Barker Hut

Up early'ish and off from Carrington Hut, destination Barker Hut.

Fine'ish, initially, but a little windy, but no problem. Rivers nice and low for a few crossings.

Up the White River, around the corner, and eventually we could see our destination, nestled high on an rocky outcrop/saddle, with some way to go. 3 hours 45 and around 9.5km later we reached the hut, after crossing many scree slopes, climbing to get above waterfalls, scrambling over the rocky river bed, and making one dodgy river crossing/ascent as we didn't find the right place to cross. All turned out alright.

And then finally at the hut. Wow! High, isolated, exposed; probably very very unforgiving. And as we got there the weather deteriorated. Winds picked up, drizzle started, so we retreated into the hut for lunch. Very cool place originally built in 1945 and then rebuilt in 1980, sleeps 10, and as I said, I don't think it could be more exposed. The wind (not even galeforce) was shaking and shuddering the hut.

So we had lunch and decided that we'd probably head back down, but first take a walk up to one of the glaciers. As we climbed further into the basin however, the wind abated and the sun even came out. So we had a good old explore, to the point where we made the next ridge, looking down into Burnet Stream.

Made it back to the hut around 4 and decided we were good to stay for the night. Some reading on the Kindle (excellent for tramping), then photos of the wildlife, 14 Kea visited us. And finally dinner. By which time ... the wind had picked up again and the weather wasn't looking so flash. But, we decided to stay and take what the next day might bring ...

Besides, the legs were too tired to start walking back down!

Looks pretty nice in large