Hut Protocol?

[Lindsay]

When walking the Overland a few years back I arrived at Windermere Hut one afternoon to find it jam packed. No surprise there as it was cold and wet and the shelter was welcome. As well as independent walkers, there was a group of around 8 guided walkers setting themselves up for a fairly long stay until the weather improved. Given the crowding I was wondering if there is a protocol regarding non emergency use of huts by guided walkers? I wondered at the time if I could show up at any of the guided walks huts and avail myself of the facilities merely because I was cold and wet. Once this group had pushed on some of us discussed this but no one had a definitive answer.

[dee_legg]

Do you know which guiding company they were from?

[eggs]

We crossed paths with a guided tour last year.
My understanding is that there are 2 types of guided tours
- one belongs to Cradle Huts and have their own huts.

This was the group we encountered and I cannot imagine they would need to access the public huts. The spacing of their huts seems roughly parallel.
And this group of walkers were only carrying light packs - as food preparation for each day is provided by the facilities in their huts - as well as bedding, showers, etc. The ones we encountered were generally more elderly - and I guess if I was a fair bit older and could afford it, it would be a nice relaxing way to do the OT again.

But I think there are one or more other groups which do guided walks on the OT who use tents on the various tent platforms and could logically be expected in the public huts as well. They would be carrying full packs.

[photohiker]

Just select with your nose. The Cradle Huts walkers smell of perfume and fresh clothes. The rest of us smell like a camel drover's armpits.

[jaco]

And the rest of us can be identified by the drooling when the guides prepare morning tea for their groups.

I'll never forget one female guide we met during the OT, she prepared a lovely morning tea of coffee and biscuits and other delicacies. Her group was sitting in the shade at Hartnett falls, nobody speaking to each other, but she was all smiles. We were having a swim and sat in the sun drinking cold water and eating scroggin (arghhhhhhhhhh), and when her group wasnt interested in her delicacies, she offered it to us. Everything she offered we devoured, needless to say. Whoever she was, God bless her.

One strange thing i noticed about the guided groups are that they are all rather sombre, while the rest of the common folk seems quite jovial.

[Ent]

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[dee_legg]

Yes, Brett is right. All guided groups, whether tent or hut based pay the walking fee included in their trip cost so I guess they are just as entitled to be in the huts as the average walker although like Eggs, I can't imagine why Cradle Huts would be in the huts for anymore than an hour (tops) to eat their lunch as from what I understand, they try and avoid a lot of contact with other walkers as it 'detracts from the guests experiences'. So I imagine it's one of the other companies..
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what Lindsay says about the group their origin...

[Lindsay]

Sorry, I have no idea which company this group was with. I would think from the daypacks they were hut stayers rather than campers. I recall the guests were all from Europe somewhere. They kept to themsleves and moved on after about 2 hours or so when the rain eased.

[Son of a Beach]

I've seen a Cradle Mtn Huts group in a public hut once. I guess they have as much right to them as anyone else but I would expect them to avoid them if already full of people just out of courtesy.

I was happy to eat the cherry pie they had left over! (and put another one in my pack for later)

[Nuts]

Hi Lindsay, I work as a guide for a tent based company....

It does sound like a private huts group if it was a lunch break as all the tent based parties stay at the same location as private walkers albeit in their own designated area or tent platforms (so dont 'move on'). The protocol for tour groups spending the night in the public huts is the same as for emergency use huts (eg kitchen hut) With the groups I take we sometimes use the hut when we first arrive in bad weather just to get tents out and set them up, occasionally we will cook in there if it is not to crowded and if we dont get an unwelcome reception (usually go in and introduce ourselves before taking the group in). Very rarely we will spend the night. Although the decision is made for the group I (personally) dont determine what an an emergency is for individuals. If someone is overly worried or having a struggle or their situation could get worse then I leave it to them as to the point where they feel they need to use the huts.

In the days before the booking system, these huts were far more crowded. They were tested to the limits of not turning people away with sometimes all the floor space taken up with sleeping bags. Although that rarely happens now, it is a worthwhile attitude to adopt when walking the track. People should really expect that if they choose to set up in the huts then 'the more the merrier' applies. There can be really no such thing as private space. It can be difficult to think of pitching a tent once set up and warm in the hut but quite often you can expect a far better night's sleep and it is worth considering (even if the hut hasn't filled).

I have seen arguments break out and gear moved. Its kind of sad really to see the dark side of peoples personalities in such settings. So many people could have a better time if they Choose. I guess its just human nature to err towards being as comfortable as possible but the new huts seem to have made No difference in peoples experiences compared to the days of tiny tin sheds and shingle huts when the chips are down. Dont really know what would for some people, private rooms with ensuite spa and cable?

