I'm going to do the St James Walkway in a few weeks and will arrive at the start in the late afternoon, too late to make it to the first hut before dark. Does anyone know if it's possible to sleep in the shelter at the start or is it too open? The alternative is to take my tent but that means I have to carry it with me and I'll be in huts while on the walkway.
The St James walkway has two ends - I'm not sure which is start and finish. The Lewis pass end has a shelter which is rather open. It might be OK in settled weather but I wouldn't like to overnight there with any wind or rain. Not sure what shelter is at the Boyle end of the track.
Thanks for that. It is the Lewis end I'm starting from.
It's not that time consuming to get into either Cannibal Gorge or Boyle Flat huts, 2 - 2.5 hrs if you are reasonably fit & don't take long breaks. The DOC times are very conservative. (I'm well into my fifties & walked it most recently in Dec 2013)
The tracks are pretty good & you could use a headlamp if you run out of daylight.
Agree with GlennJ - head into Cannibal Gorge Hut. It really only is about 2.5hrs even if you're not super fast.
We took 3 hrs from there back to Lewis carpark at the end of a long day (9hrs) coming off the Zampa tops - and it is quicker going into the hut as the first part is all downhill as opposed to the uphill grind we faced.
Track was in good condition (Oct 2013), plenty of up and downs through Cannibal Gorge itself getting in and out of gullies which are natural avalanche and flood paths but it is easy going.
Enjoy!
