I always knew that the walk to Angelus Hut could throw up challenging weather at any time of year.
I had checked the weather forecast prior to leaving St Arnaud as the local Department of Conservation office was closed due to it being Anzac Day. The weather promised a window of opportunity for the morning, plus the following morning - I figured I would easily make the hut before the worst of it came in and be out before it came in again.
It always pays to prepare for the worst!
Having lived in the remote St Arnaud area for several years, I was well aware of her temperament; of the stories told to me by DoC employees of tourists being plucked from Robert Ridge in bad weather, wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. The rescue helicopter is kept busy in the Nelson Lakes region. I had also experienced first-hand how quickly the conditions could change, having been a regular runner on the local trails - starting in sunshine and having to re-trace my steps due to summer snow falling!
As I walked further up the famous Pinchgut Track, with expansive views over Lake Rotoiti and beyond up the Wairau Valley, I was aware of the drop in temperature.
I added a merino layer when I arrived at Relax Shelter and eyed up the bank of cloud ahead of me.
It’s a world within a world up there on the Robert Ridge. The track takes you past the old Mt Robert Ski Area, that still houses the original buildings of the once popular field which operated until 2003, eventually being replaced by Rainbow Ski Area across the lake on the St Arnaud Range, due to more abundance of snow on the opposite range.
The Mt Robert Ski Area buildings are now owned by a group of families.
I admired the stunning terrain surrounding the Robert Ridge as I plodded steadily onward towards the jagged, narrow ridge characteristic of the last hour or so of the hike into Angelus Hut. This part of the trail is notable for jagged rocky outcrops and scree slopes which you must skirt across. In high winds, ice and snow, this can be a treacherous spot and is not a place to be exposed to the elements for long on a cold day.
The track follows the ridge until it intersects with the turn-off down the Speargrass Route to Speargrass Hut. This is often used as a safer/easier option than the ridge, to approach or descend and is well-known to be boggy, with numerous stream crossings. I was hoping at all costs to avoid a descent of this route the following day, but did use the saddle as a ‘barometer’ the next day to assess the likelihood of a successful ridge exit.
Track times can be confusing.
The Department of Conservation guides say to allow 6 hours for the walk via Pinchgut, into Angelus Hut. Even though I am no longer speedy, I am certainly no slug, and find that I am generally much quicker than established DoC track times. This day, however, I was crawling along. By the time I got the the Speargrass turn-off, the weather had completely packed it in; snow was falling; the wind was howling and I was seriously wondering what the f @#$ k I was doing out in the elements, like an idiot, in an area I well knew to be extremely changeable and on my own. Ah well … keep plodding! I knew I was close to the hut and that I could warm up and eat and that things would be fine the next day.
Well … hopefully!
Angelus Hut thankfully sits in a basin surrounded by peaks and on the shores of the most stunning set of alpine lakes. It would usually be a little more sheltered from the weather, but not on this day. I simply could NOT see the hut - I was walking in total white out in now horizontal snow, my hair had frozen, my hands were freezing and I was over it! When I did eventually roll into the modern DoC building, I felt like a cowboy from an old western movie; in a howling wind that blew all the weather into the first vestibule, I entered to the cold-hard stares of every other person in the room.
I could see they had all arrived well before I had, and I felt like the outlaw who had just ridden into town.
I claimed a bunk, stripped off my wet clothing and set about gathering wood to feed a dwindling fire. What is it about people and fires in huts?! It seems to me that everyone is always either happy to leave it up to someone else, or they think it is a hut wardens job to maintain the fire for them! I dragged up a bench and sat myself right next to the fire, warming my cold feet, drying off my hands, gloves, hat, boots and my now hanging-above clothing. Outside the weather deteriorated even more and people began to discuss options for leaving the following day. I started to wonder if we would be able to leave the following day and realised I did not have enough food or gas for such an unintended extension to my visit! Ruben (hut warden) warned us all that Speargrass would be the favoured route down in the morning, with weather set to get even worse. I quietly cursed myself for lugging up an extra couple of kilo’s of camera equipment, in the hope I could shoot some night shots or get some images of the hut and lake. It seemed it was not going to happen, that is until everyone went to bed (at around 7.30pm!) and I stayed up with one other older couple, reading and enjoying the relative solitude. Suddenly we were aware of the lack of noise from outside.
