What to do with the Otira River?

One of the TaT Sections I will be tramping this summer is Harpers Pass from near Otira to Windy Point at Lewis Pass. I am walking this one NOBO to take advantage of better public transport links over Arthurs Pass. One of the decision i need to make is how to deal with the Otira River, potentially a difficult river crossing.

I thought my processing of the problem might be of interest to others.

Aickens Corner-Otira Flood track-Morrison Bridge

 Every Te Araroa tramper will need to deal with the Otira river in some fashion or another. You need to either cross it or circumvent it regardless of your ultimate destination.

You basically have three options:

• cross the Otira river at the end of the Taramakau Valley, this is called Aickens Corner
• closely follow the course of the river to the Morrison footbridge or Deception river route
• use the flood track between the Taramakau and Morrison footbridge

Crossing the Otira at Aickens

The Otira is a medium sized braided river, at the height of summer it is usually easy to cross if care is taken. There are clear instructions in the TA track notes detailing this option. However, because of the topography of the river catchment ANY rain will swell it considerably. If you find the river impossible to cross you need to use the Morrison footbridge option. 

The Morrison footbridge over the Otira River where the Otira and Deception rivers merge

You can see from the photos above and below that the Otira while not overly wide can be very deep in places. I would estimate the maximum depth on this day to be about waist deep on me or approximately 1-1.3 meters. Doesn't sound like much but it would be enough to knock me off my feet.

Obviously, late in summer it will be a lot lower than now but any crossing would still need to be carefully considered. More than one tramper has been swept away at Aickens so be aware of the danger there. 

View from bridge over Otira river

The Morrison foot bridge options

The Morrison footbridge is the start point for the Mingha-Deception track as well as the end point of the Otira Flood track to the Taramakau. It provides a safe all weather crossing point of the Otira River if required. 

The first option for accessing the bridge is by following the course of the Otira river along its banks. This will take about 1.5-2 hours. There is no formed track and at several points you would need to cross the river to avoid bluffs. If the river is running high then this is not a possibility. 

The second option is the Otira flood track between Aickens Corner and the Deception river. This climbs above the bluffs and sidles across the side of the hills. Going on current information it appears this track is rough, with some slips and windfall. Times quoted range from 2-4 hours to complete, it is difficult to narrow this down. It is a longer option but definitely the safest. I would love more information about track conditions if you have them.  

Flood track runs along side of range

You can see how dense the bush is on the western side of the Southern Alps, there is a track there, you just cant see it. The track runs between 20 and 40 meters above the level of the river. 

View of track area moving West

After sidling the hills it eventually drops down to the river flats at the confluence of the Taramakau and Otira rivers. From there it is a hard right turn and the start of the slog towards Harpers Pass. 

View West towards Taramakau-Otira confluence

Personally, I would be inclined to take the safer option and cross on the bridge, the Otira is probably the most difficult of the three rivers you need to cross at the start of this track. Note that the Otira flood track is also the recognised route suggested on the TaT trail notes and website. On the day, the decision is yours to make, but hopefully this post has given you good information about the options available.