Ice Lake, Whataroa Valley 

1-5 August 2024 

Ice Lake is well named. Sheets of ice floating across the surface of the lake, set amongst stunning scenery, tucked up against the Main Divide. Visitors see a barren, rocky landscape, the snow-covered peaks of the Butler Range and a glimpse of the Whataroa and Shackleton glaciers.

A winter trip to the lake at the head of the Butler River has been on the club trip list for the last 2 or 3 years, but for various reasons the trip has been cancelled. This year a large anticyclone settled over the South Island at the beginning of August, promising several days of calm, fine weather. On the Thursday, however, our departure was uncertain after another polar blast dumped snow along the foothills, and closed the road over Porters Pass. By midday, the road had reopened to traffic, and we had a pleasant drive through snow-covered hills to the backpackers at Franz Josef.

After the storm, a heavy white frost blanketed the farmland around Franz Josef and Whataroa townships, as we drove up to meet Liz at the Whataroa Valley carpark. Under clear skies, on a chilly morning, we followed the track across old farmland and through cut-over bush, before crossing the swing-bridge, above the confluence with Perth River. Our ‘hut-baggers’, Peter, Helen and Liz dropped their packs to visit the old Whataroa Junction Hut, which is being used as a base for the ZIP (Zero Invasive Predators) programme. Above the bridge, the track follows the true right of the Whataroa River, scrambling up and down terraces, interspersed with sections along bouldery river bed. Travel was slow along wet, mossy banks and stretches of frosty boulders. Later in the afternoon, James Thornton and Nina Dickerhof turned up unexpectedly as we crossed Burrow Creek. They had made a quick trip over from Christchurch, and like us they were taking advantage of the fine weather, for a trip up Gunn Ridge onto the Price Range.

For the last half-hour or so below Butler Junction Hut, the track is quite rough, with plenty of short, steep climbs and bouldery sections. Some of the party had gone ahead to Butler Junction Hut; Dan, Helen and Raymond scrambled around in the dark before Peter turned up to assist us up to the hut.

ZIP have moved into the Whataroa catchment as part of the Predator Free South Westland programme. The bridges in the valley have predator gates, and occasionally along the track we saw automated camera stations.  At Barrowman Flat, one of the ZIP workers who was waiting for a helicopter pick up, told us about stoat eradication that the team was undertaking. We mentioned that we had sighted three whio further down the valley. Later that evening, more whio were calling in the river below Butler Junction Hut. 

Butler Junction Hut is a warm, roomy eight bunk. The ZIP team have installed a satellite communication dish on the roof but everything was well locked up so we couldn’t tune into Netflix! After a bit of discussion, we changed plans and decided to base ourselves for two nights at the hut and visit Ice Lake as a day-trip from BJ Hut, not Upper Butler Hut.

Saturday morning started with some drama. Liz had lit the stove, and fuel was leaking from the bottle! Fortunately, James had quick reactions, grabbed the stove and took it outside. Once things settled down, James and Nina headed off to the bridge, and shortly afterwards five of us headed off, up to Top Butler Hut and Ice Lake. Dan decided to spend the day at the hut. Once over the Butler River swing-bridge, it’s a steady climb up the track to Top Butler Hut, with a few windfalls and plenty of scrambling up and down steep sections and across creeks. Just over two hours later we arrived at Top Butler Hut, tucked on a terrace on the shady side of the valley. Another cloudless day, and a great location with views up the north and south branches of the Butler River. Crossing the South Branch was straightforward, though we’d had warnings it could be over waist-high. This day the river was very low. The old swing-bridge over the South Branch has been washed away, gravel is building up in the river bed and the river bank near the Top Butler Hut is beginning to erode away. ZIP teams frequently visit this hut, but it was interesting to see in the log book that a number of foreigners were visiting there primarily for hunting.

From the hut, it took a couple hours to reach Ice Lake. The track climbs up through subalpine forest and scrub before opening out on to shingle fans—well frosted this day. Most of the valley lay in the shade, untouched by the winter sun for days! We huddled down by the lake for a brief lunch, taking in the scenery. Definitely not a place to linger. The location was cold but well worth the effort. We retraced our steps and arrived back at BJH just on dusk. Jason was impressed and wondered aloud if 10-hour days was an initiation ceremony for Americans!

The weather held for our return trip down the Whataroa Valley. We stopped at The Twister, a side-stream near Scotties Flat, for a brew and a pleasant lunch in the sun. Late afternoon, we found a spot on the flats at Alf Creek, for a camp and lit a fire to drive off the winter chill. Our timing for the trip was perfect. The weather changed, a cold drizzle set in that evening, and by morning there was a dusting of fresh snow down to the bush-line. Many thanks to everyone for an enjoyable trip. We were: Helen Binnie, Jason Everhart, Peter Umbers, Liz Wightwick, Dan Pryce and Raymond Ford (leader) RF