Trip 047 - Jubilee Hut

 

DATE: April 16, 2023 (Sunday)
LEADER: Debbie Guthrie (022 020 3545)
TRIP GRADE: Moderate-Fit (8 Hours)
MEET: Clubrooms, 8am

The use of Green Peak Hut by the club was declining in the mid-1940’s, partly due to more use by others as the roading network from Waitati was extended closer to the Silver Peaks.

The club decided to build a second hut in the Silver Peaks, this time in a tributary of Christmas Creek. As the hut was being built as the OTC’s 25th Anniversary project (1948), it was named Jubilee Hut. As it turned out, the hut was opened over the weekend of March 17-18, 1951, and remained an important part of the clubs identity until the late 1990’s. By the 2000’s, club usage had dropped and maintenance was becoming an ongoing issue. In 2005 the Department of Conservation engaged with the OTMC, and it was agreed that DoC would build a replacement hut on a different site and remove both the original Jubilee Hut as well as Yellow Hut (which was subsequently replaced by Phil Cox hut). The club was invited to open the new Jubilee Hut, which occurred under perfect conditions on May 10, 2007.

Looking at club trips to Jubilee Hut since the opening it is interesting to note that while public use has led to a booking system being implemented, visits by the club have declined from earlier years.

This trip is a fitter one and involves the steep descent and ascent of the 400m Devils Staircase.