NZ - the Routeburn Tramp
The morning after our arrival in Queenstown we left for the Routeburn trek. We drove up along Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy, with incredible views of the surrounding mountains.
Facts: The Routeburn is usually done in 3 days hiking just over 30-some kilometers. It climbs from temperate rainforest in Mt Aspiring National Park up to the Harris Saddle, which is alpine scrub and some snow even in early summer, back into mossy wet rainforest in Fiordlands National Park before stopping at The Divide near Milford Sound and Te Anau. We learned the rainfall averages 5 meters/year near Glenorchy to 6 meters/year near Te Anau! The great thing about the Routeburn tramp (as kiwis call their trails) is considered one of their Great Walks, which means there are huts with kitchens and bunkrooms so you can cut down on the gear you need to carry.
Well, starting at the eastern side, it's a gentle 2 hour climb to Routeburn Flats hut which is by the side of a beautiful mountain meadow valley. Along the way we were stopped by 2 ladies who were bird watching. We got to see & hear the Mohua, a yellow-headed canary which is slowly disappearing due to the European-introduced stout (a smaller, shorter, nastier version of the weasel). They said in their 20 years of hiking in NZ they had never seen this bird before!
After hitting the Flats hut, we hiked up another hour to Routeburn Falls hut where we had reservations for the night. Since it was a beautiful day out, we decided to take the advice of the park ranger we talked to earlier in the day at Glenorchy, and spent the late afternoon hiking up to the Harris Saddle to take in views of Hollyford River valley. We were advised by quite a few people that the weather can change daily, and the views up around the Harris Saddle are incredible, and we didn't want to miss those!
As we hiked up, another park ranger pointed out to us the Mt Cook Lily, which isn't really a lily but it's still a pretty little white flower. We had incredible views looking back behind us and ahead as we saw more and more of the Hollyford River valley.
Well, once we arrived at the Harris Saddle, we decided to hike a side trail up Conical Hill. We had passed a couple hiking the opposite way who said they had views all the way to the ocean! Great, except when we arrived the trail said it was closed... Well, that didn't really stop us - we figured we had hiking shoes and poles, so we could handle the snow! We hiked up the mountain, over the snow and arrived at the top to see... uh, not much! Well, we had a slightly foggy view of Hollyford River due to the clouds coming in, but couldn't see much else.
We returned back to the hut and had a tasty dinner of freeze-dried food and quinoa ;) We were a little envious of some other groups who brought along bottles of wine, but one great thing about camping is that most food tastes great when you carry it for several hours or days!
The next morning turned out as expected - rain! As we hiked up the Harris Saddle again, the trail was practically a stream with the amount of rain and water pouring down the mountains. As you can imagine, this 2nd day we didn't get to see much of anything with all the clouds and rain. I learned that my 10-year-old rainpants didn't work - they were completely soaked by the time we arrived at the Harris Saddle shelter! I also arrived with fully soaked hiking shoes. But I was not alone - many of our fellow hikers also were quite wet, and it was comical to see the steam rising off our jackets and pants as we huddled in the shelter in an attempt to dry off.
After a quick lunch, we walked along the mountain ridge above Lake Mackenzie, where our 2nd night's shelter was located. We were lucky that the wind wasn't as bad as the rangers had cautioned us, so we quickly hiked along the ridge and then down towards the lake.
Luckily, on the way down, the rain stopped and we started to get some views of the lake and the forest on the mountain. We thought the moss was heavy on the eastern side of the mountain, but here it was even denser - it practically carpeted the trees and rocks!
We were quite happy to reach the hut mid afternoon, and we quickly took all our wet clothes and shoes and put them by the super-warm coal stove in the middle of the common room. It was quite a sight to see everyone's clothes and shoes ringing the stove, and it was so warm in the hut that the ranger warned us we might set off the fire sprinklers! Luckily he was just being cautious, but we did all move our shoes a little farther away so we wouldn't melt them or burn down the hut.
That night we met some of our fellow hikers - 3 families were hiking together. One family had 3 generations - grandkids, parents, and grandparents, and the granddad had even had a stent placed in his heart 3 months earlier! Julie and I were really impressed, and hope we're that active in our mid 70s!
Our third and last day turned out to be a sunny day. We had beautiful weather hiking along the mountain, and took pictures of Lake Mackenzie and the mountains to our west - more snow-capped majesties! Near the end, we detoured up the side trip to Key Summit, where there was an informational nature walk and we learned a few things about the flora in the area, like the peat moss can hold 25 times its weight in water, and the NZ beach tree is genetically very similar to the South American beech.
After 3 days of hiking, we finally arrived at The Divide. We took off our hiking boots and relaxed in the sun, waiting for our bus transport to Te Anau, where we planned to spend 2 nights and visit Doubtful Sound. As we waited, another hiker saw some keas - this is a NZ parrot that lives in the south, and is quite the pesky bird. It was trying to pull off the rubber lining around the doors to an RV, so we tried to scare it off. Apparently the kea likes to pick at rubber lining, windshield wipers, and shiny parts on cars.
