💾 Archived View for finn.lesueur.nz › posts › boundary-creek-hut › index.gmi captured on 2023-06-14 at 14:14:36. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Welcome to my Gemini capsule. I am a Science and Physics teacher from Christchurch, New Zealand who writes code in his spare time, but would really rather be outside doing almost any type of sport! 🏔 🏃♂️ 🎿 🛶 🚴♂️ 🧗 🧘♂️
Jen and I were looking for a tramp to take our dog Korra on and we found this one not too far from Christchurch! The drive is a little boring, but Hakatere Conservation Park has lots of great walks and tramps, many of which are dog friendly. You've just got to stay off the lakeside tracks and you're mostly good to go.
Because the tracks we were going to follow do not make a good loop, we drove to the far end of the Potts River tracks where I locked my mountain bike to a fence out of view of the road. We then drove back to the start which was up Hakatere Heron Rd. The sun was out, it was hot and no there are not any trees for the whole trip. Bring a hat, sunscreen and lots of water!
Image: Jen and Korra 🐕 ready to go!
There is a minor river crossing nearish the start and unfortunately Korra tried to jump it (while leashed to Jen) and they both went for a swim. Entertaining for me, less so for Jen. The track is reasonably good condition and is mostly a 4WD track the whole way. A creek had made its way onto the track halfway to the hut, but no big deal!
Image: Jen and Korra looking down into the South Branch Ashburton River.
The hut was very cute but it was full. Never to fear, we expected this and had planned to stay in the tent with Korra in any case. It was actually busier than we first noticed, too! In the end the hut was full, there was four tents of people, three dogs and three horses! It was a busy wee campsite and Korra didn't want to make a single friend - instead proceeding to bark and every person we met 🤦.
Image: A beautiful, wide, Canterbury highcountry valley.
To exit via Mystery Lake we started by backtracking approx. 500m on the track from yesterday before turning right up Potts Hut Track which climbs steeply up onto Dogs Range 🐕. It's a net climb of around 420m to the top and its fairly unrelenting, but is over quickly.
Image: The Dogs Range version of the Windows XP wallpaper.
From there we turned down the Mystery Lake Link Track which gave us a truly amazing view of the lake. From there, siddle along the south side of the lake, following Mystery Lake Track track which descends alongside Potts River towards the carpark. The track is good condition, and there is still no shelter or much water available along the way. You could drink from Mystery Lake but I'm not sure I'd be game without boiling it.
Image: Mystery Lake and Cloudy Peak Range in the distance.
At the end I picked up my bike and left Jen and Korra to chill out while I cycled the 22.5km back to the car. Jen ran a 5km around the carpark because she got bored and Korra practiced playing in the water.
Image: Looking up at The Dogs Range and Mt Guy (right) from Mystery Lake Track next to Potts River.
far end of the Potts River tracks
the start which was up Hakatere Heron Rd
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