Boundary Creek Hut - Dogs Range - Mystery Lake

18-19 Feb 2023

Three headed to the Hakatere Conservation Area to tramp into Boundary Creek Hut for the night. The DoC sign said 14km, 5 hours. The track was along an old stock track used by musterers over the years. The hut was a welcome sight, nestled in behind a hill and alongside Boundary Creek.

First priority was a cup of tea, and Diane soon had the water boiling. A quick dip in the creek later was extremely refreshing. The hut is quite roomy with good bunks but typically for farm huts, it has a single skin of corrugated iron, so is sure to be cold in winter. The South Branch of the Ashburton River flows through a narrow gorge below the hut and is well worth a look.

Sunday, we were up reasonably early and started climbing another musterers’ track to the ridge behind the hut, before dropping down to Mystery Lake. This leg was 19km and took 7¼ hours. That put us in sight of Lake Clearwater, then it was a matter of walking back to pick up the Te Araroa Trail near Mt Guy and back to the intersection that we had seen the day before.

We were in no hurry and had many stops to admire the amazing views. I think we were all happy to see the car after a rather long, hot at times, second day. After a stop at Hakatere Station for one last cuppa, we headed for home.

Thank you, Diane for leading us on such an interesting tramp and pointing out the mountains you have climbed. 

We were: Diane Mellish, Jax Morren and John Robinson. [JR]