So, where are you tramping over the weekend?

Has anyone been up to Piggot's Campsite in the Huna Ranges? If so, what is the hut like? Cheers Merrimac

Easter's not far away and my son has piked on walking the Holdsworth Jumbo Circuit with me so ive decided to extend it a bit and walk Mitre flats-Atiwhakatu-Jumbo-Holdsworth-Powell Hut-Totara flats and out to Waiohine gorge Solo(again). A couple of long days in the middle with a short morning to finish on Monday before a long drive home.

I wonder how full these huts will be its a while since I walked on a public Holiday. Should be an experience.

huts in most areas seem to be full over easter, its a good excuse to take the tent for an outing somewhere, although its always good to meet fellow trampers from other ares

I guess I will be enjoying the view from the verandah again.

A small tent is the way to go. Then you get the best of both world's. You can socialise with the people in the hut but when the bunk room of a crowded hut is like hades you can depart to your tiny abode, out past the dog kennels somewhere. The verandah is a second best choice though people tripping over you while on their way to the outhouse can be a drawback.

Theres that word small again. you tent guys are all masochists. That means I have to carry another kilo to a kilo and a half.

There is nothing better than being completely independent of huts, pitching your little tent on a well drained site on a stormy night and then crawling into a warm sleeping bag with a hot mug of Milo in your hand and listening to the rain and wind all around you.

I was going to suggest just an open-ended tent fly and a nice groundsheet, at least for non-alpine conditions. It works nicely as long as it's set up well, but mine is still around 1.1kg so perhaps not that particular one if weight is the issue. It only cost ~$250 though, and I can comfortably get 2 and sometimes 3 people under it if there's a need, or otherwise just spread out a lot. Seriously though I'd feel uncertain about going anywhere without my own shelter of some kind. Even when I'm with other people, I feel uneasy about not having some kind of shelter in my pack just in case I get separated. I guess you can never know for certain that a hut won't be burnt down or full of smelly people or that you won't have an accident somewhere along the way and need to sleep out.

Back in the 1970s we were caught in a full norwester for a couple of days in the upper Rockburn. We had 4 people and 2 tent flys. It was miserable. We piched the 2 flys end to end but the rain still blew in one end and out the other. I swore then that a good tent was the way to go. I have sat in my MacPac Microlight in wind rain and snow in complete comfort. The thing is so small it has very little wind footprint so the wind doesn't matter. You just have to make sure it is pitched on a well drained site and then very little can go wrong.