Mataketake Range
This trip had it all: lush West Coast rainforest, expansive tops, huts both new and old, and the best sunset I’ve ever seen.
Perhaps the best sunrise, too, along with views of Aoraki/Mount Cook, and encounters with kea, and a cozy library.
Despite a full list of participants and a waitlist a few days out from the trip, a final team of four committed to this grand adventure. This was my third stay to Mataketake Hut and fourth visit to Blue River Hut in under two years; I adore the area to say the least, and I really looked forward to showing CTCers one of my absolute favourite places. Hopefully those who missed out will be inspired to visit.
After arriving at Blue River (Blowfly) Hut in under an hour, we claimed top bunks and broke open the tramping treats, only to seal them back up again because we felt we had barely broken a sweat on this incredibly short first day. Down we went to the hut’s namesake and some of us plunged bravely into its frigid, clear waters at a tranquil swimming spot on an otherwise powerful, awe-inspiring river.
Saturday morning, we stashed tents and mattresses in the bush behind the hut, as we had booked bunks well in advance - except for Kristen, who would be tenting at Mataketake Hut’s neighbouring tarn.
About 1.5 hours along a magical fern-lined track took us to the Mica Mine junction, then it was up another 1.5 hours up to the tops. On the way up, we encountered many pīwakawaka (including several black ones, a rarity in the South Island), kererū, riflemen, and more. After lunch at the bushline, we took in the grandeur of the Southern Alps’ tallest peaks, views of the West Coast and Tasman Sea, and a number of idyllic tarns on the two-hour tops travel to Mataketake Hut. It was a bluebird day, and we soaked it all in.
The secret’s finally out about Mataketake Hut - besides being fully-booked with eight people, there were ten others camped by the hut’s tarn, and a few more tents pitched at tarns we had passed on our way to the hut. Collectively, there must have been at least 24 people on the range overnight.
Staying in the hut, however, was luxury. It has its own library of books from Andy Dennis’s collection, but visitors have been leaving their own behind lately. I settled into an account about travelling through the Eurasian steppe for a whole page before investigating a rustling sound that turned out to be a mouse (rat?) eating through some ramen noodles in Kristen’s open pack on the porch. We brought everyone’s gear inside, and then further distractions from my reading were provided to me by Hannah in the form of delicious chocolate easter eggs.
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After a dinner of Mexi Nachos, Michael, Hannah, and I ventured up to pt 1292 for views of Lake Dime at sunset, where we enjoyed an absolutely bonkers light show of colours reflected off the sea and the mountains behind us.
The sunrise the next morning was perhaps as equally as magnificent. After giving it much appreciation, we departed the hut, then Hannah and I encountered six kea five minutes from the hut, at a track-side boulder where they were sunning themselves. Along with the sunset and sunrise, this encounter was among my trip highlights.
Along the tops we went, retracing yesterday’s steps, back down the Mica Mine Track, then into Blue River Hut to retrieve our tenting gear. Then it was out to the carpark and onward to the club hut, where Hannah whipped up a carb-tastic fettuccine alfredo, one for the ages. I highly recommend breaking up the drive back to Christchurch, for safety reasons, as we did with a lovely stay at the club hut - otherwise it would have been a seven hour drive back to Christchurch after the 5.5 hour walk out.
Trip Stats
Carpark to Blue River (Blowfly) Hut: 4.1 km, 1 hr, 60m gain
To Mataketake Hut:
Option 1: Blue River (Blowfly) Hut to Mataketake Hut via Maori Saddle Hut:
14.5 km, 6 hr, 1160m gain
Option 2: Blue River (Blowfly) Hut to Mataketake Hut via Mica Mine Track:
14.9 km, 6 hr, 1300m gain
To carpark from Mataketake Hut via the tops and Mica Mine Track: 18.6 km, 5 hr 5o min, 247m gain
Trip Dates
2024/3/29th-31st: My third trip to Mataketake Hut. I led a CTC trip to Mataketake Hut. We drove down on day 1 and stayed the night at Blue River (Blowfly) Hut. On Day 2 we took the Mica Mine route to Mataketake Hut, and came out the same way on day 3.
2022/10/12-15: Jonathan, Lorraine and I arrived late afternoon on the 12th at the carpark, having come down from Brewster Hut that morning. We stayed the night of the 12th at Blue River (Blowfly) Hut. On day 2, we took the Maori Saddle route to Mataketake Hut. We were hut-bound on day 3 due to a storm - my second storm-bound trip to Mataketake Hut that year! We enjoyed a great tramp out on day 4 via the tops and Mica Mines track.
2022/4/20th-22nd: My first trip to Mataketake Hut. Hannah-Rose, Natasha and I tramped from the carpark to Mataketake Hut via the Maori Saddle route in one go in a rainstorm. We spent day 2 trapped in the hut as the storm raged. On Day 3, we awoke to clearing skies, and we enjoyed a great tramp out via the tops and Mica Mine Track.