25-28 February 2019

Leader: Chris Keating

The Three Passes Trip is one of New Zealand’s classic tramping trips. It takes you from the Canterbury side of Arthurs Pass to Lake Kaniere just inland from Hokitika on the West Coast.

There were 8 of us on the trip. We gathered at Arthurs Pass, staying for a couple of nights at the very comfortable Christchurch Tramping Club Hut, and moving one of our 2 cars to the West Coast side on the day in between. Two car trips the following morning transported us all to the south side of the Waimakariri River for the start of the trip. We were able to leave the second car at the nearby Bealey Hotel carpark. After 6 hours of pleasant travel up the Waimakariri River we arrived at the 30 bunk Carrington Hut. Apart from the sand flies this was another very comfortable place to be.

The following morning we headed up the Taipoiti River on a nice sunny day. The scenery was getting very alpine and at one point we had a view up the White valley to the CMC’s Barker Hut perched on what looked like a cliff top with the White Glacier above. We carried on up through the rocky Taipoiti Gorge to the grassy slopes above that led us to Harman Pass at 1321m, and the Arial Tarns just over the other side. We were now on the West Coast. Climbing out of the Taipoiti GorgeThe route from here up to Whitehorn Pass starts as a wide rocky gully and gradually narrows and twists and turns and gets steeper, passing a number of large permanent (but melting) snow patches. We had ice axes with us but could have got by without them. Forty years ago the permanent snow was most of the way down this valley. The danger of falling on the snow was minor – the real danger in that valley was the potential for serious rock fall from the steep slopes above on either side.

We were on the rocky Whitehorn Pass at 1753m around 2pm. This is the highest point on the trip. The Cronin Glacier teeters over the edge of the cliffs on the western side just beyond the pass. Dropping down the zig-zag track on the steep scree slope on the other side of the pass, we were now back in Canterbury. The steepness eases off quickly, the valley opens out and the track goes through scrubby bush on the true right of the Cronin Stream above a gorge in the river. We arrived at Park Morpeth Hut late afternoon. It had been a bright, sunny, very scenic, memorable day! Park Morpeth Hut sleeps 6 but we were the only ones there and we managed to fit all 8 of us on the two sleeping platforms. If we had been wise and not so deadline-conscious we would have stayed another night at here at Park Morpeth.

The weather forecast for the next day was not good but we decided to carry on and headed up the Wilberforce River in light norwesterly rain. The trip up the Browning Pass zig-zag track was straightforward through the alpine scrub and tussock but it leads out into a very steep scree slope towards the top. We made our way up this slope very carefully and with some effort. A marker and some cairns then lead us on to a steep track on solid ground and this took us over the last awkward section and on to Browning Pass at 1411m. Over the pass we were again back on the West Coast.

It had rained on us lightly all the way up to the pass and as soon as we stepped on to the pass we got hit by a strong, cold Norwesterly wind. We moved quickly away from the pass to a less windy spot, put on storm gear, gobbled snacks and quickly moved off on the grassy shore around Lake Browning. The mist was coming and going and at times we could not see the lake. When it cleared a bit we could see the waves on the lake generated by the wind.It continued to rain lightly on us as we dropped down to the Arahura River which flows out of Lake Browning, and fortunately the wind dropped off quickly as we descended. A straightforward trip downriver followed by a sidle on a bush track high above the river on the true left took us to Harman Hut. We were alarmed to find 4 DOC workers and another tramper staying at the hut as we were cold and wet and had ideas of staying there.

Over a late lunch at the hut we decided to split the group and Owen, Marian, Steve, and John Sturgess moved on to Grassy Flats Hut in the Styx Valley arriving there a bit after 6pm. Glenda and I, John Glover and Sue stayed at Harman Hut occupying two bunks and two spots on the floor. One of the DOC workers had moved out to a tent to give us a bunk and more space and we had a pleasant evening chatting with the group.

Our last day was clear and sunny and we had a long but enjoyable trip out above the Arahura River, over Styx Saddle, lunching at Grassy Flats Hut, then following the Styx River trail all the way to the car park near Lake Kaniere. The others were ahead of us and John S and Steve completed the car shuffle and then picked us up. Sue, Glenda and I headed for Arthurs Pass and the others did a backpacker stay in Hokitika before returning home the next day.

Those on the trip were:

Chris Keating, Glenda Robb, Owen Cox, Marian Cox, Sue Pate, Steve Hudson, John Sturgess, and John Glover