On the 1st of October 9 hikers from the Christchurch Wilderness hiking set off to follow the Waimakariri river 15km up to the Carrington hut.
The weather was good and the river level not to high. This is an easy walk to complete close to Arthurs pass village, the starting point if the river level is low enough to cross is opposite Klondyke corner rest area. There is a unsealed road that goes for over a kilometre and can save time and distance on the walk, but if the river is not crossable and is unsafe to do so then this needs to be started at the Eastern side of the Waimak bridge prior to Klondyke corner. Below is some pics & videos of our journey:
Below: The starting point, the cars are in the distance and the river hot on our heels.
Below: Heading to our first hut between Turkey flats & the Anti-crow.
Below: The Anti-crow hut, a great place to stop for lunch, also a great little 6 bed hut with a fireplace and not to far in.
Below: Lunch in front of the Anti crow.
Below: A short video showing the river crossings that you could expect:
Below: Just short of the Carrington hut.
Below: The Carrington hut, this is a 36 bed hut located 15km walk up the Waimakariri from the Klondyke corner carpark. It is almost like two 18 bed huts have been joined at the middle room, 1 with a fireplace the other without, we took the later as there were already 2 guest here on ou arrival and we thought we would allow them their privacy. A great night was had in this hut with card games (Cards against humanity, Pictionary) and great company with a lot of laughs.
Below: The Christchurch Wilderness Hiking crew that were a part of this hike. About to set off back towards the cars.
Below: We decided to stick entirely to the river on the return trip and zigag our way across the Waimakariri river, a bit of rain overnight seen the river level rise slightly from the previous day.
Below: More river crossings.
Where possible we stuck to the true left of the river on the return journey, this is a good weekend hike to do but beware, walking for hours on these rocks you will end up with sore feet as we all experienced.
This was a very enjoyable weekend with the excellent company, for more info on the Carrington hut copy & paste the link below:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/canterbury/places/arthurs-pass-national-park/things-to-do/huts/carrington-hut/
If you would like to join up and come on an event with the CWH group then click the link on the menu bar.
