“You don’t need your teeth to walk out.”
With the Dart Ford uncrossable for our Luna Tops trip in Kahurangi National Park, I quickly came up with an alternative plan in the Raglan Range which was an area that was easy for transport and varied enough to keep us all interested and challenged.
The EM group looked very skeptical when they dropped us off at Wash Bridge on SH63 with no track in sight. I think they were wondering if they would actually see us on Sunday at the Leatham Road where we had agreed to meet them.
I had decided on a more unusual route to get into the Raglan Range. We would be following Wash Stream, where there was a pocket of public land that could get us up to the Blowhard 4-wheel drive road and onto the ridge line. It was a steep climb out of Wash Stream before we had to bush bash through wilding pines, an unfortunately common sight in the Leatham Conservation Area. Luckily, this wasn’t for long and we finally reached the Blowhard Road where we all lay on the ground to recover before yet more climbing. Eventually the road stopped and the ridge became narrower, steeper and more fun as we climbed past pt 1392. There were some fantastic vegetable sheep on this section that looked so smooth they could have been mistaken as rocks, and we had clear views across to the Richmond Range. It was a warm day and we were all getting short of water so we were glad to start dropping down to Silverstream Biv.
The descent to Silverstream Biv started off easy on a scree slope but the final descent to the valley floor was a bit more technical. We chose the true left which when we looked back up, seemed to be possibly the only way down as there was a steep waterfall on the true right. Some of the group were more challenged by this but we worked together as a team to help each other. Tayla, Jana and I found a penwiper on the scree slope and stopped to take photos of it. I’ve always found penwipers fascinating resilient plants as they seem to survive in the most hostile places.
When we looked in the Silverstream hut book, we saw only one person’s entry for the whole year. We had a laugh about how surprised the two people whose packs were already in the biv would be when they returned to find six people camping next to it.
After finding some information in the hut book, we saw that we didn’t need to retrace our steps from the day before but could instead head up behind the hut towards pt 1656. There was a short bush bash before we got out onto open terrain and during this rather scratchy bush bash Matt was overheard saying “who needs skin anyway?”
Once we arrived on the ridge we assessed our different options and decided that following the ridge might be a little tricky so we decided to drop down a scree shute and traverse the alpine meadows below the ridge. This was a great decision as it was easy walking and really beautiful as we had yet another clear day. Once we had climbed back up onto the ridge again, we could see the snowy peaks of the St Arnaud Range in Nelson Lakes National Park.
I had been wanting to do a trip into Bull Paddock area for a long time after seeing it mentioned in hut books multiple times during a trip I had done previously around the Lees-Hellfire Loop. Everyone seemed to be going to Bull Paddock and I needed to know what was going on there! From pictures, the biv looked like it had a great meadow of spaniards outside it. From pt 1836 we dropped down a very easy descent into Bull Paddock Stream for a lunch stop at the Biv. There was indeed a meadow of spaniards. Tayla had said the day before that she loved spaniards and James had told her she should probably get that looked into. But I had to agree with Tayla that while spaniards may not be the most friendly plants, they are pretty fascinating especially when in flower.
The next challenge was finding a way to drop down to Lost Stream Biv. I had read it was a bit bluffy and to try sticking to the true right. We eventually found a little stream in a gut that seemed an option. Dave went ahead to check it out before we all followed. Jana declared she was not walking back up the hill so it better be a safe option! Luckily it worked out perfectly. James declared that Lost Stream Biv was one of his favourite huts when we arrived there just before 6pm. It had great views back up the valley. Tayla had said the day before that she thought we would be getting to Siberia Hut in the dark. While trying to be optimistic, I quietly suspect as much too.
Leaving from Lost Stream Biv we were on a DoC track for the first time in two days. On previous trips I have experienced a lot of tree fall in the Leatham Area and after the difficult winter and spring for the area I suspect that the track might be a bit slow going. We were playing over and under fallen trees for quite a while but still making good progress despite this and arrived at the Branch River a lot quicker than I expected. A highlight during this section had been an unexpected waterfall that the track took us under. We finally made it to Siberia Hut at 9:30pm after 14 hours on the trot.
In Siberia Hut Dave decided that anyone under 30 should be on top bunks and quickly relocated a sleeping bag to the top bunk so he could get a bottom bunk. Tayla had climbed up to the top bunk and decided she was staying there for a while so got her dinner delivered in bed. After dinner there was a discussion about who had the energy to brush their teeth with some people saying they were going straight to bed in exhaustion and Jana quipping that “you don’t need your teeth to walk out tomorrow.”
I had warned the group about the 15km gravel road walk out from Greig’s Hut the next day and that even with everyone saying that they had really enjoyed the trip, I thought they may be rethinking their life choices on the long gravel road. However, everyone was still in great spirits by the time we made it to the Branch bridge where the van was meeting us.
Sometimes a plan B turns out even better than the original plan and as Jana quipped, you may not even need your teeth for it.
Day 1 Wash Stream to Silverstream Biv: 7-9hrs; 1,902m elevation, 13.1km
Day 2 Silverstream Biv to Siberia Hut via Bull Paddock Biv & Lost Stream Biv: 12-14 hrs; 1,764m elevation, 21.4km
Day 3 Siberia Hut to Leatham Road: 5-6 hrs, 623m elevation, 23.8km