Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Day 2: Young Hut to Siberia Hut
6-8 HOURS, 12KM, 521M ASCENT, 861M DESCENT
Leave the bush and continue up the valley, using a bridge to cross to the true right (south)
side of the South Branch within 1km of Young Hut. Stay on this side of the river for the next
30 minutes, enjoying views of
Mt Awful
(2192m) framed by the valley walls, before reach-
ing the start of the track to Gillespie Pass on your left. A large rock cairn and signs mark the
start of the route, up a northeasterly facing slope of scrub and tussock. Make sure you fill
your water bottles, because this is the last place for water until well over the pass.
It's a steep climb of 400m up the slope, alongside a rock bluff and then along the crest of
a spur, where orange snow poles mark most of the route through snow grass. Just before
reaching the pass, the route swings left up a small gully and climbs to a height of 1600m. It
takes three to four hours to reach
Gillespie Pass
(1501m) from Young Hut, and for many
trampers the alpine setting is a good spot for an extended break or lunch, with
Mt Alba
(2360m) dominating the skyline.
You leave Gillespie Pass by following the orange snow poles southeast along a ridge for
1km, until the route swings southwest. At times you are wandering down through snow-
grass basins, which are very slippery when wet, so exercise caution. The track enters the
forest on a small prominent spur and leads down to Gillespie Stream, a good spot for a rest.
You continue down through forest, sidling above Gillespie Stream on its true left (south)
bank, before descending steeply along a series of switchbacks to Siberia Stream and the
track up to Crucible Lake.
Continue southeast beside
Siberia Stream
. The walk through
Siberia Stream Flats
is
easy and the mountain scenery is spectacular. It takes about one hour to cross the grassy
flats to
Siberia Hut
(20 bunks), on the true left (east) side of Siberia Stream. Plan on three to
3½ hours to reach the hut from the top of the pass. This part of the track has been marked
with poles to keep trampers to a set path and minimise damage to the vegetation.
You can arrange to fly out from Siberia Hut - the airstrip is on the other side of Siberia
Stream from the hut, 400m downstream.
SIDE TRIP: CRUCIBLE LAKE
6-8 HOURS, 14KM RETURN, 532M ASCENT
There is no better reason to spend an extra night at Siberia Hut than the day tramp up to
Crucible Lake
, a true alpine lake nestled beneath Mt Alba. It takes three to four hours to get
there from the hut, and about the same to return. To reach the lake, backtrack through Siber-
