St James Walkway to Boyle Flat Hut
- Distance
- 28.0 km
- Vertical gain
- 822m
- Duration
- 1d3h43m
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Heavy flooding in mid Canterbury had closed Wharfedale Track (our plan A), so we had to quickly plan an overnighter. We headed a couple of hours north to Lewis Pass in hopes of avoiding flooding. St James Walkway is a 66km trail so we opted to just do the Southernmost leg, to and from Boyle Flat Hut.
A big benefit of this section of trail is that the three major river crossings are bridged. It’s clear the waters were higher than usual.
![First crossing of Boyle River](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07473.YUpVC6QQ.webp)
![Second crossing of Boyle River](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07484.BHd0TGux.webp)
![Many friendly Robins were encountered. So too were Pīwakawaka, which followed us along sizeable sections of the trail.](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07490.C1yxvm_e.webp)
![Valley views while approaching Boyle Flat Hut. The hut can be seen in the distance on the other side of the river.](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07494.CYKqbUGC.webp)
A highlight of the hut were the new memory foam mattresses—a clear upgrade from the old ones—which made for a great night’s sleep.
Appendix: Fungi
Here are some neat fungi which we spotted beside the trail.
![](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07482.i7ty4WX-.webp)
![](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07485.6ckBYuco.webp)
![](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07506.BtMbC9Pp.webp)
![](https://c123ac9d.albert-nz.pages.dev/_app/immutable/assets/DSC07516.1tHB9whw.webp)