Source: NZ Department of Conservation
Luke McLawn is a DOC ranger who works out of Reefton on the South Island’s West Coast. During March, he led a team of DOC staff and volunteers from the Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) Love Our Huts and Tracks programme to refresh the 14 bunk Ada Pass Hut in the Lewis Pass Scenic Reserve. Luke says, “We had a great trip in to Ada Pass Hut this week with five DOC staff and three volunteers from Love Our Huts – Peter, Mike, and Bill.”
Ada Pass Hut is one of the huts on the 66 km St James Walkway, which lies east of Reefton and traverses forested valleys and the iconic St James Station. The 4-night walk is suitable for families looking for a longer adventure, though people also overnight into the Ada Pass Hut.
Luke says, “With a break in the weather, we took the opportunity to fly in Monday afternoon (9 March). Once flying activities were completed, the team got stuck into a deep clean of the hut, including scrubbing all walls and ceilings and taking down all fixtures and fittings.
Over the next few days, volunteers Peter, Mike, and Bill completed an internal hut paint to a very high standard to help brighten the hut. Window trims were sanded back and repainted for contrast. Fixtures and fittings were reinstalled at the end of the paint.”
Other tasks completed by rangers and volunteers around the hut were:
• New front door painted and installed.
• All external hut walls water blasted
• All other external structures water blasted, include tanks stand, tank stand and external porches
• An old coal bin modified to store kindling
• All broken external cladding boards replaced and painted
• All old window latches replaced
• Porch and posts re-stained (2 coats) and netted
• Fireplace spray painted
• All old materials and rubbish removed from under the hut and flown out
• Mattresses scrubbed and hut deep cleaned
• Helipad and track entrances scrub barred
• Barge boards scrapped and painted
While the hut was having its makeover, everyone stayed in tents and utilised a makeshift camp kitchen in the great outdoors. Luke says sitting around in the evenings, after a hard days work was a really cool part of the trip. “We got to experience the Ada Valley, which is a really amazing spot. Working with people is a great way to get to know people, and hearing about the work these volunteers had done with the Backcountry Trust and FMC was great – we all learnt something new.”
DOC ranger Richard also led a windthrow team of DOC rangers up to the Ada Pass to clear the track on Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday, the DOC crew cleared regrowth around the hut and the helipad to allow for better helicopter access. All suitable timber was ringed up by chainsaw and stacked in the woodshed. Some of the rangers left for Cannibal Gorge Hut Tuesday afternoon, and then out to the road end on Wednesday, clearing windfalls as they went.
All in all, it was a great week at the hut, which is now much brighter and fresher. Luke says it was awesome to connect with new people from the wider community and the work accomplished was much more than DOC rangers would have achieved by themselves, “the hut was the winner”.
Volunteers on this project have connected with DOC through the FMC Love Our Huts and Tracks programme, inviting trampers to help give huts a spring clean and a little love. As well as the satisfaction of a job well done, volunteers also get all the benefits of time spent in nature and new friends too!
To find out more, visit Love Our Huts and Tracks.
