February 7, 2026
Highland Ck Hut to Roses Hut
TA km marker 2672.3 to 2682.5
Hiked today: 10.2 km

An incredible number of people ended up joining us at Highland Hut last night. Even after nightfall, they kept arriving, some slept on the floor of the hut, and others pitched their tents close by the hut. In the morning, we were among the first to leave and were hiking before the sun was up. The air was cool but there was no sign of rainclouds.

We had a steep ascent, only a short stretch was through overgrown bracken, and we navigated it without incident. Then, at the summit,the trail proceeded along a narrow ridgeline with more beautiful mountain views ahead, and on either side. This was followed by a steep descent down to a river, where the trail passed through a small patch of forest.

Straight away we were heading steeply up again, plodding slowly up the hillside. We had been warned about a small landslip directly on the trail and tried, unsuccessfully to find a path around it but ended up clambering across the exposed face, then we were back on good track, proceeding up to another saddle.

At the top Rob had internet reception and found that our upcoming hotel booking in Frankton had been cancelled due to the credit card account balance being too low. Unfortunately he was unable to find an alternative so we will have to sort that out when we get to Arrowtown.

From the ridgetop we also had a view back to Lake Wanaka, and soon after we had our first view of Roses Hut ahead. The descent was not as difficult as anticipated,  and then we crossed a creek where I stopped for a very pleasant wash, before we walked the last stretch through grassy meadows to Roses Hut.