Location: Waimakariri River, Arthur's Pass National Park
Track: Crow Valley Track
Distance: 23km return
Duration: Overnight
Stay: Crow Hut
About a year ago I moved to Christchurch, and I had done some day hikes, but had not made time for an overnight trip. One of my friends recommended Crow Hut as a good introduction to Arthur's Pass.
The weather was looking a little iffy, but I could not be deterred from doing the hike. I just thought it was the best way to test out my gear.
I started the hike at about 9:30am and within an hour I had to get my feet wet with a river crossing. I expected this because there had been a bit of rain, so I wore ASICS Trabuco shoes for the support and their ability to drain water. I also wore merino socks to keep my feet warm when they were wet for most of the day.
Going along the Waimakariri River is a long trudge over rocks and, depending on the water levels, across a few river channels. The best way to get through this is turn off your brain and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
The problem is I turned off my brain too much and got distracted by some rainbows and missed the initial start of the track. I was still going in the correct direction, but I definitely made the hike a bit more difficult than it needed to be.
The Crow Valley Track goes through beautiful mossy forest with little peeks of Crow Glacier along the way if you're lucky enough that it's had some fresh snow. It can be a bit windy and when I went there was a sprinkle of rain, so my Outdoor Research Skychaser Jacket was great at keeping me warm and dry while still being breathable.
I got to the hut around 2:30pm and started the fire to hopefully dry out my clothes.
Not too long after I arrived, two guys who also happened to live in Christchurch turned up. They were kind enough to share their wine with me, and we had fun chatting and laughing about how they brought wine, steaks, a saw, and two loaves of bread, but one of them didn't bring dry hut clothes because he didn't think it would be that wet... hiking along a river.
Because we had fun hanging out, I ended up hiking out with the guys the next day. It was nice having the company and another brain to make sure I didn't lose the trail this time.
Because of this, and because we were heading down the valley, I managed to cut an hour off my time, even with the guys needing a few breaks from their heavy packs.
Crow Hut was definitely a great introduction to Arthur's Pass, and meeting new friends made it even better.
Gear Notes
Asics Trabuco
Great for river crossings when you need traction on rocks and want them to drain water quickly afterwards.
Outdoor Research Skychaser Jacket
This is my new favourite rain jacket. It kept me dry and warm, and the fabric was so breathable that I didn't need to use the pit zips even when the sun came out for a bit.
What I'd Change Next Time
I don't think I would change much because I loved the experience.
I would recommend others keep an eye out for the proper track when heading towards the Crow Valley Track.
This was also my first time using a 35L pack with an integrated dry bag. I loved how lightweight it was, but the extra fabric made getting items out a bit messy. I think I'd prefer to organise all my gear in smaller dry bags next time.
