Routeburn and Kepler tracks, NZ

[Nick S]

A few photos from a short trip over the Tasman with my younger brother. We walked the Routeburn and Kepler tracks in fairly rough conditions but had a great time.

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Turquoise rivers

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Leaving the hut on the second day

The track sidles above a lake

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The side track up Conical hill at around 1500m was the highest point we reached on the Routeburn. The peaks around us were around 1900m

Looking across the Hollyford valley to the massive Darran mountains. Mt Tutoko at 2723m remained veiled by the clouds

[Nick S]

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Heading down to the second hut

The weather cleared up for a few hours and we had a great time exploring the other side of Lake Mackenzie. There is a route you can take straight up between those two peaks.

First day of the Kepler track. 700m climb from Te Anau to Luxmore hut at 1000m.

100km/hr gusts along steep ridges!

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Final day trip from Queenstown up the 1748m Ben Lomond (NZ version)


I'll definitely be going back for more, maybe the Rees Dart and Cascade saddle or some mountaineering if I can. Hopefully skiing this winter..
I met a few Aussies on track but there weren't any fellow Tasmanians.. Maybe this is because they are all walking in Tassie haha. Anyway I still love Tassie, it may not have the higher mountains and glaciers but it's certainly unique and spectacular in it's own way.
Anyway I told a bunch of travellers that they should still see Tassie

Nick

[Mickeymoo]

Nice work, looks like a fantastic trip. Those blue/green coloured rivers/lakes look pretty cool.

[lyndoor]

Hey, cool as, Bro!
Loved the photos. It's a magic place, isn't it? I walked the Routeburn in reverse to you after the Milford two years ago.
You can understand why Peter Jackson shot LOR there Every vista is dramatic!

PS: Did you come close to winning the chocolates for guessing how many different languages the Christmas messages were in?

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[andrewbish]

Hi Nick

Great photos - brought back memories of a late-Winter Routeburn trip I did in '85, also with my younger brother. Highlights include:
- knee-deep snow above the tree line, which made the going in those sections quite a slog.
- crawling on all fours across an ice-canopy that spanned a moutain stream (the bro went through)
- having to walk out into a frozen lake to traverse an unpassable section of the track - apart from the fear of the ice breaking, there was also a knee-deep layer of icy sludge to content with
- having come to the second hut, deciding we weren't keen on the return trip, so hitched a ride to the start of the - much gentler - Greenstone Track, which we followed for 2 days back to where it joined the Routeburn.

Adventuring aside, it is a beautiful part of the world, as your photos show. Should be on every A/NZ walkers todo list.

Regards, Bisho

[Nick S]

Thanks michael, yeah that blue water is pretty amazing. I guess most of tassie's rivers are tannin stained so we dont see it. think it has something to do with the mineral content as well.

@ Lyndoor, hey there were a few places where my brother and I agreed orcs would definitely live around. Actually we passed some places they did some LOTR filming. Near Glenorchy at the start of the Routeburn. Plus we had a Braveheart moment on the grassy ridges of the Kepler track, y'know that part where wallace is running over the range with the camera circling around him? you could almost hear the bagpipes
Ah no I didn't have a guess at that poster but we spent 5 min with a bunch of germans trying to guess all the other languages there.

@ Bisho - Thankyou. I'd love to go and do the Routeburn in the cooler months with some more snow around actually. dunno about the ice walking

[flatfoot]

The track sidles above a lake

Wow! Great shots! I'd be keeping to the left side of that track too!

I've got some friends starting the Kepler tomorrow. So envious!

[iandsmith]

I have only one emotion looking at those pics.......envy.
Cheers

[whynotwalk]

Lovely pics Nick - brings back fond memories of Routeburn (x2) and Kepler (x1) trips in the last few years.

@ lyndoor - nup, we missed the chocolates, but Ranger John did a great job of "bonding" the group in Routeburn Falls Hotel .... umm Hut.

@ Nick - we also walked the Rees-Dart in 2009, and it's highly recommended. Cascade Saddle is one of the most amazing places I've been ... but you really need favourable weather! Here are some Rees-Dart pics to whet your appetite,

cheers

Peter

at Rees Saddle

Snowy Creek valley, below Rees Saddle

Heading towards Cascade Saddle, above the Dart Glacier

small ice fall near Dart Glacier

Mt Aspiring (left background) from Cascade Saddle

[whynotwalk]

... and a PS about the colour of the water in these glacier-fed streams. It's caused by the amount of glacial flour in the water, i.e. fine particles of rock that have been pulverised by the glacier over hundreds - sometimes thousands - of years. When there's lots of "flour" being washed down after heavy rain, it goes grey. But once the particles settle, the waters reflect/refract light on the blue side of the spectrum,

cheers

Peter

[Nick S]

Great photos Peter, I'll have to go back now Looks like you had better weather than us, but ah well it certainly made us appreciate the moments of good weather. It's just a bit painful when you get back into Queenstown and see all these amazing photos from the walks you have just done
I'd do the Routeburn again in a flash anyway.

Thanks for that bit on the water colour, I had googled it previously but wasn't sure if that was the reason in this case.