Day One - Temple Carpark to Campsite in North Temple Headwaters - 5km, 2hrs Day Two - North Temple campsite over Gunsight Pass to South Temple Campsite - 5.6km 7.75hrs, +1000m, -870m Day Three - South Temple Campsite to Shamrock Hut - 24.7km, 10.75hrs, +1170m, -1400m Day Four - Shamrock hut to Top Dingle Hut via Ahuriri Base Hut - 14.9km, 5.5hrs, +860m, -810m Day Five - Top Dingle Hut to Birchwood via Ahuriri Base Hut - 11.6km, 4.5km, +690m. -820m |
I joined up with a Auckland Tramping Club party of four at Queenstown airport and the following day we took a bus to Twizel to do an 11 day tramp from Lake Ohau to the West Coast via the Landsborough/Karangarua Saddle. But after reviewing a worsening weather forecast during lunch we abandoned that plan due to forecast heavy rain and quickly developed Plan B. Instead of starting up the Hopkins we got dropped off by the Twizel Cycle Journeys shuttle at the Temple Stream roadend to do a Temple, Ahuriri & Dingle Burn catchments trip. We commenced our 57km trip walking up the North Temple stream to camp near the site of the old hut. Day two had us scrambling up the rocky streambed to Gunsight Pass and into the South Temple camping beside the stream that drains the slopes east of Spot Height 2126. The following day we followed a similar route over the saddle into the Ahuriri as my 2013 trip but unfortunately this time the weather starting packing in as we neared the saddle. We had a hasty lunch sheltered behind a large rock on the saddle before descending quickly down to the our previous campsite below Mt Huxley before descending thru the bluffs to the valley floor. It was a bit of a slog down the boulder strewn stream to the tiny 2 bunk Top hut before a long valley walk to the well situated 2 bunk Shamrock Hut 10km further down the valley. After a pit day we continued down the valley to the 6 bunk Ahuriri Base Hut and then climbed up the pack track and over in the Dingle Burn and spent two days at Top Dingle hut.
