The Routeburn Trek

On route to the Routeburn Track trailhead. The snow covered mountain is Mt. Earnslaw.

Ken and Charles walked the Routeburn Track. It is a Great Walk of New Zealand and takes three days. The walk starts in Mt. Aspiring National Park and finishes in Fiordland National Park. It is three days of breath taking scenery - snow capped mountains, lakes, valleys, meadows and rain forest.



The first day of the walk is through beech forests. The elevation gain is about 600m over a 2.5km distance, so there is a lot of up. The reward is waiting at the Routeburn Falls hut. It is a beautiful structure set up on stilts to give commanding views of the valley below and the mountains above. We arrived to some fairly persistent cloud, so our views were restricted, but when the broke through - WOW.

The beech forests are also sub-tropical rainforests.

 We forded the river and headed towards the mountains.

The trail is well maintained and the views did break through.

Being a Great Walk, the trail is very well maintained and the sleeping huts are very comfortable. They have all recently been upgraded. NZ has discovered that their natural environment is a great tourist draw so they are doing a lot to make it inviting. The population of NZ is about 4 million and they attract 8 million tourists a year.

On the balcony of the Routeburn Falls hut. We came up from the valley seen over Ken's right shoulder.

Everyone gathers in the common kitchen/dining room to prepare and eat meals. It was fun to talk to hikers from all over the world. There is a great sense of fraternity. Hikers come in all shapes and sizes from muscular twenty somethings walking alone to groups of grey nomads and everything in between. The oldest hikers we met on this trip were in their early 70s. After a fantastic day we retired early - the power goes off at 10pm. I was asleep before I put my earplugs in. I woke in the morning with them still in my hand.

The next day starts with some serious up - about a 300m elevation gain in just over a km. That takes you to the high point on the hike, the Harris Saddle at 1260m. The middle day is the longest day between 5 and 6 hours of hiking depending on stops for photos and views. Unfortunately this day was the most overcast of our three so we had limited views. 

Nearing the top of the Routeburn Falls.

The trail takes a sharp left turn. Luckily the cloud had drifted away and we saw the sign. Beyond it is straight down.

Just to keep you on your toes...

...falling rock and the trail narrows

...and goes under an overhang.

 

Views did break through.

Another view peaking through.

Whereas the bunks at the Routeburn Falls Hut were 4 to a section - a small room without doors,  the bunks at the Lake Mackenzie Hut are 34 to a room.  I’ve noticed that no matter what language people speak they all snore the same! It was an interesting night since I somehow lost my earplugs.

The third day started with a modest elevation gain and then was a gradual downward slope to the end. We walked through a mixture of sun and cloud. 

It's all downhill from here.

Dropping below the clouds.

Lake Howden.

An hour from the end we stopped at the Lake Howden Hut to eat our lunch. Charles and I sat there feeling very satisfied with our accomplishment when a young man came bounding down the trail in shorts and running shoes. He had run the trail in three hours!! He owned a small company that drops hikers at the trailhead and then drives their cars to the end of the trail so they are there when they finish. He then runs back to get his own vehicle to drive home. While we were telling him how amazing that was, he somewhat dejectedly explained that in spite of all his training, the best he could do in the annual Routeburn Track run was third at 3 hours. The top two runners did it in 2:48 and 2:54 respectively.

I did not take a picture of this young man and I am trying to forget that I met him.