Ida Railway Hut
Oteake CP ● 15 – 16 January 2022
Described by DOC as a "treasure", I'd been wanting to get to the Ida Railway Hut for a while. This took the form of a bike packing trip, as walking didn't seem feasible in a weekend. The uphills were a sweaty hell, and the downhills used up my entire puncutre repair kit, but all in all it was a very worthwhile trip. Getting supplied with beer and whisky from hunters at the hut probably didn't harm that impression.
- Disclaimer: GPX route has been drawn from memory
- GPX file can be found here
Photos
Looking towards Mt Keyburn. You can see the 4WD track we are going to follow zig-zagging up the hillside
A perfect opportunity to fill up water bottles before a three hour climb
Disued gold diggings near Buster hut
Heading down Guffies Creek
Shortly after Taillings hut. And approximately 30 seconds before our first flat tyre
There is something beautiful about the Otago high country that a phone camera just really doesn't capture
Despite the sign we are not in the Ida Valley. The hut used to be the railway station in the Ida Valley, but was moved to be used as a mustering hut. Ignore the 4WDs...
Another hot, sweaty day
Wire Yards Hut
Once again, the phone camera struggles to capture the landscape
Last bit of tiny uphill before dropping 800m
Looking east towards the Dunstan mountains