A jaunt to Cameron Hut

Club trip A jaunt to Cameron Hut

View Larger Image Cameron Hut at night with Southern Cross just above the horizon. It's a tidy 9-bunker and this night it was packed. It was a long weekend after all. Couple of student climbers, also from Dunedin, slept outside in a tent.

Tramping solo on a club trip and later on meeting friends from your town, that you normally tramp with on other club trips? Yes, that was one of those trips with surprises.

Last labour weekend our club ran two trips – the main one was a biking trip, that proved to be rather popular. But not everybody is keen on biking, so three of us ended up going tramping. Though the other two wanted to stay in a campground and do daywalks, while I was more inclined to do an overnight trip in the same area. With a bit of planning it proved to be no problem, and reasonably early on Saturday I was walking up Cameron Valley near Lake Heron. Not long after I caught up with a group of four other people. To everyone’s big surprise three of them were our club members.

It turned out to be a brilliant trip. The weather improved for the most of the weekend, the evening light was lovely, and Milky Way was shining bright across an early morning sky. After all, see for yourself. If you want more photos, check out the full album, interactive 360 panorama, or a short video slideshow.

We got closer to the terminal face. But the temperature dropped and the breeze got unpleasant, so we decided to turn around. It was also time to start thinking about dinner.

I forgot how thick the matagouri was in places until I walked back down. You really think twice before pushing through overgrown places on the track. It was always a relief to see sections where this prickly monster was well cut back.

Next day I explored the area for a bit and then just walked out to catch my pick up. Another stunning day.

The climbers got up before the dawn to get ready for their climb of Mount Arrowsmith. So I also got up and photographed Milky Way - this time in the East.

Early in the night the Milky Way set behind the mountains.

Cameron Hut at night with Southern Cross just above the horizon. It's a tidy 9-bunker and this night it was packed. It was a long weekend after all. Couple of student climbers, also from Dunedin, slept outside in a tent.

Evening light became soft and gently tinted. You are looking at an unnamed peak in Wild Mans Brother Range, just above the hut.

This area is also popular with hunters. Animal scull in this picture is just on top of a moraine pile by the hut.

Near the hut we caught up with couple more friends who walked slower. They were enjoying the valley so much that they even took couple of unplanned detours to explore it more thoroughly. They were pretty exhausted by then and happy to see the hut.

Descending on soft snow was quick and easy. The shadows started getting longer.

Cameron Glacier terminal face.

Detail of Cameron Glacier.

Cameron River and first view of the head of the valley. As you can see at this point still hiding in low cloud.

Looking downstream from The Carriageway you can just about see a green spec on the right which is the hut.

All that low hanging cloud burned off and by now we had just a gorgeous blue sky in most directions.

We went for a little stroll along The Carriageway. The scenery is spectacular.

Cameron Hut is built on a glacial moraine. It's an awesome place if you want to climb some of those surrounding peaks.

Large cairn by Cameron Hut, The Carriageway, Cameron Glacier, and Arrowsmith Range.

Believe it or not, these are my friends from Dunedin. None of us had a faintest idea we would meet here.

Head of Cameron Valley. By now the glacier is becoming obvious and so is The Carriageway that takes you above its terminal face. You can check out an interactive 360 panorama from this spot here.

Tussock and more matagouri. Sticking to the track in places like this makes the travel easier.

River flats from the high terrace. I spoke with some other trampers who tried walking through the gorge that day, but they gave up and climbed out of it at some point. So following the poled route seems like a sensible idea.

River flats with tussock and matagouri. The latter being one of the main features of the trip. Further up the valley it gets less prominent and even partially replaced by Spaniards.

Tomas Sobek is an Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club member in Dunedin. He shares his images freely on his website.

Club trip A jaunt to Cameron Hut

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