SCAMPER TORRENT & LOWER WAITAHA TRACKS

West Coast, September 2021

THE MIGHTY WAITAHA RIVER

​Scamper Torrent has a name that evokes the burbling mountain stream it is – a  tributary of the mighty Waitaha River. In its headwaters lies the tidy 4-bunk Scamper Torrent Hut, which is accessed by a steep track above Morgan Gorge, in the main Waitaha Valley.

scamper torrent hut and basin

​Jane Morris, Geoff Spearpoint,  Joke de Rike, Andrew Buglass and Raymond Ford spent three days cutting the main Waitaha Valley Track, and also made a solid start on the track up to Scamper Torrent.

track cutting team

​It was, Jane says, ‘three pretty solid hard days’ – taking advantage of a brief fine weather window in September. ‘We worked on the problematic lower section, re-routing around wind-falls.’

andrew buglass in action

The middle part of the track, where it climbs up to 1125m, is okay Jane records. ‘We also dropped off waratahs on the top knoll to re-mark the route down into the Scamper basin.’

raymond ford on the tools

​The team will be back to finish the remaining top section of the Scamper Track at another time.

geoff spearpoint amongst it

jane morris makes her mark