Facts: The Routeburn is usually done in 3 days hiking just over 30-some kilometers. It climbs from temperate rainforest in Mt Aspiring National Park up to the Harris Saddle, which is alpine scrub and some snow even in early summer, back into mossy wet rainforest in Fiordlands National Park before stopping at The Divide near Milford Sound and Te Anau. We learned the rainfall averages 5 meters/year near Glenorchy to 6 meters/year near Te Anau! The great thing about the Routeburn tramp (as kiwis call their trails) is considered one of their Great Walks, which means there are huts with kitchens and bunkrooms so you can cut down on the gear you need to carry.
Well, starting at the eastern side, it's a gentle 2 hour climb to Routeburn Flats hut which is by the side of a beautiful mountain meadow valley. Along the way we were stopped by 2 ladies who were bird watching. We got to see & hear the Mohua, a yellow-headed canary which is slowly disappearing due to the European-introduced stout (a smaller, shorter, nastier version of the weasel). They said in their 20 years of hiking in NZ they had never seen this bird before!
After hitting the Flats hut, we hiked up another hour to Routeburn Falls hut where we had reservations for the night. Since it was a beautiful day out, we decided to take the advice of the park ranger we talked to earlier in the day at Glenorchy, and spent the late afternoon hiking up to the Harris Saddle to take in views of Hollyford River valley. We were advised by quite a few people that the weather can change daily, and the views up around the Harris Saddle are incredible, and we didn't want to miss those!
As we hiked up, another park ranger pointed out to us the Mt Cook Lily, which isn't really a lily but it's still a pretty little white flower. We had incredible views looking back behind us and ahead as we saw more and more of the Hollyford River valley.
Well, once we arrived at the Harris Saddle, we decided to hike a side trail up Conical Hill. We had passed a couple hiking the opposite way who said they had views all the way to the ocean! Great, except when we arrived the trail said it was closed... Well, that didn't really stop us - we figured we had hiking shoes and poles, so we could handle the snow! We hiked up the mountain, over the snow and arrived at the top to see... uh, not much! Well, we had a slightly foggy view of Hollyford River due to the clouds coming in, but couldn't see much else.
We returned back to the hut and had a tasty dinner of freeze-dried food and quinoa ;) We were a little envious of some other groups who brought along bottles of wine, but one great thing about camping is that most food tastes great when you carry it for several hours or days!
The next morning turned out as expected - rain! As we hiked up the Harris Saddle again, the trail was practically a stream with the amount of rain and water pouring down the mountains. As you can imagine, this 2nd day we didn't get to see much of anything with all the clouds and rain. I learned that my 10-year-old rainpants didn't work - they were completely soaked by the time we arrived at the Harris Saddle shelter! I also arrived with fully soaked hiking shoes. But I was not alone - many of our fellow hikers also were quite wet, and it was comical to see the steam rising off our jackets and pants as we huddled in the shelter in an attempt to dry off.
After a quick lunch, we walked along the mountain ridge above Lake Mackenzie, where our 2nd night's shelter was located. We were lucky that the wind wasn't as bad as the rangers had cautioned us, so we quickly hiked along the ridge and then down towards the lake.
Luckily, on the way down, the rain stopped and we started to get some views of the lake and the forest on the mountain. We thought the moss was heavy on the eastern side of the mountain, but here it was even denser - it practically carpeted the trees and rocks!
We were quite happy to reach the hut mid afternoon, and we quickly took all our wet clothes and shoes and put them by the super-warm coal stove in the middle of the common room. It was quite a sight to see everyone's clothes and shoes ringing the stove, and it was so warm in the hut that the ranger warned us we might set off the fire sprinklers! Luckily he was just being cautious, but we did all move our shoes a little farther away so we wouldn't melt them or burn down the hut.
That night we met some of our fellow hikers - 3 families were hiking together. One family had 3 generations - grandkids, parents, and grandparents, and the granddad had even had a stent placed in his heart 3 months earlier! Julie and I were really impressed, and hope we're that active in our mid 70s!
Our third and last day turned out to be a sunny day. We had beautiful weather hiking along the mountain, and took pictures of Lake Mackenzie and the mountains to our west - more snow-capped majesties! Near the end, we detoured up the side trip to Key Summit, where there was an informational nature walk and we learned a few things about the flora in the area, like the peat moss can hold 25 times its weight in water, and the NZ beach tree is genetically very similar to the South American beech.
After 3 days of hiking, we finally arrived at The Divide. We took off our hiking boots and relaxed in the sun, waiting for our bus transport to Te Anau, where we planned to spend 2 nights and visit Doubtful Sound. As we waited, another hiker saw some keas - this is a NZ parrot that lives in the south, and is quite the pesky bird. It was trying to pull off the rubber lining around the doors to an RV, so we tried to scare it off. Apparently the kea likes to pick at rubber lining, windshield wipers, and shiny parts on cars.
Labels: backpacking, Fiordlands National Park, hiking, honeymoon, Julie, New Zealand, Routeburn, Xavier
posted by Xavier at 8:42 PM
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