It had stopped snowing and the sky opened up briefly to reveal stars and a bright moon.
I ventured out into the cold in the hope that I could shoot some astro, but it was still windy - not as bad at all as what it had been. I managed one long exposure shot, lit up by the bright full moon.
It was simply breath-taking.
The next morning I was up well before sunrise, taking advantage of reduced winds and a sky that promised some colour.
I decided to wait for Ruben’s updated weather forecast
and I ended up being one of the last to exit the hut. The weather was apparently going to be vastly improved until around 4 pm, when another system would come through with high winds and snow. We had woken to an icy world that morning; bitterly cold, and I was not looking forward to walking the Speargrass route - the route that everyone else apart from one group of three, had decided to walk. I figured I would make a decision at the Speargrass-Robert Ridge turn-off, where I would have a much better idea (and view) of what conditions would be like along the ridge.
The views were simply out-standing on this morning; Lake Angelus looked pristine with a crisp layer of snow and ice on the surrounding tussock and thinly snow-clad mountains above, but with rapidly approaching clouds I knew the views would not last long. Within 30 minutes, I was back to walking in horizontal snow and wind, and cursing DoC’s so-called good weather window forecast! On the saddle I waited for one person who had left the hut behind me, just to let them know I was going to descend via the ridge anyway and they could join me if they liked. Right at that moment a man appeared looking like a cross between Bear Grylls and Grizzly Adams, up from the Speargrass route. “Don’t go down that way” he boomed at me through the howling gale, his sodden gaiters flapping about his calves in the breeze, “it’s bloody icy - your’e best to go along the ridge!”. I thought of all the people, including a family with two teenage kids, who were heading down the Speargrass route, with their nylon tops and running shoes. Jeepers….
Mountain-man disappeared down towards Angelus and I could see the last person to leave the hut, coming down the track towards me. She soon caught up and we descended together through unbelievably vile weather, before she decided to take a rest at Relax Shelter, some 40 minutes from the Mt Robert carpark. I decided to box on - eager to get out of the clothes I was in, and to head back south.
I must admit, it was really good descending together, as some of the more exposed scree and rocky areas along the ridge were caked in snow and ice; I had a locater beacon - she didn’t. You can never under-estimate this part of the track in crappy weather.
Wild File:
Angelus Hut (1650m) sleeps 28 people in two bunk-rooms. It has a decent-sized deck that surrounds half of the building and a hut wardens residence tacked onto one corner. It has a small fireplace and has wood delivered by helicopter. The hut over-looks the large tarn known as Lake Angelus and there are actually several tarns up there including the large Hinapouri Tarn which sits en-route to Maniniaro (Angelus Peak - 2075m). There are six clean toilets set away from the hut and a vestibule upon entry to the hut itself where packs and boots can be stored, along with close access to the stored firewood near the hut entrance.
The windows are double-glazed, but I still found myself feeling very cold and the fire was inadequate at heating the hut unless it was kept well-fed and roaring. There are several approaches to the hut; Robert Ridge (the most popular); Speargrass (the easiest); Mt Cedric Track (from Sabine Hut - up a steep spur); and the Cascade Track (from Coldwater Hut - up a steep stream valley). All approaches are about equal in terms of walking time (around 6-7 hours according to DoC times), but vary a lot in terms of distance, indicating the difficulty of each track.
You need to take gas and all cooking equipment, and toilet paper! I also recommend a small child’s hot water bottle (yes - a hottie), as it WAS very cold.