Red Stag Hut

Hunting and Wildlife Magazine - Issue 224 - Autumn 2024

Words By: Michael Wilson

With our recent funding application to the Huts and Tracks fund having been accepted, it was time to begin work improving Red Stag Hut in the Godley Valley. Behind-the-scenes work by several South Canterbury branch members on drawing the application and arranging the required materials meant that we had everything on hand ready to begin the work.

The date had been set a week in advance, but just a few days prior, we received the bad news that the contractor who was to dig the pit and build the platform for the new composting toilet was unable to make it. David Keen, Steve Ludwig, and I decided to make the trip anyway, as there was still enough work to be done.

I was looking forward to my first visit to Red Stag Hut, so I didn’t mind the early start, which saw us across the Macaulay River by 8:30 am. The bumpy cruise up the riverbed track was broken by a couple of short glassing sessions in case any tahr were nearby.

Less than five minutes after we started looking, Dave’s claim of spotting one was met with sceptical comments until he set up the spotting scope. He proved it with a young bull confirmed at around 2km distance  and a long way above the valley floor. Safe for today.

Shortly before reaching the hut, we met a couple of trucks coming down the valley. Branch member Wayne Cassidy, one of the hut custodians, had spent the week at the hut with a couple of mates. Today was the first day without rain, so they jumped at the chance to get outside and look for a tahr.

After a short chat, Wayne pointed his guests in the right direction and led us back to the hut, where we all got straight to work.

We began cutting brackets and installing the solar panel while the others fitted the LED lights inside the hut and ran the wiring. The brightness of these lights is more than adequate and makes the hut so much more welcoming.

After this, we spent some time realigning the current toilet, which was in a sorry state and had become offset from the hole after careless hut users had reversed into it. The new fibreglass toilet was then secured between some of the many large rocks nearby, safe for a later date when work could be completed.

Wayne had towed a trailer up the valley with him, carrying the new toilet and some DOC-supplied fireproof mattresses for the hut. Throughout the bad weather during the week, he spent a lot of time cleaning and tidying up the hut, and his efforts showed.

Our tasks were completed around 4pm, and while some thought was given to a short hunt up the hill, the strong nor-west and imposing clouds that had arrived scuttled that idea, and we instead settled into the warmth of the hut for the evening.

Wayne’s guests arrived shortly after, having sighted a few nannies. However, with a steep gully in between, they had elected not to take the shot. A light snow began to fall outside about this point, but it did nothing to chill the pleasant evening inside.

The following morning, a couple of centimetres of snow lay on the ground as we quickly packed and departed, following through on our intention to be back in town by lunchtime.

As a first-time visitor to Red Stag Hut, the immense amount of work that has gone into building and maintaining the facilities there was readily apparent, particularly with the recent expansion and tidy up. The hut is comfortable inside and boasts a great view, making it a place I look forward to visiting many more times.

Just a few weeks later, I received a call from Dave mid-morning. “How busy are you tomorrow?” “I could probably sneak away. What’s up?” “I've been in touch with the contractor, and it’s all go for Red Stag. Up and back tomorrow. Give Jim a bell to book a seat.”

Jim Kroening, another branch committee member and fellow builder to Dave, had made a trip up to Red Stag shortly after our first visit and was tasked with building a stand and fitting the new water tanks provided by DOC Twizel.

The schedule was set, and the next morning, Jim and Allan Thompson picked me up. Allan is one of our branch patrons and has a long history with Red Stag Hut, having invested a great deal of sweat and effort into improving and maintaining it over decades.

Much of our drive was spent discussing the weather forecast, which predicted heavy snow at an altitude as low as 500m throughout the day. With the hut at 990m elevation, this was a concern.

After a short hop up the road, we climbed into Dave’s truck to complete the journey to the Macaulay River. Wayne had met the contractor Clinton O’Brien (who was towing a 1.4-ton mini digger) a little earlier and began heading up the valley shortly before us.

The river was a breeze to cross, being much lower than on either of the previous trips undertaken by ourselves and Jim; however, within 10 minutes of reaching the far bank and turning up the Godley, a light snow began to fall.

We caught up with the others shortly after, and the rest of the journey was uneventful. However, we kept a wary eye on the ever-falling snow, which had begun to settle evenly by the time we pulled up to the hut.

Aware that time was a priority, jackets were thrown on, and everyone got to work. The digger rolled off the trailer and began to scrape a hole out of the rocky moraine while the others rapidly turned a trailer full of timber into a solid partitioned framework for the composting toilet. This perhaps did not proceed as rapidly as they may have liked due to the biting cold rendering the gas in the nail guns useless.

The battered old long drop was detached from the anchor wires and loaded onto the trailer for the return journey and disposal while the pit was safely filled in. The new setup would provide a more permanent solution.

The snow continued to fall rapidly throughout this time and built up against the hut, the vehicles, and anybody who stood still for too long. A ruler placed on the picnic table showed the depth increasing at around an inch per half hour. This was enough to cause concern, but we knew the job was nearly finished, so it was all hands on deck for the final task.

With the hole complete, we hauled the heavy framework into position before lowering it into the pit and began constructing the top platform. The digger returned to work, building a berm against the sides of the frame. The new fibreglass toilet was fetched and fitted to the top of the platform before being anchored down securely. Then, it was time to load the vehicles and go.

Dave and I had set our handheld GPS units, recording the track before we left the public road, which we were about to become very grateful for as the track and riverbed were now completely buried in more than nine inches of snow.

With near-white-out conditions, there was little we could do but read the course off the small screens, making basic corrections where possible while keeping an eye out for any visible boulders. Hopefully, the two vehicles following in our wheel tracks had an easier time of it.

We continued to crawl our way down the valley, stopping many times at banks to kick snow away until we could find where the track cut through or whether we were on it at all!

On a few occasions, large rocks and slick snow attempted to defeat our progress, but some careful (and some not-so-careful) manoeuvring allowed us to pass the obstacles and continue down the valley.

After almost an hour of near-blind driving, the track began to show itself as a pair of shallow indents on the snow's surface, allowing us to pick up the pace. This was to our relief, especially Dave, who had done a great job safely leading the convoy.

It continued to snow heavily the rest of the trip down the valley but eventually began to thin out as we reached Lilybank and safely crossed the Macaulay again, heading for home.

A huge thanks to everyone involved for their hard work and contribution:

- Wayne Cassidy, Dave Keen, Jim Kroening, and other members who have made many trips to Red Stag and taken time off to carry out the improvements.

- the team behind the application process for collecting quotes, writing proposals, and other necessary work.

- Johnny Wheeler at Lilybank for allowing us to dispose of the old mattresses, outhouse, and other collected rubbish in their facilities.

- and most of all - NZ Outdoor Recreation Consortium and DOC for making this all possible.

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