A Dangerous Business

Date: 20th January 2024

Start: John Tait Hut (km 1992.5)

End: West Sabine Hut (km 2007.3)

Distance Travelled: 14.8 km

Total Distance Completed: 1847.3 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: Honey in the Rock by Brooke Ligertwood

Rain Avoidance: timed to perfection

I don’t know why I bother setting an alarm in huts. There’s always someone leaving super early making a racket to wake you up. With John Tait near capacity, this racket was magnified somewhat. Both a good and bad thing for me today, because although I have no need of getting ready early today, it does mean I have a lot of time to get ready.

The reason why I’m not leaving early is weather-related. The last report we got in St Arnaud showed a lot of rain up on Travers Saddle in the morning that would ease off from midday. Our plan, therefore, was to have a couple hours of sucky walking to Upper Travers Hut so we could get a dry crossing over the saddle. One slight issue with that: it wasn’t raining. Heck there was even a bit of blue sky. Nevermind, stick to the plan, we leave at 9am.

The air may have been dry, but the ground still showed the aftermath of yesterday’s rain.

A good portion of our time on this section was avoiding puddles and mud, the exact opposite reason why I bought trail runners. It’s still nice to keep my feet dry for as long as possible, at some point that will inevitably change. Our group had separated somewhat early on. I walked with Melly, Matt was with his dad behind him, and Oli had bolted ahead. There’s two main reasons for him doing that. Firstly, I think he just wanted a challenge, but secondly, his plan was to get to West Sabine Hut then come back over the saddle and take Matt’s dad’s pack to the hut to help him out. For those counting, that’s three crossings of Travers Saddle in a day. Yes, he’s one of those people.

Melly and I kept a more reasonable pace, taking time to grab a photo or two along the way, the first stop being Travers Falls which was roaring after all the rain.

Thankfully the sky wasn’t, keeping up its cloudy persona the whole morning. I was beginning to wonder if we had made the right call to wait it out. I knew when we left late that we’d have a late arrival into Blue Lake Hut, but now I’m questioning if it was worth it. These concerns weren’t helped when we came across a stream crossing with a very ominous warning on the bank.

Clearly this bridge had been knocked out a while ago but I always find it a bit eerie when people just abandon stuff when it gets damaged/destroyed by some force of nature. Nailed to a tree was a sign pointing to a detour upstream with a new bridge, but it said it would add 30 minutes onto the journey. Neither of us wanted to take it, so Melly waded into the (very swollen) river. Keep in mind she’s a stronger and more experienced hiker than I am and she had two hiking poles. She got across but not without a lot of difficulty; I had my hand on my hip belt ready to dump my pack if she slipped into the water and I had to help get her out. To me it looked too dangerous, so I started up the bypass whilst she continued on her way.

Adamant that I wanted to take as little time as possible on the bypass, I stormed up the hill, over the new bridge, and back down to the original trail in less than 20 minutes. Right, time to play catch up. I told Melly I’d meet her at the hut, but let’s see if I can catch her beforehand. The track was in decent shape so I knew I could get a good pace going. Following the Travers River upstream the trail rose very gradually. Despite my pace and focus to get to the hut quickly, I could still appreciate the surrounding landscape. The trees began to thin out towards the top and I could see waterfalls cascading down the sides of the mountains above me. At least they were only waterfalls, it could be something much worse if it was winter.

Entering a clearing I caught sight of Upper Travers Hut. Excellent, I can out my feet up for 45 minutes or so and then head across the saddle. It’s never that simple. There always has to be one final obstacle to cross to reach the front door. This time, it was a flooded track. So much for keeping my feet dry, now they’re soaked in freezing cold alpine water. Maybe the fireplace is going inside?

Turns out it was! Hut warden Mike had the fire going and had also provided tea and scones! Talk about trail magic, this far and away exceeded my expectations. I’d arrived not a moment too soon. As soon as my pack hit the hut floor, the rain began, and it began hard. That forecast was getting less accurate by the minute as it kept raining for an hour afterwards. All in all, Melly and I spent 2 hours at the hut waiting out the rain, giving a chance for Team Matt to catch up, Matt sans hat which had been claimed by the river.

Leaving them (and several other Travers-Sabine hikers) to have a bigger break, Melly and I began the last push to the saddle. We were joined by Kai, another German who had just begun walking two days prior.

As advertised, the climb was rocky, rough, and steep. Each step was hard work, going over a mixture of big boulders and tussock-covered soil. There was one highlight of the climb: reaching the 2000 km mark.

Still with 2 km to the top, I raced ahead as much as one can race ahead on this terrain. Head down and panting for breath, there wasn’t much flowing through my head that wasn’t related to the climb. I had some very choice words for a few of the rocks I went over. The track was also peppered with false summits, each one draining a little bit of my energy away. On the plus side, the rain had gone away. Towards the top the trail levelled out, the summit cairn was sighted, and after one final push I reached it.

I couldn’t bask in my achievement for long. After Melly arrived the wind picked up so I started the descent down to West Sabine Hut. Both of us now agreed that we would not go on from there today; it was too late and we were both getting pretty tired. Now on the western face of the saddle, the wind was abysmal, blasting right into my face and forcing me to hunker down a couple times. It was also steep so it wasn’t like I could go quickly and get into the trees. I met Oli on his way back up and let him know of Team Matt’s whereabouts. He warned me that the trail got slippery in the forest and then went our separate ways. Inside the treeline was an old friend: red clay. It was indeed slippery, with my slow patient rhythm keeping me on my feet and getting me down in decent time.

The track evened out near the bottom, with one final steep bit taking me down to the Sabine River and West Sabine Hut.

Unlike John Tait, this hut was very empty. Oli (who’d passed me again on the way down) and a couple of T-S circuit hikers were the only one’s there. It now being past 6pm I thought it was obvious we would stay out here, but not to Oli who tried to tell me I should only have a short break here and them seemed perplexed/amused when I said I was calling it a day here. Settling into another big hut, I’d barely finished my dinner when a very relieved Team Matt rolled in. Apparently Oli had caught them not long after leaving Upper Travers Hut.

So, we didn’t make it to Blue Lake Hut, but it was still important that we get over Waiau Pass tomorrow. For me it was more of a safety thing, do to get over in good weather. Melly… was more focused on the photograph side of things and just wanted a good view to capture. Guess that means a dreaded early start for us…

Oh, one more thing. I dropped off my chocolate bar at the hut for Bevan’s TA Hut Chocolate Challenge. I’ll be interested to see if the concept works, it’d be a real shame if people don’t pay it forward