From the Toaroha Road end the walk in to Cedar Flat Huts took around four hours at a relaxed pace. The track is in good condition, well maintained throughout and of an easy standard. At one point there are spectacular views down to the Toaroha Canyon, but must of the time you are walking through West Coast Bush. There was one section along the river gravels which may be impassable after really heavy rain. In fact the biggest problem we had on the walk in was leaving the car in a field full of cows. The farmer was planning on moving stock that weekend and had them all in the field that doubles as a car park. We reached the hut at 3:00pm, there were already a few other parties there, taking advantage of the good weather on The Coast.
Looking up to the Toaroha Range, there still seemed to be a lot of snow about, especially on the west face of Mt Reeves, but our planned route looked pretty feasible, if fairly steep. After a quick break we headed off to Adventure Biv. As we wanted to see the hot pools we headed along the true right of the river, the track was fine to the pools themselves, but we then had an awkward moment climbing a slip the other side of Wren Creek that involved carrying packs. (The main track on the true left of the river avoids this issue)
The Adventure Ridge track had been recently cut, branching off of the main valley track just beyond a spectacular swing bridged gorge. It took an hour and a half of continuous steady and sometimes steep climbing, all on tree roots to reach the biv itself, hidden at the start of the tussock.
The biv itself is on the smallish side and given the great weather we camped on a tussock flat just outside of it. It is however, clean, dry and in good condition and would provide great shelter if needed. The view from the biv is fantastic, with great views across to the (still snow covered) tops of the Diedrich’s Range and behind the biv up to Mount Reeve’s and the Toaroha Range.
The next morning, the weather didn’t look so bad at first. One of those mornings where the cloud is very thin and it looks as if it will be burnt off by the sun. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Shortly after starting our ascent towards Mount Reeve’s the weather closed in completely and we were soon walking in 50m visibility with heavy drizzle. Heading up beyond the scrub zone, we encountered loose slabby snow poorly attached to the tussock beneath. Going on in these conditions was out of the question.
We turned back and descended to Cedar Flats. It rained most of the day and everybody apart from one couple had already left. We spent a lazy afternoon at the hut and took advantage of the recently dugout hot pool in the evening.
The walk out the next day was in continuous heavy drizzle and correspondingly it was completed somewhat quicker than the trip in. It briefly stopped raining in Hokitika, but the sun only really came out once we got to the other side of Arthurs Pass.
