Disembarking from the Friday afternoon ferry to Picton, we drove to Onamalutu Scenic Reserve campsite along with the Medium group and had a cool, but peaceful, night’s sleep under the trees (campsite fee $10 cash per person).
The Medium group had a much longer day ahead of them, so we packed up and left Onamalutu at 7.15am, and arrived at our Top Valley Road destination at around 9am. Top Valley Road had the usual array of potholes and fords; a small pine that had fallen across the road was re-located by some of the team. We parked alongside the turn-off leading to Jacksons Creek Road (across Valley Stream).
The idea, in early planning, was that we’d be able to drive across Valley Stream and up to the end of Richmond Saddle Road. The DOC webpage for Richmond Saddle Hut doesn’t mention the stream crossing and states the walking distance and time as 6.7km and 4hrs. Being able to drive to the end of Jacksons Creek Road would have saved us an hour or so of walking. But at the entry point to the stream crossing, it was clear that we wouldn’t be driving the van any further. There was a big dip going onto the riverbank; the riverbank area on both sides of the stream was rough, bumpy, and quite extensive. And while the stream was fairly wide and fairly shallow that morning, there was an even deeper, muddier dip to traverse to get onto the Jacksons Creek Road forestry track. Nothing but a large and grunty 4WD would cope with this. We got our feet well and truly wet right at the start of our walk.
So we plodded up the forestry road to the start of the track to Richmond Saddle Hut in cool but pleasant conditions; it took us 1hr 20mins. Our walk up to Richmond Saddle began at 10.40am, and followed the ridgeline most of the way there; we arrived at about 3pm (4hrs 20mins, so a total journey time of 5hrs 40mins).
Rocky outcrops at intervals provided good viewpoints across the Wairau Valley and surrounding terrain, with a good choice of possible lunch spots.
Richmond Saddle Hut is a standard, 8-bunk hut that was built in 1968, and is sited at about 1200m elevation. The Hut is in a pleasant open area, with views toward the setting sun (in May), and the weather was calm. Inside the Hut there were plenty of surfaces for our stuff: a table, a stainless steel bench, and a shelving unit. The sink was outside at a normal level, but the only water tap was about a foot above the ground, so it was a little tricky to fill containers. All the available fallen wood around the hut was very damp and crumbly. There’s a pot-belly stove, which Georgia was able to light successfully. However, the lack of wind and gaps around the sides of the stove meant the fire would not draw. So we had a coolish night in the hut.
We allowed ourselves a good lie-in on Sunday morning. Unusually, I didn’t stir until 8.20am, just when Karen was starting to wonder whether to wake me. Our return journey began at 9.40am. We hoped to have allowed sufficient time to get back to the van and to the Te Rou Road-end in time to meet the Medium group coming down from Mount Fell Hut. And fortunately we had time to spare.
Then it was back to Picton. The ferry left a bit late (7.15pm) but we still arrived back in Wellington at a reasonable time. Good weather, good views, good company: an enjoyable weekend.