Tents for St James over Christmas
Original post
Hi. I'm planning to take a group of 6 along the St James Walkway in early Jan - probably from the 2nd Jan onwards. I've read that the huts get full over summer and taking a tent is advisable. Has anyone else walked this over the summer holidays? Is it that busy? And is the weather changeable? I have a 4 person 4 season tent (6kg) that the 4 18 yr olds could split and carry, and another 2 person tent for the adults. The last two Christmas trips we've carried tents but not needed them (Mt Somers Walkway and South Ashburton going up to Wild Mans Brother - where we didn't see another person for 4 days).
te araroa walkers go through and their numbers keep increasing every year, almost doubling, well into the hundreds now , on top of other groups staying there, easy walk, ,so popular, plus you can mountain bike it as well. and being school holidays it will be busy.
the weather could do anything.
St. James is a lovely, easy tramp. It will be crowded but you can usually find solace on the track itself. TA joins at Anne Hut through to Boyle Village, so this stretch most likely will have more people. If you're camping you can easily get off the beaten track and find some beautiful, quiet places to pitch. Sandflies are epic in summer!
There is a lovely place to camp about an hour up Anne River between the Anne Hut and Anne Saddle. It is on a bit of a rise in beech forest on the true left.
MTBers stay at Anne Hut as well. When I was there last it was full with people tenting outside.
Yup - its very accessible and easy walking - so like Abel Tasman - tends to get very very busy. Tenting will definitely make things more enjoyable for you.
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| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | TheGoodLife |
| On | 3 August 2018 |
| Replies | 6 |
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