Mullins Basin Hut
(Mullins Basin Hut looking up onto the Diedrich Range: Photo Richard Wesley 2005)
Maintenance Status
Mullins Hut has been designated as minimal maintenance. The
Mullins track from the Toaroha valley is no longer officially maintained,
however volunteers have been keeping it marked and useable.
The last maintenance was done in July 2010 and the track is currently in
good order.
Location
Toaroha catchment: Grid Ref: E1447042/ N5237920. Map BV19. Altitude 870m. Mullins Hut
is located at the top end of a large tussock flat in Mullins basin. Beautiful
sub-alpine forest surrounds the flat, with views out over to the Toaroha Range.
Mullins Creek drops from Mullins basin into the Toaroha over a spectacular
waterfall. The basin is a wonderful
spot that is infrequently visited and accessible in a day from the
Toaroha roadend for a reasonably fit party. There is a relatively
healthy whio (blue duck) population in the basin and
beautiful, deep, blue swimming holes. Mullins can also be accessed
without too much difficulty from the surrounding Diedrich
Range tops.
The Mullins hutbook goes back 25 years in just a few pages, although
since being profiled on the site and having the track recut, visits
have increased significantly. There were 11 hutbook entries in 2009.
Access
The most direct route to Mullins Hut from Toaroha valley track, around an
hour upriver from Cedar Flat. A ford of the Toaroha is required and
it is usually fairly straightforward at normal flows, just upstream from the
turn-off sign (50m downriver from the Mullins confluence).
There are numerous large boulders here and it is sometimes possible to jump from one
to the other without
getting wet feet.
The Mullins track starts in the small side
creek opposite the turn-off sign, 20 metres upstream on its TR (around E1447482/ 5239373N).
The track ascends a steep, narrow ridge to
around 700m altitude, then sidles South on the montane faces above the Toaroha
for 20 minutes,
into a dry stoney creek bed. The track restarts
20m up the creek bed on the TR, climbing out onto a small ridge of pink pine and leatherwood.
A short distance further it drops from the ridge into
a small creek catchment, then follows the creekbed up for around 50m. A track on the TR of
the creek leads up through scattered pink
pine and sub-alpine scrub onto a knoll above Mullins basin.
The Hut is visible from here and it is a straightforward 20 minute
stroll up the Creek to it.
Allow around three hours to reach Mullins from Cedar Flat, or six from the Toaroha roadend.
Type
Mullins is a standard NZFS 4-bunk design built in the mid 1960's that had
its open fire
removed in the early 70's. The Hut is unlined and there is
no woodburner or toilet. Water is from the Creek, 20 metres away.
Condition
In 2004 DOC repainted and resealed Mullins' exterior, and replaced some of the framing and piles.
The Hut is in reasonable shape albeit a bit crooked. Water has been getting in under the
door, and the floorboards and studs around it are damp and starting to rot.
A makeshift flashing was nailed to the bottom of the door in 2007 to try and keep the floor
a bit drier.
There is a roof leak somewhere also, and a patch of rot where one of the roof studs meets the rafter.
Alan Jemison says the Hut didn't leak during rain when he was there in 2007.
Volunteers sealed under the door and northern window in 2008.
Routes
There is a great medium-difficulty, round trip
to Mullins from Cedar Flat via Squall Peak and the Diedrich Range (or vice versa).
The track up to Squall Peak from Cedar Flat has been recut by volunteers and is in reasonable shape
currently.
From Squall Peak,
the first Jumbletop
peak is easily traversable, but the second, a small fang at E1445735/
N5240927, has a steep, exposed crumbling rock section on its northern side.
This route is not recommended for the less sure-footed,
or those with a fear of heights.
An alternative to traversing the Jumbletops
is to sidle
under them on the Toaroha side from Squall peak following the 1300m contour line.
Head up onto the flat bench between Welch and Jumble creeks, then
drop into Jumble Creek around E1446290/ N5240893.
From here climb 200m, either directly up through steep scrub,
or in a westerly direction up a gully, onto a sloping
bench, then down
into the middle branch of Jumble Creek. Climb from here up the next ridge
to just below the 1500m contour line and sidle under point 1610m onto the crest of the Range.
A rock cairn and an iron stake
on the flat section of the Range between point 1610m and O'Connor marks the drop-off point
into Mullins.
Head in a SE direction
down a broad face dissected by small streams in some deepish slots towards the basin.
The best entry point into the basin is on a sloping
bench between two small creeks with waterfalls around E1446865/ N5237960.
