Casey Saddle - Binser Saddle 

4 – 5 May 2024

A 7am start got us to Andrews Shelter on this frosty morning and walking a bit after 9am. The climb upwards through beech forest soon got us up to operating temperature. By lunchtime we were on a sunny, almost warm, Hallelujah Flat. Casey Saddle is not very conspicuous, but we noticed a slight change of slope angled towards the Poulter River and then some pronounced downslopes as we got back into forest. The stream flowing north from the saddle isn’t Casey Stream but Surprise Stream. After just a few kilometres it shows as Casey Stream on the map. Walkers don’t get to see much of it as the track goes high past point 869 to a useful spur. John and Derek waited for Wendy and Kerry at the old, pre 2015 Casey Hut site, then we walked a further twenty minutes to the new Casey Hut around the corner, well up from the Poulter River. It was 4.10pm, so we’d taken seven hours as predicted by the DoC sign at Andrews Shelter.

The mother and daughter pair that left Andrews just before we did, appeared to be well settled in. Later, a very athletic couple arrived with very small packs. They left Andrews late-morning and galloped along. They carried summer-weight sleeping bags, so kept the fire stoked, wanting the hut to stay warm all night but admitted they were on the chilly side by morning. To encourage others on Kerry’s trips to volunteer to plan the evening meal, he cooked an unambitious, uninspiring pasta and tuna meal, followed by custard, without customary gingernuts. The mother-daughter team cooked oyster mushrooms they’d found on the way in. They knew their fungi and were fully alive in the morning.

At 8am mother, daughter and our four, headed down the well-frosted, long Poulter 4WD, track. The valley was shrouded in patches of mist. The sun appeared over the hill and gloved hands became warm. A 12km walk got us to Pete Stream and up a series of steep tracks onto terraces, then into forest.

A few hardy wasps had decided to hang about as it wasn’t cold enough to go to wasp heaven yet and wasp poison put out in numerous bait stations obviously wasn’t tasty enough. All the stations were empty of fipronil-based vespex at this time of year. The whole circuit is well-covered with mustelid traps too and the traps may have helped kakariki survive in the Casey Stream area. Wendy saw one-such bird. Derek, Wendy and John stopped at a nice sunny spot for lunch while Kerry walked on to get ahead of the faster trio. Derek and John were first to finish the 600m climb to the saddle and after a stop at a nice sunny clearing, they headed towards the road. We were amazed to see bike tyre-tracks on the steep track that had Wendy and Kerry picking their way carefully on clay. Our two athletes made very good time to the car. They’d walked down, gone 2km along the road and were driving into the car-park before Wendy and Kerry reached the Mt White Road. We were: Wendy McCaughan, John Robinson, Derek Gane and Kerry Moore    KM