Routeburn Track

In continuation with my tradition of posting blog entries about things that happened one week ago, this one is no exception:

There are a lot of walking trails in Fiordland National Park, but there are two that stand tall over the others – the Milford Track, and the Routeburn Track. The Milford Track is by far the most popular. So popular, in fact, that it must be highly regulated by the Department of Conservation (DOC). One can only travel the track in one direction and you must stay in the huts along the way in sequence. These huts require reservations through the DOC website, and it is very difficult to make reservations during peak season (28 Oct - 29 Apr). Consequently, the Routeburn Track is much more accessible to trekkers making relatively last-minute plans. On the Routeburn, you are free to travel either direction and you can choose between four huts and two campsites. However, it is still very difficult to make bookings during high season. Some would argue that the Routeburn Track is better than the Milford Track, but that is likely because of all the regulations imposed on the Milford Track. I hope to hike the Milford Track before I leave New Zealand, but it will have to be in the fall when the crowds die down.

When traveling from Queenstown to Milford Sound, the drive is roughly 300km (or about 5 hours) because you are routed southward around the mountains. The Routeburn Track spans 33km directly through the mountains from Milford Road to Glenorchy – a town about an hour's drive north of Queenstown. So, as a resident of Milford Sound, you can essentially hitchhike from Milford to Glenorchy and "walk home."

Rowan and I ended up staying one night on the track and walking a total of 11 hours, hitchhiking the rest of the way (with one exception). The exception was that we had to hire a shuttle from Queenstown to the beginning of the track. Since the beginning of the track is so remote, it is near impossible to persuade someone to take you there for free (via hitchhiking). No matter, we were still able to use our Lodge employee powers to get a discount on the shuttle.

Our shuttle left from Queenstown at 7:00 in the morning and the drive to Glenorchy was very beautiful in the low morning sun. We came across a herd of cattle being moved along the road from one pasture to the other. I thought it was a very signature New Zealand experience to wade through a sea of cows in our shuttle.


Here is one of the farmers with his cattle dog. They were definitely in high stress as they were working hard to keep track of all the cattle.


This picture was taken by a stream in the Routeburn Flats. We sat down there and ate a small snack. Rowan got out a brochure of the track and we immediately noticed that the first picture in it was taken only a few feet from where we were sitting. It was pretty wild!


As you gain elevation, you can look down on Routeburn flats where you were walking for about two hours before.


This is the Routeburn Falls lodge. I believe it is reserved for people who pay loads of money to do the track the luxurious way. They have a guide take them through the track and then they get to stay in prime places like this lodge (and the huts too probably). Directly to the right of this picture, there is a helicopter landing pad that probably explains how such an amazing hut can be built in such a remote place. It is yet another reason to get a helicopter pilot's license...


What a beautiful view over Routeburn Flats it was from the look-out next to the Routeburn Falls Lodge! The track follows the right side of the valley along the tree line.


And up and over the falls we went. I appologize for not having a picture of the falls. My camera was out for repairs and I was therefore limited to the pictures Rowan took. For some reason, he forgot to photograph them. The falls were not really worthy of the name "falls" though... at least not on the dry day like it was.


This is just a pretty picture I wanted to share with you. Rowan took it along the glacial valley between Routeburn Falls and Lake Harris. I love how the redness of the water mixes with the reflected blue sky to make a beautiful purple.


This is my impression of an explorer from the mid 1800s.


This picture is looking back at what we had hiked for the last 4 hours. It is a really great picture because you can see so much in it. In the distance, you can see Routeburn flats, then the valley that we walked through to get to Lake Harris (which you can see on the bottom of the picture). The valley was so obviously a glacial valley. It was a very flat, grassy tundra with large boulders scattered everywhere – dropped by the glacier when it melted.


This is the other side of Lake Harris. I should probably mention how much we lucked out with weather those two days!


I'm not going to tell you where we camped since it was probably illegal and I would also like to keep it a secret, but we were treated to an amazing display of clouds blowing over Harris Saddle as the sun finished setting and the Southern Cross constellation appeared over the mountains outside our open tent door. It was truly spectacular!


Here is another amazing reflection picture Rowan took of the morning sun.


That morning, we hiked over Harris Saddle and were greeted by this amazing view. That structure you see there is the Harris Saddle emergency shelter. We stopped there to use the toilet before taking a detour from the track and hiking up Conical Hill, which is a short peak (or tall hill – 1515m) overlooking Lake Harris.


Here I am posing on top of Conical Hill, with Lake Harris in the background, smiling like a cartoon character.


And this is another picture of me standing on top of Conical Hill with the view looking roughly north/north-east.


From Conical Hill and Harris Saddle, it was a long walk along Hollyford Valley to Lake Mackenzie. This picture is looking back at the track we just walked, Lake Mackenzie, and Hollyford Valley. The track lead us down several traverses to the lake and the hut that sits beside it. The remainder of the trek would take us into the distance following the left side of the valley shown above.


Here I am looking very sweaty, tired, and pale from the sun screen I was sweating off. The track is very well maintained and, in some places, the DOC actually either fabricates steps out of rocks or carves steps into the rocks. I had to include this picture since I look so hilarious and zombie-like.


This is the beach next to Lake Mackenzie at which we ate lunch and got a lot of sun while doing it. It was another three-hour hike from there to the end of the track.

It was a beautiful trip. I am thinking of doing it again. That's how much I enjoyed it!!!