The alpine scrub band here is narrow and less dense,
and the route through it was cruise-taped
in 2008. The route over the tops from Cedar may require a night camping out
somewhere along the way, or a night at
Gerhardt Spur Biv.
The reverse trip from Mullins to Cedar Flat can be done in
around 6-8 hours.
When heading to Mullins from
Gerhardt Spur Biv, Jumbletop can be bypassed by dropping
from the Biv down to a fork in the headwaters of Diedrich Creek (E1445315/ N5240267)
and climbing directly up to the southernmost peak of Jumbletop (1610m).
The top of this route is steep with
crumbling rock, and care needs to be taken.
Allow around four hours to reach Mullins from Gerhardt.
The upper TL branch of Mullins Creek can be
followed as far as a waterfall around E1446515/ N5237253.
From here it is possible to access the Mt. O'Connor tops via
a small side creek coming in on the TL. Climb to
an altitude of around 1600m on the SE ridge of the low peak of Mt. O'Connor. It is
an easy sidle at this level across the basin under the middle and high peaks, and a
conspicuous bench can be followed over to the low point between
Mt. O'Connor and spot height 1718m.
It is possible to
drop down to Serpentine Hut
in the Hokitika from the crest of the Range around E1445682/ N5236537.
The faces are very steep initially, but provide access to the ridge
that leads down to the Hut. There used to be an old NZFS tops track
down this ridge that had an NZFS survey line superimposed on it in the mid 1980's. Unfortunately,
there is virtually nothing remaining of either route aside from the odd bit of permolat, and it's a
real grovel
getting down this way.
A better route from Mullins to Serpentine may be over the top of
O'Connor and down Serpentine Creek (See Serpentine Route notes).
To access
the upper TR basin of Mullins Creek, head upstream from the Hut
100m past the fork with the TL branch, until just
before the start of the gorge.
There is a rock cairn and cruise tape here at small stream coming in on the TR. The
route up the stream is cruised-taped. Take the TR fork midway up and
continue upstream to where the route
emerges in the tussock in the upper basin (around
E1447205/ N5237440). The entrance here is marked with cruise tape and permolat.
There are a number of routes from this point
up onto the northern slopes of Mt. Ross.
Access to spot height 1520m on the northern spur of Mt. Ross
can be gained through scattered scrub and tussock.
Frisco Hut in the Hokitika
can be accessed by traversing Mt. Ross and dropping down the broad SE face
towards the Mungo. From the edge of a bench around the 1500m contour
(E1447065/ N5234895) an open rocky gut provides easy access down into the
Darby Creek basin.
Climb out on the TR of Darby Creek onto spot height 1510m and
drop down its SW ridge to a prominent tussock
bench on the scrubline (E1446195/ N5234400).
Follow the cruise-tape in a SW direction down through scattered scrub to the lip of bench.
The toilet and part of the
roof of Frisco are visible from
here in fine weather. The cruise tape leads down a small steep gut that drops from the bench.
Follow this down (it opens out somewhat) to where it crosses the old
Frisco trackline, 10 minutes upriver of the Hut.
Take care that you don't drop too far and end up down in the Hokitika.
To get to Top Toaroha Hut from Mullins climb from the top basin
onto the Northern spur of Mt. Ross. There is a flat
bench at around 1460m from where it is possible to drop down into
the large creek draining the East faces of Ross. It is steep initially.
Further down it is a steep rock staircase with a few small
waterfalls further down that aren't too difficult to negotiate.
There is an excellent two-tier rock bivvy on the TL of this creek 100m upstream from where
it crosses the Top Toaroha
track. The remains of the old Top Toaraoha Hut can be found in olearia scrub just below the
rock biv.
To get to Toaroha Saddle Biv from Mullins, head straight up over
the top of Mt. Ross and down the Crest of the
Diedrich Range to the Saddle. This is a very enjoyable
and relatively easy traverse in good conditions.
Repairs needed
The roof leak needs to be located and sealed. A toilet is needed
for this site. Reasonable quantities
of driftwood in the Creek make installation of a
small wood burner quite viable also.
Provisions on Site
A billy, a small camp oven, a slasher,
two can openers, an egg beater, a shovel, a broom, an aluminium bucket, an aluminium basin,
a dust pan and brush,
and a spare slasher handle.
Under the Hut there are three large tanalised posts, two sheets of corrugated iron,
one sheet of flat iron,
and the odd short bit of 4x2.