Newton - Three Passes

Activity Date: 26 Dec 2024
Updated: 15 Jan 2025
People: Finn, Jen

Three Passes is a classic South Island route, but it is somewhat inconvenient being quite an end-to-end trip, probably involving an expensive car relocation. This modification allows you to cross all three passes, as well as the more challenging Newton Saddle and to make it a loop. Ideal.

Day 1: To Newton Creek Hut

There was a good-sized sized carpark at the Arahura and we left the car there with our new steering wheel lock attached. Since it would be there for 4 nights we hoped it would deter any would-be menaces. With the sun blazing and a big trip ahead, we set off!

The track starts as described: across private land. It’s all pretty simple here, although we were already sweating! Once you cross the Cesspool and get a great view of the river (and also a potential swimming spot) the track becomes an old logging road and so is quite wide and well-formed, but often dips down into washed-out creeks and across river fans. There are also a couple of sections of boulder-hopping next to the river but they were nothing to be concerned about.

Having made great time to Lower Arahura Hut (3hrs) where we had a large lunch of Christmas leftovers and topped up on coffee and sunscreen, we powered on, knowing that the harder section was to come.

Speaking of washed-out creeks: there was a short slog up an unnamed washed-out creek which was surprisingly hard work. From there the track climbed quite high above the river - to the point where it was out of sight and almost out of hearing. You cross a completely epic waterfall which comes (near vertical) crashing out of the trees and past you into the forest below. Thankfully, it is not so steep that you can’t sidle through it - although, this would be a less-good time if it had been raining recently.

The turnoff for Newton Creek Hut was obvious and the track descends steeply toward the river. The swing bridge is excellent and the section of track on the true right of the Arahura is picturesque in the extreme. The climb to Newton Creek is unrelenting and probably in the range of 50-70deg at times. It is hard work but over reasonably quickly. From the top, it is a nice sidle and then a quick descent down to the creek before reaching the hut.

We got to the hut just before 7 pm, so still had some sunlight to warm up in after a quick splash in the river to remove some of the day’s dirt and smells. Much too cold for a proper swim, though!

☕️ Cream cheese and jam bagels; watermelon, grapes, and pineapple (leftover from Christmas).
🌮 Ham, tofurkey, and smoked Gouda cheese in a wrap (more leftovers).
🍴 Baked beans (dehydrated at home) and mashed potato (bought dehydrated).
🍫 A hot chocolate and some actual chocolate.

Day 2: To Julia Hut

The day started nicely and we were out the door before 8 am. What started as a track quickly became river travel, boulder-hopping, waterfall-bouldering and cutty-grass-bashing. This continued until we got out of the scrub and finally followed some markers toward Newton Saddle. The view from the saddle is stunning!😍

One of the other trampers at the hut tried to reach the saddle on her own but didn’t make it. We found a few places where it would be easier to progress with a partner to give you a boost or a hand up certain parts.

The descent from the saddle into Dunns Creek was a bit naff: it was very steep, tussocked, and slippery (it wouldn’t be very fun if it were damp underfoot). The travel down Dunns Creek was much the same as the travel up from the other side, but there were a few extended sections of bush travel when the river became impassable. In the end, we reached Dunns Hut after 5.5 hours and were very pleased to see it. It has recently been done up and looked awesome, even sporting a couple of double-glazed windows.

From Dunns Hut the travel was quite nice (if a bit boggy) to the saddle just below pt. 824. The steep descent down to Mid Taipo Hut was a knee-smasher after having just done Newton Saddle but we made it to Mid Taipo in about 1hr 50min ahead of the 2hrs indicated by the sign. Pretty pleased with that!

The track to Julia Hut starts as a bit of a highway, being 4WD width and well-formed. It becomes slightly less nice after the bridge across the Taipo, but still completely lovely compared to Newton Saddle! I was feeling pretty pooped by this point so ate all my remaining snacks for a bit of a morale boost. In the end, we clocked in at 11hrs door to door (with about 1hr stopping time).

The hut was unfortunately full so we pitched the tent, made some dinner (burned both our tongues) and climbed into bed around 9:15 pm. Big day in the office and probably a bigger one tomorrow!

☕️ Muesli & instant coffee with dehy oat milk.
🌮 Tuna, avocado and smoked Gouda in a wrap.
🍴 Dehydrated bolognese with an avocado that got squished (RIP).
🍫 A hot chocolate and some actual chocolate.

Day 3: To Park Morpeth Hut

What a day! We woke early but were slow to break camp, having forgotten about the admin of packing down a tent. We hit the track around 8 am and for the first few kilometres, it was very nice, well-formed and in beautiful bush. We even saw another three whio!

After some time the track enters the creek, but the travel is much easier than anything Newton or Dunns creeks had to offer, so we felt good about that. Also, as with Newton and Dunns creeks, the “markers” are dazed and confused: you should basically ignore them once you are on the river and just go where looks the best to you.