(PS.... We encourage contact with public walkers. IMHO this contact 'enhances 'guests' experiences' )

[SurferShane]

Especially given the inclement weather I can’t see why any group of walkers – guided or not - has not as much right to seek shelter as anyone else. Really, it is just a question of manners and no-one has “ownership” of the huts? In similar conditions I would like to think that I could pitch my tent adjacent a hut and have as much right to use of the cooking area and warmth of the stove as the individuals who have already secured a berth in the hut?

The conflict this question brings up has obviously been taken into account in the design of the new Windy Ridge Hut, which has an enclosed veranda almost the same size as the hut itself. I really appreciate the old nostalgic huts and at first thought the Windy Ridge Hut was overkill, but I am now starting to understand the issues underlying its design.

Anyway, hut etiquette is a good topic and it is a pity that this discussion could not be broken into a broader thread about more general concerns and/or basic rules of thumb?

[tomberli]

Hey everyone

I have worked as a guide for Cradle Huts for a number of years now. While we do have our own huts, they are somewhat differently spaced, especially at the start. So for our second night, we actually push on for a couple of hours after Windermere and hence often have lunch there. Most guides usually encourage to have lunch at the lake (even if the weather is rubbish) but sometimes guest can be a bit demanding and wouldn't appreciate having to sit in the rain if there was a hut, so sometimes we use to hut for lunch.
I personally think that the public huts are intended for public walkers and we should restrain from using them as much as we can but that said it can be quite nice to mix with some other groups. If we do use the huts, I would usually introduce ourselves to everyone already present and at least offer a cup of tea to everyone in the hut. I also try and encourage everyone from not spreading out over more than two benches. As said before, we wouldn't normally be in the hut for more than an hour and normally I'd also give it a sweep just after leaving.

We are generally discourage from using the huts - and all us guides usually prefer to have lunch outside (hence why we are guides) but if the weather is pretty average then it would be foolish to make people sit out in the cold.

You may also encounter a group having lunch on New Pelion veranda - usually before heading off to some of the side-trips. We wouldn't normally use the interior of the hut though.

The company tries to use its own resources as much as possible but having said that, every guest does pay a parks & overland track pass and on top of that a share of the profits go directly to parks - so I think its fair enough that we use the huts occasionally - besides, many expensive rescue dramas involving inexperienced walkers could be avoided because guides with sat-phones were nearby.

[tomberli]

I wondered at the time if I could show up at any of the guided walks huts and avail myself of the facilities merely because I was cold and wet.

You'd be surprised - depends on the guides but if you stumbled into one of our huts when I was there, soaking wet and exhausted, I'd most certainly offer you a hot drink and a bite to eat. Unfortunately you are unlikely to find our huts and if you do it would probably be before our group had arrived.

[kanangra]

Not sure about them being hard to find. Pelion is visible from the track.

[tomberli]

Not sure about them being hard to find. Pelion is visible from the track.

True true, so is Kia Ora and Windy Ridge really - if you look on the map you will be able to locate just about all of them actually - but the access tracks are fairly well hidden. Anyway, point is that in a 'normal' walking schedule, you would usually not come past one of our huts when there is a group in there frolicking around.

[Eott]

Has anyone seen the rollerdoor that splits New Pelion Hut used. When we did the OLT in '05 the hut was quite full including large group from a private school from Hobart, being kids in a group the were pretty noisy and a bit in your face sort of group, It didn't annoy us that much as we had only one other with us for the rest of the time. I don't bother with the heater but they monopolized that to extent that one would be worried about something going missing if it was put there. When we were at Kiora some senior park management people choppered in to inspect some things and I mentioned the school group at Pelion and she asked if the rollerdoor was down. She said the door was put there so large groups could pull it down so they didn't disturb other walkers and the large group didn't have the side with the heater. Thought was worth a post here to let people know.

Mark

[JamesMc]

Yep,
We had the rolla door shut last time I was at Brand New Pelion Hut. It was mid winter, the gas wouldn't work, it was freezing cold and only using half the hut meant that body heat warmed us a little bit more.

As for the original question - they're public huts and everybody is entitled to use them. In New Zealand where they really have huts worked out, and the practice of carrying a tent is only for eccentric Australians, everybody sqeezes in, no matter how many people or how small the hut. (A few exceptions on the tracks frequented by foreigners.)

JamesMc

[Tasallan]

I did the Cradle Huts walk at the end of April and experienced some very wet weather, the guides in fact stated they had never seen so much water on the track. At Windermere and New Pelion we used the public facilities to have our lunch and we are perfectly entitled to do so - I myself have been a Tasmanian tax payer all my life, had an annual parks pass for as long as I can remember, paid the OT fee and Cradle Huts also purchased a park pass for me, so if any person thinks other wise they ought to think again.
The Cradle Huts experience was fantastic and allowed old blokes like me who could not carry a full back pack to enjoy this iconic walk.
Trevor