Longview Hut

19 & 20 July 2017

Location: Ruahine Forest Park
Trampers: Chris (Dad) and Ben (9yrs)
Distance: 2.7k to hut

Our walk in: 2hrs 15mins (three 5min stops)

Our walk out: 1hr 30mins (two 5min stops)

DOC Link for Longview Hut

Kashmir road takes you up into the Ruahine Forest Park and there are some good looking camping and hunting spots in the valley on the way in and beyond. We decided to head up to Longview Hut in fine, warm winter weather...not knowing how much snow there would be up there!

The track zigzags up through the scrub before heading along the ridge up and over a few small peaks. We hit the snowline just above the giant slip that separates the track from the hut. Because of this slip,  the track heads up higher around to the side of the hut before dropping down behind it. Here you meet the junction of the track to Howlett's Hut. 

We noticed quite a few deer tracks in the snow here. By this time the snow was knee deep in places, and we were following the poles and some previous trampers' footprints. There's a small descent down from behind the hut where you need to take care, and on arrival we were stoked to find the hut super-clean and a nice stack of kindling chopped up for us. 

As the sun went down it cooled off fast. We had the hut to ourselves so we enjoyed the awesome views from the deck and through the window, and had a feed before whiling away some time playing games. In the morning, we saw a great sunrise over Napier. 

The walk back down was slow as the snow had frozen and iced up, meaning we had to be careful with our foot placement. The sun was warm though, so we stopped to enjoy the views at several spots along the way.