Carlyle Hut, Glenhope Station

25-26 November 2023

We were anxiously watching the weather maps as they predicted a storm leading up to the weekend. Every weekend trip I planned this year has been cancelled due to weather. The final Friday weather update was for showers in the morning, clearing in the afternoon with a fine, much warmer Sunday. So, the trip would happen.

The farmer’s directions were to drive to Glenhope Station and park by the locked gate near the house. We arrived to find one car already there but had to look some 100m away to see any house. I guess that is close, by farmer reckoning.

The farm track headed back towards Carlyle Stream. The farm track, as marked on the map winds uphill to a high river terrace. At the edge of the forest a walking track turns steeply uphill following the fence line. At the end of the fence we spotted some orange track markers as the track dived into the scrub and then forest. Getting to this point took us 1½ hours of “farm track“ walking.

For the next hour we followed the stream on the true right, although the track was steep and quite a scramble in places with even a fixed rope to pull ourselves up at one point. After lunch the track flattened out and we made good time crossing the stream occasionally, before reaching the hut on the true left. The bush was thick, with abundant new growth. We had met three trappers from the NZ Conservation Trust working their line on the way, so we were to have a full hut that night. Later that afternoon Helen and Tania took a trip up to the tops, above the hut while the guys stayed at the hut and yarned.

I had some interesting conversations with the trappers. They said they’d cut a track upstream from the hut. Dinner was “every man/woman for themselves” although Graeme cooked up some apples and custard for dessert. Both groups had an early night.

In the morning there was a ground frost and our wet boots were frozen solid. We had left them outside as the hut was crowded. We all had to stand in the morning sun to let our boots soften enough to tie the laces. The weather man delivered on-forecast—fine and warm. 3½ hours later we were back at the car, ready for coffee and cake at Culverden. 

We were: Graeme Nicholas, Scott Austin, Helen Binnie, Tania Dalziel. [SA]