Brass Monkeys, a Devil’s Den and Lucretia – all from Lewis Pass

Old mouldy monkeys were out and new monkeys were in!

I was on a week’s solo tramp in Lewis Pass and I had been dropped off by the East by West Shuttle on their seasonal service that runs through Lewis Pass three times a week.

I wandered up the Lewis Tops Track late Sunday afternoon. Hitting the bushline I was rewarded with views of the Freyberg, Opera and Libretto Ranges and all the way down to Maruia Springs.

Tarns began popping up everywhere and I had to keep stopping to take it all in. Deciding where to camp was a tough decision because there were so many beautiful places.

Eventually I decided on the large tarn just beyond pt 1561. The evening light on Mt Technical and The Apprentice was magical as were the stars that night while listening to the croaking of the resident frogs. 

I opened up my tent door the next morning to see a little bit of clag rolling through. The Apprentice loomed above the mist and as I walked past yet more tarns, it all cleared away completely.

I snailed up the climb to the Apprentice with my heavy pack. I was really looking forward to the next section – the ridgeline to Lucretia and Brass Monkey Biv looked fun both on the map and from the top of The Apprentice.

I saw a helicopter go zooming back and forth several times on my way to Lucretia peak. From the time and direction of its journeys, I guessed it might have been heading to the same place as me.

I was curious to find out. As I made my way over pt 1605 I could see I was right. Brass Monkey Biv was a hive of activity!

The Biv is certainly in a magical location next to a tarn but unfortunately has had a long problem with black mould on the interior lining and had been closed for months.

The team came over for a chat as I arrived. They had seen me from the helicopter and were waiting for me to turn up. They were starting the build the new Brass Monkey Biv foundations and a new loo (at the time of writing, the new prefab biv has just had an opening day in Kirwee and should be installed in the next few weeks).

From the saddle between pts 1602 and 1605, I headed East. Initially I went down the wrong spur because I was so excited about getting down to Lucretia Hut and into some shade after the hot sun on the tops.

I quickly realised I was in the wrong place when I got to a steep drop off. I reread my instructions and realised I had to be on the more northern of the two descending spurs and had somehow also missed the rock cairns.

There was a well trodden foot trail down the spur leading to the bush edge where markers led me into the headwater forks of Lucretia Stream and then down the true right to Lucretia Hut.

This track was a little overgrown but easy enough to find the markers. Lucretia Bivvy was a tidy and cute little hut even complete with a fold-out table and the ability to lift up the top bunk to allow for more head room. I also had a laugh at the rocket shaped loo. 

On my third day I headed into the Nina Valley. The river was low enough that I just headed straight into the Nina River when the Lucretia Hut track reached it rather than walking all the way down the valley to the bridge.

I walked up the Nina River until I could easily link up with the Nina Valley Track. The side trip I did up to Upper Nina Bivvy was worth the extra effort. While the track was a bit boggy and had a fair bit of tree fall to make it slow, the bird life was incredible due to the extensive trapping of the Doubtless Conservation Group.

I particularly enjoyed seeing all the Rifleman/ Tītitipounamu. I noticed the DoC 200 traps had small disco balls in them. Apparently they are trialing the disco balls in the traps to help attract stoats as there has been some research suggesting they are an effective trapping strategy.

The climb up to Devils Den was a bit punishing with a steep climb at times but the hut is a prime location. I found that the devil had stolen all the water from the tank (Blind Stream is just a short wander through the tussock).

The Den is located under the Devils Rampant on Devilskin Saddle with views towards both Doubtful and Nina Valleys. Again, I found myself enjoying total solitude and had not seen anyone else on my tramp aside from the hut builders at Brass Monkey Biv.

A highlight was listening to the kea flying around above the Biv. If the hut was full, you would need to drop 20 minutes back down from the saddle on the Nina Valley side to camp at the old hut site where there is flatter ground.

Most people in the hut book had come over Sylvia Tops to the Hut and were going out via Nina Valley. 

The next morning’s track down to the Doubtful Valley was a bit overgrown and had a bit of tree fall to climb over and under. I suspect this track doesn’t get a lot of use aside from the trappers.

Arriving at Doubtful Hut I scared the first person I saw – a hunter who opened the door of Doubtful Hut to find me standing right there wishing him a good morning.

Once he had recovered from the fright, we had a good yarn. I decided that Doubtful Hut had to be matched by Doubtless Hut so I could be balanced out on the doubts side!

The climb up to Lake Man Biv went very quickly so I made the extra trip up to Lake Man itself for a swim. This huge lake is beautiful and so peaceful. It is definitely worth the extra elevation.

I enjoyed my last night of solitude because the next day I would be heading into the Hope Valley which I expected to be busy with people especially as the TA route goes up the Hope Kiwi Track. 

My weather forecast before leaving Christchurch had predicted some rain later in the week so I had been keeping in mind about crossing the Hope River but it turned out that I didn’t need to worry because no rain eventuated and the Hope River was so low that I barely registered crossing it.

I headed up the Valley to explore Hot Spring Stream before winding my way back down to St Jacob’s Hut. On arriving at the hut I found it full of sandflies because the people there had left all the windows and door open.

Instead of being a meal for the sandflies overnight and because it was such a nice evening I decided to make a bit more progress and head towards Hope Kiwi Lodge to camp for the night. This Hut now has to be booked because it’s on the TA route. I found a nice secluded area of bush not too close to the hut to set up camp. 

The next morning I headed off away from Hope Kiwi Track and up on the Three Mile Stream Track and back down the route from the hut – interestingly this route doesn’t quite match up with the route marked on the map with it climbing quite a bit more.

I met a hunter near the end of the descent and we had a long chat. I wound my way back around on the Hope Kiwi track and decided to make a long day by heading down past Lake Marion to Lake Sumner.

My initial plan had been to head around Lake Sumner but I was walking straight into a strong head wind which wasn’t very pleasant so made the decision to bail at Breaksea Bay and head back to Hope Kiwi Lodge to camp again.

I ended up cooking my dinner in the middle of the track while being chased down by a swarm of wasps. 

The final day was a very easy and short walk out to Windy Point to camp for the night before my bus pickup the next morning. 

For another Brass Monkey trip go here.