3/19 - Routeburn Track

Early in the morning I awoke with the sun and started toward the Routeburn track. Normally people take three days to do this hike. It isn't a circular path, and normally you have to either have to arrange transport from the other end back to the beginning (which takes about five hours, due to the shape of the valley where the roads go). So I decided to try to hike about half way in, to the high point. Sheila and Gary said that going to Harris Saddle - the halfway point will give a really good sense of the track.

The trail starts out following the course of a river through a  winding mountain pass. The grade is really gentle, allowing views through the trees of the majestic peaks. I did a bit of birdwatching while hiking along. Eventually the grade steepens as the track climbs out of the valley, and up above the tree line. The views for this section were fairly blocked, but you need to concentrate on the track anyway. At the tree line is one of the backpacker huts. Now, "hut" might bring to mind the three sided shelters along the Appalachian Trail. Not even close. The huts in New Zealand are like little backpacker hotels. They are four sided, have sinks with running (filtered) water, and stoves for cooking. I merely stopped at the hut for a snack and the view of the valley I had just climbed out of (which was breathtaking).

Immediately past the hut, the steep grade continues, bringing you above the trees, and into the alpine zone. After rounding a bend in the trail it's almost like stepping into another world. Gone completely, like it never existed, are views of the lush valley. These are replaced with a quiet alpine landscape, with the mountains still climbing on either side. The only noise when one stops is the wind, which moves almost constantly through. The alpine area continues with variable grades, but always climbing, until the trail passes by a high mountain lake. I was reminded of the mirror lake outside of the east moria gate in LotR. Quiet, softly rippling waters sparkle in the sun.

The saddle, the midpoint of the track has a short, steep side trail that takes one to the top of Conical Peak for potentially amazing views. Unfortunately, the clouds were down on the mountain when I reached the top, and didn't allow for views, but I'm still glad I did the trail. (that climber in me got my fix for the day).

The way down was a bit slower. While I love climbing, my boots make descents less enjoyable. I bought these boots recently, and they tend to give several of my toes blisters. This especially happens in the descents, as my feet tend to be crammed toward the front of the boots. By the end of the hike, my feet were definitely not happy. :-(

In honor of my wounded feet, I decided to baby myself in the evening. I had left a message with Kinloch, that if they had a vegetarian option for their 3 course dinner, I would like to sign up for it. They did. And it was AMAZING! They apparently get chefs from various high-end restaurants to cook at Kinloch, and everything tasted divine. Of course, I had just hiked 16 miles with some really steep grades, so just about anything would have tasted good, but I really think this went beyond good. I had some left-over wine from the previous night with Sheila and Gary, and it complemented my meal perfectly. This has been my nicest day yet in New Zealand. Happy and full, I snuggled into bed relatively early to get a start down to Te Anau to hike a bit on the Kepler Track and set up a boat trip on Milford Sound.