We did, unfortunately, miss the turnoff for the track to Harman Pass. But, we blame the orange triangle on the opposite side of the creek upstream of the turnoff. Crazy! Having backtracked and sent it straight up the hillside to intercept the actual track the rest of the ascent to Harman Pass was totally fine (if steep). The turnoff is somewhere around -42.931793, 171.4153 on the true left.

We cruised along until just above one of Ariels Tarns where we stopped for lunch and also opted to dry out the sopping-wet tent from the morning dew. From there, the travel was pretty straightforward: some boulders hopping up to the snowfields on the East side of White Horn Pass. We put on our microspikes (thanks, Neil and Becky!) and headed on up. We passed a lone hiker whose two friends had absconded to climb a nearby peak. They were intending to meet back up and reach Park Morpeth Hut later (yikes!).

The view was absolutely stunning over both of the passes, and looking down into Cronin Steam was a bit intimidating but the route was actually very reasonable. We didn’t find it at all sketchy and managed to get onto a good trail well above the river (thanks, Remote Huts!). We could tell the route was much better because we powered past a group of three who were battling away down near the creek. We stuck to the true left and kept a lookout for the promised tarn and orange marker to get back onto a track. It came much later than we thought, but we found it in the end. From there it was a straightforward amble to the hut along a well-formed track (as promised).

We claimed our beds for the night, dropped our packs and headed to the Wilberforce for a greatly needed and well-earned clean. We both washed our tops and I washed my shorts, but the sun went down shortly after and they were still damp in the morning (gross).

☕️ Muesli & instant coffee with dehy oat milk.
🌮 Tuna, avocado and smoked Gouda in a wrap.
🍴 Mushroom and cannelloni bean ragu (dehydrated at home) and mashed potato (bought dehydrated).
🍫 A hot chocolate and some actual chocolate.

Day 4: To Mud Flats Hut

We started early, having had very poor sleep and being woken early by the other party in the hut. The climbers got in around 11 pm (pitched their tents) and it sounded like their spirits were high, which is impressive given the epic day they must have had! We headed out feeling good and looking forward to the shorter day, slightly cooler temperatures and lots of time to read our books in Mud Flats Hut. The travel was straightforward to the bottom of Browning Pass, and the zig-zags mostly made sense, except for when they didn’t. When we lost them, we tended to go straight up until we could find another snowpole. The last few hundred meters were very steep and would be quite challenging to go down. They are exposed on loose rock and poor visibility of where to go. We later met a party that was going west to east and the weather was not looking good, so we gave them a heads-up about this potentially challenging/dangerous section.

Browning Lake / Whakarewa is super beautiful but I struggled to get a good photo of it (the lens wasn’t wide enough). The trail goes around the west side of the lake and then descends down to the creek below. The track is all really good through here and we didn’t have any problems, which made for a nice change. The river travel was also pretty good - you don’t need to cross the creek until quite near the turnoff. That said, just like the rest of this trip: you can mostly go where works best for you as long as you are going in the right direction.

We hit Harman Hut at midday, perfect timing for an early lunch (compared to previous days). There we met two hunters who were out for a big trip. We soon trucked on but I was having a sad time with my feet - they had swelled and were starting to rub in new places (tops of my toes). Not a fan! The amazing swingbridge across Harman River made for a great interlude to the second half of the day, too. Then, after some morale-boosting snacks at the junction to Styx Saddle I felt a good deal better and distracted myself by looking and listening for deer on the track (three seen). As we neared Mud Flats Hut it started to spit, but thankfully it didn’t start pouring until after we reached the hut. Great success.

We claimed our beds and were thankful to have been there first because a party of 5 turned up shortly after, and then three more who were at Park Morpeth with us the prior night. Two cups of tea, dinner, a hot chocolate and some chocolate later we were ready for sleep.

☕️ Muesli & instant coffee with dehy oat milk.
🌮 Tuna and smoked Gouda in a wrap.
🍴 2x packets of spicy noodles.
🍫 A hot chocolate and some actual chocolate.

Day 5: Out

The rain blew through (mostly) overnight, so we headed off with grey skies above and sore feet (for me at least) below. The ground was boggy, the forest was damp and there was lots of animal sign throughout the day but we only saw one deer.

The track is super good basically all day except for the same washed-out creeks etc. as mentioned above in Day 1. We powered on, making good time and trying to beat some of the forecast rain. Alas, it was not to be and the rain hit us around 1 pm. We pulled on our jackets (for the first time all trip!) and our backpack rain covers and continued on. The only pitfall of the rain was that the track was definitely more slippery than when we first walked it. This made for slower going in some places and Jen had a good slip on a tree branch, and I was grumpy at a couple of rocks.

By the time we got to the car we were wet and both wished we had invested in a hydrophobia Earth Sea Sky jacket. The colours are not to our liking: they just look old. But, the mid-thigh length would have been a blessing. I, for one, had wet jockeys. Awesome.

We pulled off our wet clothes, struggled into some dry ones and headed home footsore, tired and smelly, but feeling reinvigorated for having had an adventure.

☕️ Muesli & instant coffee with dehy oat milk.
🌮 Tuna and smoked Gouda in a wrap.
🍴 Fish and chips at home!