Trip Leader: Madeleine Rohrer

An early 7 am start got us going to Murchison where we enjoyed morning tea and then drove on to Capleston car park, close to Reefton. What a lovely and mild end of winter day. We followed the nice track along Topffer Creek through the bush which soon started to climb. A short stop for lunch and on we went chatting and climbing steadily until we finally got out of the bush and were greeted with sunshine and blue sky and a thick layer of snow around Kirwans Hut, 12 bunks (1294m). As we brought some kindling and wood we soon had a fire roaring and the coal glowing. Steve and Jane were already there, they had been walking up from Montgomerie Hut and joined us for the night as well as Andrea and Chris who took their bikes along the track for a while. With 9 people in the hut it was a cosy atmosphere.

The beautiful weather continued the next morning and we enjoyed the nice walk to Kirwans Hill (1315m) with good snow conditions and spectacular views. Then we walked back the same way we came in and sat down for a lazy lunch in a clearing. It was a great trip and a good start into spring.

Participants: Kate Krawczyk, Mike Drake, Dion Pont, Barry James and Madeleine Rohrer (Leader/Scribe)