The Routeburn Trek

With the new system came an increase in fees. It isn't cheap to hike here. Hut fees are now $25 per person per night. Tenting has luckily remained at $6 each and that is what John and I did.

Booking for the Routeburn is essential. Showing up without a hut pass means a 50% surcharge on the spot. And if the hut is full you may well sleep on the floor. We booked in Queenstown six days ago and were told there was a four day wait for tent sites before we could begin the walk. Refunds are only issued a week before you begin, so rain or shine we were hiking.

So far our out-of-pocket for the trek was $24 for camping. But we needed transportation as well. A bus from Glenorchy Holiday Park where we could leave our car for free, if we camped there, was $10 each. Another boat ride back to the Park was $15 from the end of the Greenstone Trek, Ker ching. Total tramping cost, $37 each.

Finally our day came. Backpackers Express dropped our bus-load at the trail-head of the Routeburn. It was a relatively easy four-hour hike around a gorge and through a beech forest to the grassy flats known as the Routeburn Flats where we would camp. The Routeburn Falls hut, another hour and a half along the trail, doesn't allow tenting. After dinner we strolled the flats to enjoy the views of the Humboldt mountains.

Our second day began early. This was the longest leg of the hike that would take us over 13.8 km of alpine land. By 8:30 we were packed, fed and on the trail.

After the initial 270 meter climb to the Routeburn Falls Hut, I began wondering whether my oatmeal breakfast would be enough to sustain me until lunch. Our food rations didn't allow for too many snacks. John questioned whether we should have packed more food, but six days worth was already plenty to haul on our backs over two mountain passes. I'd try to hold my stomach at bay a bit longer.

We continued onward and upward to the top of the Routeburn Falls,tumbles dramatically down a series of rocky ledges. From there is was a walk through an alpine basin and another climb to Harris Lake.

On a clear day Lake Harris is said to reflect everything around it. Alas, for us, it was cloudy. But after the long hike up to the 1277 meter high point on the trail, it still afforded a magnificent view.

From there it was downhill to the spectacular grassy meadows of Harris Saddle. I couldn't wait to shed my pack at the shelter there and chow down on peanut butter and jelly on cabin bread crackers. The view was great but the break was short. I flung my pack on, ok John hoisted it up and we were off again.

For an hour and a half we followed a ridge trail high above the bush line and got views of the Hollyford Valley and fields of Mount Cook lilies and mountain daisies. By now we'd been hiking 4 1/2 hours and I was starting to wonder if we would ever reach the highest point on the ridge and see MacKenzie Hut. Two and half hours later my feet had had enough. But the view of the beautiful jade-colored Lake MacKenzie nestled in beech trees was enough to give me the second wind I needed for the descent. Unfortunately the 300 meter drop from the ridge to the Lake took it out of me. It was down, down, down. We scrambled over boulders, swung far out away from the hut on switchback trails and back in again only to swing further out next time. By the time we reached the final descent, I was too tired to notice the beauty of the surrounding rain forest.

I had just enough strength at the camp site to pitch the tent and eat dinner before going to sleep. I commented to a woman there that it had been a long day. I didn't even have the strength to think of a quick comeback when she retorted with "I suppose it would seem long if you're not used to walking." A friendly Kiwi she was not.

Today, day three, began with a heaping bowl of oatmeal. The previous nights dehydrated noodles had worked their magic overnight and I felt like a 'boxabirds' (well, perhaps not on top of the world, but better at least). We only had an 8.4 km hike and I was glad. Our goal was a small tent site 20 minutes past the Howden Hut. Most trampers were ending their trek at the Divide where a bus would take them back around to Queenstown. We had decided to continue in a loop following either the Greenstone or Caples trails.

Although the forecast called for rain, this ended up being the sunniest days on the hike so far. The valley sparkled as we hiked toward Earland Falls. From a distance the Falls were impressive, raining in tiers down the mountain in front of us. Up close they were mind-boggling. We stopped to eat lunch with their spray cooling our backs. Eventually we pulled ourselves away and continued west. We stopped to take pictures of The Orchard, watch a Kea and 'Ohh' and 'Ahh' at the forest ferns.

At one O'clock we arrived at Howden Hut and in another 20 minutes at this camp site. The views from the valley here are almost enough to make us forget about the ferocious sand flies chewing us to pieces.

We have completed the Routeburn Trek. Tomorrow we treat our feet to another.