“You don’t need your teeth to walk out.” The best adventures sometimes happen when your original plans fall through. Standing at the edge of an uncrossable Dart Ford, our Luna Tops dreams were washed away—but the Raglan Range was calling. What followed was a three-day masterclass in New Zealand ‘off-track’ travel: bush bashing, technical scree slopes, and the kind of exhaustion where brushing your teeth feels like a marathon. As it turns out, when you’re deep in the Leatham Conservation Area, you don’t actually need your teeth to walk out—you just need a bit of grit.
Pivoting to Plan B in the Raglan Range: The Blowhard Road via Wash Stream
With the Dart Ford uncrossable for our Luna tops trip in Kahurangi National Park, I quickly came up with an alternative plan in the Raglan Range, in Leatham Conservation Area, which was an area that was easy for transport and varied enough to keep us all interested and challenged.
The EM group looked very skeptical and slightly alarmed when they dropped us off at Wash Bridge on SH63 with no track in sight. I think they were wondering if they would actually see us on Sunday at our meeting point on Leatham Road.
I had decided on a more unusual route via Wash Stream, using a pocket of public land to gain the Blowhard 4WD road. After a steep climb through farmland and a bush bash through wilding pines—an unfortunate staple of the Leatham area—we reached the ridgeline where we all lay on the ground to recover before yet more climbing. Eventually the road stopped and the ridge became narrower, steeper and more fun as we climbed past 1392. There were some fantastic vegetable sheep (raoulia) on this section that looked so smooth they could have been mistaken for rocks. There were clear views across to the Richmond Range.
Silverstream Biv
The descent to Silverstream Biv started off easy on a scree slope but the final descent to the valley floor was a bit more technical. We opted for the true left which seemed to be possibly the only way down as there was a steep waterfall on the true right. Some of the group were more challenged by this but we worked together as a team to help each other. Tayla, Jana and I found a penwiper (Notothlaspi rosulatum) in flower on the scree slope and stopped to take photos of it. I’ve always found penwipers fascinating resilient plants as they seem to survive in the most hostile places. The Raglan Range seems to be the ideal place to see them as I’ve found them on previous trips in the Raglan Range.
We reached Silverstream Biv to find just one entry in the hut book for the entire year. Not uncommon for the Raglan Range that often gets overlooked as a prime tramping location. We had a laugh about how surprised the two people whose packs were already in the biv would be when they returned to find 6 people camping next to it!
Alpine Meadow Traverse
After finding some information in the Silverstream hut book, we saw that we didn’t need to retrace our steps from the day before but could instead head up behind the hut towards pt 1656. There was a short bush bash before we got out onto open terrain and during this rather scratchy bush bash Matt was overheard saying “who needs skin anyway?”
Once we arrived on the ridge we assessed our different options and decided that following the ridge might be a little tricky so we decided to drop down a scree shute and traverse the alpine meadows below the ridge. This was a great decision as it was easy walking and really beautiful as we had yet another clear day. Once we had climbed back up onto the ridge again, we could see the snowy peaks of the St Arnaud Range in Nelson Lakes National Park.
The Meadow of Formidable Spaniards at Bull Paddock Creek Hut
From pt 1836 we dropped down a very easy descent into Bull Paddock Stream. I had been wanting to do a trip into the Bull Paddock Creek area for a long time after seeing it mentioned in hut books when I had done a trip around the Lees-Hellfire Loop. There were rumours of a spectacular spaniard (aciphylla) field. Further down just before Bull Paddock Creek Hut we did indeed find the meadow of formidable spaniards. Tayla had said the day before that she loved spaniards and James had told her she should probably get that looked into. I had to agree with Tayla though that while spaniards may not be the friendliest plants, they are very striking especially when in flower.
Finding Lost Stream Bivvy
The next challenge was finding a way to drop down to Lost Stream Biv. I had read it was a bit bluffy and to try sticking to the true right. We eventually found a little stream in a gut. Dave went ahead to check it out before we all followed. Jana declared she was not walking back up the hill so it better be a safe option! Luckily it worked out perfectly. I also suspect that going down on the far true left may also be an option. James declared that Lost Stream Biv was one of his favourite huts when we arrived there just before 6pm. It had stunning views back up the valley.
The Long haul to Siberia Hut
Tayla had said the day before that she thought we would be getting to Siberia Hut in the dark. While trying to be optimistic, I quietly suspected as much too. Leaving from Lost Stream Biv we were now on a DoC track for the first time after two days in the Raglan Range. On previous trips I have experienced a lot of tree fall in the Leatham Area and after the difficult winter and spring, I suspected that the track might be a bit slow going. We were playing over and under fallen trees for quite a while but still making good progress despite this and arrived at the Branch River a lot quicker than I expected. A highlight during this section had been an unexpected waterfall that the track took us under. We finally made it to Siberia Hut at 9:30pm after 14 hours on the trot.
In Siberia Hut Dave decided that anyone under 30 should be on top bunks and quickly relocated a sleeping bag to the top bunk so he could get a bottom bunk. Tayla had climbed up to the top bunk and decided she was staying there and not coming down so got delivered her dinner in bed. After dinner there was a discussion about who had the energy for dental hygiene with some people saying they were going straight to bed in exhaustion and Jana quipping that “you don’t need your teeth to walk out tomorrow.”
Why Plan B in the Raglan Range was a Win
The final day was a 15km gravel grind from Greig’s Hut to the Branch bridge which I had walked before on a previous trip. Despite this, spirits remained high and no one was rethinking their life choices by the time we made it to the Branch Bridge meeting point on the Leatham Road.
The Marlborough backcountry is surprisingly rugged. If you’re prepared to navigate off-track, deal with a few wilding pines, and embrace the occasional 14-hour day, the Raglan Range offers solitude and a place well off the beaten path.
Sometimes a plan B turns out more rewarding and ambitious than the plan A and you may not even need your teeth for it.
Day 1 Wash Stream to Silverstream Biv: 7-9hrs; 1,902m elevation, 13.1km Day 2 Silverstream Biv to Siberia Hut via Bull Paddock Biv & Lost Stream Biv: 12-14 hrs; 1,764m elevation, 21.4km Day 3 Siberia Hut to Leatham Road: 5-6 hrs, 623m elevation, 23.8km.