Tuke Hut
(Tuke Hut looking up valley: Photo Andrew Buglass 2005)
Maintenance Status
Tuke Hut and the Tuke valley tracks are designated as fully maintain.
Location
Mikonui
catchment: Grid Ref: E1428202/ N5227064.
Map BV18. Altitude 1000m. Tuke Hut is located in the head basin
on the TR of the Tuke River. The Tuke is a tributary of the
Mikonui River, and the upper Tuke is a beautiful, rugged spot
ringed by the peaks of Galena and Dickie Ridges.
The lower reaches of the valley are spectacularly
gorged and impassable and access to Tuke Hut is via the tops.
The Hut is not frequently visited.
Access
The most direct access
to Tuke Hut is from the Mikonui valley via Dickie
Spur Hut and Dickie Ridge. Climb from Dickie Spur Hut onto spot height 1326m
on Dickie Ridge. Head along to the saddle at 1296m and drop into the creek
catchment directly below it via the steep tussock faces. Follow the creek down to just
above the Tuke River gorge. A track exits the creek here and sidles upriver, crosses
another small
side creek, then drops into the Tuke at top entrance of
Upper Tuke Gorge. The track section was recut in 2007.
From here it is river travel from most of the way to the
Hut, easy at normal flows, with the odd bouldery section to skirt around. Some
judicious crossing and re-crossing of the river will optimise travel times.
In 2007 the trackcutters marked a
couple of
fords with orange markers and cut some short sections of track. These
are not well placed and don't necessarily follow the easiest line of
travel. There is a small gorge 20
minutes below Tuke Hut which is tracked on its TL. A swingbridge marked older maps
opposite Tuke Hut was washed away some years back. There is a track of sorts up to the Hut from
the river starting in a small creek just upstream from the Hut site, but it is not well marked.
Tuke Hut itself is visible from many points on the journey up. (Allow 3-4 hours travel from
Dickie Spur Hut, or 9-10 hours from the Mikonui road end to reach Top Tuke).
It is possible to drop into the Top Tuke basin from Dickie Ridge. The faces above
Tuke Hut are steep and very bluffy however, and finding a safe line down is crucial, and it's probably
just as quick timewise to come up the main valley.
Type
Tuke Hut is a standard
four-bunk Forestry tops hut design. The walls are lined. There is no loo and water is from
a small creek adjacent to the Hut. There is some
NIWA gear on site, raingauges and the like, for measuring climatic stuff.
Condition
DOC repainted and resealed the Hut and carried out
other minor repairs in 2004. It is in very good condition currently and has a healthy population
of mice.
Routes
There are a
number of possible routes from the head of the Tuke basin over
spot height 1870m to Ivory Lake Hut that involve
dropping down
the ridge on the TR of the Lake (allow
around 3-5 hours for the trip).
To get to
Top Waitaha Hut
head up onto The Tusk via the faces opposite Tuke Hut. There are some resonable diagonal
benches and lines up through the bluffs. Traverse The Tusk and
Ragged Peak and descend to Top Waitaha via the prominent
spur that divides the Watson Creek and Waitaha catchments
(Allow 4-5 hours for this).
An increasingly popular alpine route is one
from Tuke Hut
to Healey Spur Hut via Galena Ridge, or vice versa. Access to
Galena Ridge is via a long
spur running from behind Tuke Hut up to spot
height 1974m. Access to this spur is via a
steep rib between a little creek just upstream from the Hut and the
larger creek (with waterfall) upstream from that. The rib is on the TR
of the waterfall (a compass bearing of roughly 80 degree from the Hut door)
and there is a small gully running up between the bluffs at the very top
(around E1428665/ N5227080) that allows access into
the hanging basin. Follow the creek upstream through the flat section of the basin
climbing up onto the spur just before where the creek veers right. Follow the
spur to Galena Ridge.
The Ridge is good travel with a
steep descent through broken rock to get down onto Healey Spur. A small
section of razorback after this can be traversed with care. An alternative
is to drop from the ridge onto a sloping bench on the Healey Creek side. Sidle under Healey Spur
towards the Hut. Unfortunately a steep-sided
slot just before the Hut makes it necessary to climb all the way back to the 1500m mark
on the ridge to get around and down to it. (Allow 5-6 hours from Hut to Hut)
Mt. Beaumont is accessible via a number of
routes from the head of the Tuke. In 2007 the trackcutters cut a small section of scrub and
put a couple of poles in to provide access to Beaumont's leading ridge from the upper
basin. From Beaumont you can access the Whitcombe
valley via the Steadman Brow tops track down to Price Flat.
DOC completed recutting this in 2010 and intend fully maintaining it.
Allow two hours from the scrubline to Price Flat swingbridge.
Repairs needed
Nil currently.
Provisions on Site
1 good slasher, 2 flat files, a broom,
an aluminium wash basin, 2 billies, a hand broom
and hearth shovel, a scrubbing brush, candles, and two spare louvre panes.