Gabriel Hut—Jollie Brook

9-10 March 2024

Having watched the long-term forecast slowly change over the week from cool and cloudy to warm and sunny we knew the trip would be a goer. When we arrived at the car park on the Lake Sumner Road we saw five cars there. Six cars, seven bunks told us we should carry tents and sleeping mats!

We crossed the Hurunui on the swing bridge and headed up the true left towards Gabriel Hut—John told us it was also called the rats’ nest. The track was well marked with orange poles, as it climbed over river terraces and wound through scrub. Arriving at Gabriel Hut we decided to take the 20-minute diversion to Lake Sumner for lunch. Along the Hurunui flats we encountered a large wasp population, but no one was stung. Then Graeme managed to get stung by a bubble bee at the lake. After lunch we pushed on up the gentle climb through beech forest to Gabriel Saddle. Soon we were descending into the Jollie Brook. The hut was across a swing bridge and to our surprise, totally deserted. Inevitable comments about lugging tents ensued.

Dinner was a mixture of various freeze-dried meals, followed by Graeme’s chocolate brownie cake, which is heavy on sugar and butter, but everyone survived.

We were away soon after 8am on the Sunday morning, following the river and cris-crossing downstream towards the big Hurunui River. Jollie Brook was low and unexpectedly warm. At about 11:30am we arrived at the turn-off back to the car park and re-followed the Hurunui up-stream on a rough track through scrub, arriving back at the car about 1:30.

This was a good, easy-moderate trip with all the basics: a couple of real, traditional huts, swing bridges, forest, grassland, scrub, lots of river crossings, warm sunny weather and good company. We were:
Graeme Nicholas (leader), John Robinson (photographer), Derek Gane, Ian Beale and Eileen Mackie. GN