacement, replacement of lead-head nails with tech screws, and replacement of louvres with single pane windows. As with many S70 huts there is the longer-term issue of either maintaining the chimney or removing it and installing a woodburner. The latter is probably the more practical option. The most pressing issue however is that of getting the route up from the roadend in better shape. Permolat may be able to pull something out of the bag this year, but if anyone else is interested and has the energy we still have access to a bit of BCT funding for trackwork to help them do this. And oh yes, the mattresses need a major descunge if anyone feels inclined to carry up some mould remover and do the job.
Provisions On Site
There are three billies, a pot, a large camp oven, an aluminium wash basin, a large plastic water container, a stainless-steel bucket, an old NZFS food drum with a bit of food in it, two bench seats, some rat poison, a small container with large staples, a fish slice, an axe, two next to useless bow saws, a broom, a hearth brush and shovel. Under the bunks are 10, 125 x 125mm x 0.9 metre treated piles. The 40kg bag of Eazymix cement left there in 2017 has gone hard over time. There are odds and sods of timber under the Hut.
Jacko Flat is a standard NZFS S70 six-bunk design with an open fireplace built in the 1960's. The interior walls and ceiling were lined at some point and one of the door cupboards removed to create more space. There is a long drop toilet and water is from the river. There is a wooden plaque on the wall incised with "NZFS Hall of Fame" and the names; Arnie E, Alf H, Grant D, John S, Duncan H. & Nimrod 1977 and Blair G, Ritchie & Parker S. 1979.
Condition
The last DOC maintenance on Jacko Flat was carried out in 2015. A new door and fireplace surround and hearth were installed, the chimney patched, and the louvres repaired. The hut was also repainted, and repairs done on the toilet. The floor is starting to sag a bit in the middle and is a bit spongy near the wall on the north side of the door. The piles are original and untreated, and a few are starting to rot out at their feet. There is a damp patch on the floor abutting the left side of the hearth where the chimney joins with the external wall cladding. There is some buckling on the inner wall lining to the right of the side window indicating water entering somewhere, perhaps from the adjacent window flashing. There is also a bit of water getting in at the bottom of the door stud on the hinge side. The mattresses are quite mouldy due to due to the site not getting much sun in winter. In summer mosquitos can be a bit of a pest. There are no window screens and they probably come down the chimney as well.
Routes
The track from Jacko Flat to Top Crooked Hut was last cut in 2019. It passes through fairly open beech forest initially, hits the river and then climbs up and around a small gorge. After this it alternates between bush face and riverbed sections, climbing gradually towards the headwaters. Top Crooked Hut is up a short (20m) side track from the clearing beside the river at the end of the track (where the hut used to be sited before being moved higher in 1991). The hut is visible from the riverbed on a low terrace on the TL. The track was still in pretty good shape in September 22. Allow around 2.5 - 3 hours to Top Crooked Hut from Jacko Flat Hut.
An old NZFS track up Jack's Creek onto the Alexander Range probably no longer exists in any useful form, although it is rumoured that the occasional bit of permolat can still be found. It is necessary now to follow the Creek and there are a couple of waterfalls that need skirting in the lower and mid sections. The upper Creek is reportedly an unpleasant scrub-bash. An entry in the Jacko Flat hutbook describes a trip down from the Alexander Range tarns taking seven hours, although the party concerned had plenty of stops.
The spur directly opposite Jacko Flat Hut has been used on occasions to access the Lake Morgan tops and Lake Morgan Hut It looks OK on the map but has been described in the Lake Morgan hutbook as having an extensive and difficult alpine scrub band with bluffs from 700-1100m. It is probably quicker and less hassle to continue up the main valley track and use the maintained tops track opposite Top Crooked Hut.
Repairs Needed
I guess there are two maintenance options for Jacko Flat, the first being just to attend to the minor leaks as they arise. The re-piling and sub-floor work would need to happen in the medium term and the piles required for this are under the bunks. Option two is a major overhaul in line with what has been carried out over the past few years on other remote huts by BCT or BCT/ DOC collaborations. This usually involves roof and/ or ridging replacement, replacement of lead-head nails with tech screws, and replacement of louvres with single pane windows. As with many S70 huts there is the longer-term issue of either maintaining the chimney or removing it and installing a woodburner. The latter is probably the more practical option. The most pressing issue however is that of getting the route up from the roadend in better shape. Permolat may be able to pull something out of the bag this year, but if anyone else is interested and has the energy we still have access to a bit of BCT funding for trackwork to help them do this. And oh yes, the mattresses need a major descunge if anyone feels inclined to carry up some mould remover and do the job.
Provisions On Site
There are three billies, a pot, a large camp oven, an aluminium wash basin, a large plastic water container, a stainless-steel bucket, an old NZFS food drum with a bit of food in it, two bench seats, some rat poison, a small container with large staples, a fish slice, an axe, two next to useless bow saws, a broom, a hearth brush and shovel. Under the bunks are 10, 125 x 125mm x 0.9 metre treated piles. The 40kg bag of Eazymix cement left there in 2017 has gone hard over time. There are odds and sods of timber under the Hut.
