“On a Mish” #352 Grandeur on Steroids (Part Five). Upper Rakaia River (Reischek Hut to Lower Rakaia). Canterbury. Aotearoa. 8.10.2022. During my spare time I love to read Hiking, trekking, tramping and climbing guidebooks. It is a great way of getting to know an area and a must if you are planning on heading there. In the Canterbury Climbing Guidebook the way to Reischek Hut is explained and I always dreamed of heading up there. After my hip and back injury in 2020 I had come to the conclusion that I would never see the place with my own eyes, however after an epic journey in my cousins Suzuki Jimny we were only a couple hundred metres away, and a dream was about to become a reality…
After our epic crossing of the huge Rakaia Riverbed from Evans Hut, we were drained. luckily, we only had about a kilometre to go, and we were at the hut. In a flash (due to being on a proper track) we were there and to our surprise there was also another truck there, and this one was a near standard Nissan! The owner of the truck wasn’t there, but we decided that first in gets the hut, and we also wanted to camp again. So, we ventured up and around from the hut and set ourselves up with a view to the top of the Rakaia.
We had established our camp and were settling into our temporary home when a lone figure appeared wandering down the valley towards us. The outdoor world is a funny place sometimes. We had travelled for miles up the many rocks, boulders and stones of the mighty Rakaia to not only bump into another human, but it was also someone who went to school with both of our parents! We had a chat to the fella, and it turned out he was a veteran of these parts and knew the way to the hut well. After a chat he returned to the hut for a rest, and we began to prepare a feast for our last night out.
Early-ish the next day we woke to on and off drizzle, and the smell of a storm heading our way. Our trip out was via the tracks on the true right of the river, and we covered ground much quicker than the previous days. This is the normal way in and out and there are several huts dotted along the way for weary travellers. There is a big reason why 99% of people stick to the tracks and my hip and back were thankful to be away from the riverbed rocks.
In no time we got back to Totara Point however, we found ourselves on the opposite side of the river. Old mate from the hut had left before us, and we figured that if his standard Nissan could cross the river, then we have no trouble. It was far from that simple. We could roughly see where people were exiting but after taking and straight-line approach and seeing the nose of the truck disappear under the water we quickly backed up and realised it wasn’t going to be as simple as we thought. After a few false starts we eventually found a way across, but to this day a still bamboozled as to how old mate managed the crossing!
After the river it was an easy roll back to Manuka Point Station, and then over the Rakaia and back onto Adam’s trailer for the trip home. I felt like I had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and knew I’d be feeling this mish for a while. But with that said the incredible vistas of the valley made up for any aches and pains, and we were both stoked with what we had achieved. The Rakaia Valley is a very special and challenging place to visit, and I highly recommend it for folks who love a good challenge. The mountain views and wild peace is above and beyond your standard grandeur, it seems like a type of grandeur that has somehow been enhanced with wilderness steroids!
