Saint James Walkway 2-6 January

Left one car at Lewis Pass / Cannibal Gorge carpark, then took the other two cars to the Boyle River carpark. Boyle River - Boyle Flats Hut (sandflies!) - Anne Saddle - Anne Hut - Waiau River - Christopher Hut - Adda Pass - Cannibal Gorge Hut - Lewis Pass.

Tuesday, 02 January 2018

The Saint James walkway is in yellow.

It was rather hot going up the Boyle River

We could see cattle in the distance on the other side of the river

Marian is keeping her feet dry but Owen just waded across the river

We back tracked down river a bit to look at Magdalen Hut

Magdalen Hut - a really nice little hut!

Sue pretending she's the owner-occupier!

Rokeby Hut - tidy little 3 bunk hut

Approaching Boyle Flat Hut after a very hot walk up the Boyle valley

Boyle Flat Hut - nice hut but terrible sandflies!

Just heading off again from Boyle Flat Hut next morning

It was nice to get the packs off every now and again!

The Upper Boyle Valley

It was nice to get the feet wet!

The climb to Anne Saddle is just coming up in the bush on the right

Anne Saddle is the highest point on the walkway

Dropping down into the Anne Valley

Time for a short nap after lunch before carrying on in the heat

Chris and Glenda contemplating the world!

Still in the Anne valley - the Henry is the next valley coming up and Anne Hut is to the right

Approaching Anne Hut

Is this the American West?

Anne Hut - very spacious and modern

We all went out in the evening to watch a storm brewing over Molesworth Station country

The storm did not bother us and we were away in fine hot weather again the next morning

Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashfull ... just kidding!

Civilisation was not far away

The Christopher Valley with the Southern Alps main range and Fairie Queene in the distance

Marian and Elisabeth arriving at Christopher Hut

Christopher Hut

We decided to take a short side trip to Lake Paget

The historic Christopher Cullers Hut

Lake Paget is in the trees centre right of picture

Oops - not many raincoats between us and the weather was closing in behind us!

Lake Paget - very scenic

And then it started raining!

Next morning at Christopher Hut after drying out from the wet excursion to Lake Paget

Ada Pass Hut - we stopped here for lunch after tramping in the rain

Cannibal Gorge Hut - a bit further down valley from Ada Pass

Getting ready to leave next morning

DOC are very hazard-conscious! A number of the gullies coming down into Cannibal Gorge had these signs.

The last swing bridge across the Maruia River - Lewis Pass is not far away