Let the race to the bottom bunk begin.  One thing we learned from our previous “Great Walk” is to make sure you get to the hut early enough to secure a bottom bunk, at least for us older less flexible folks :).  On our first walk at Lake Waikeremoana, we ended up on the third level of bunks the first night.  After walking in the rain, in gale force winds, over 10k, uphill, we had to climb a ladder to go to sleep.  And, up and down to use the toilet.  That was enough to light a fire.

Begin the journey to the Routeburn Track track:  One of the world’s “greatest walks” begins at the base of New Zealand’s Southern Alps and passes through two national parks, Fiordland and Mt Aspiring.  The Routeburn Track was named one of the top eleven trails in the world by the National Geographic Adventure Magazine in May 2005.  This track has been used since the 1880s!

We left Fox Glacier and wound our way down through Aspiring National Park.  It took us about two hours longer than estimated, because of all of the photo ops.  Jaw-dropping views of Lakes Wanaka and Wakatipu, and a short stop in Queenstown for lunch and hiking grub.  Queenstown is the extreme sports mecca and “jumping off” point…where Bungy jumping started in 1988!

We stayed as close to the Routeburn Track start as possible, in a little town, Glenorchy.  For this track, it is not a loop track, so you have to have your car transported to the end of the track, about 35k away.  We met up with Mike from Trackhopper.  Mike and his wife own the company.  They transport the cars from the beginning to the end.  If they do not have a car to return, they actually run the track.  Mike has run it over 200 times in the last eight years, and his wife has run it over 170 times.  32k+ and 1100 meter ascent – insane…and they do it averaging about a ten minute mile!  Mind you, we are taking four days to hike it at a leisurely pace.  After leaving Trackhoppers in awe, we had a nice dinner at the Glenorchy Lodge, with the neighborhood cat, gracing us with her presence.

After intermittent sleep at the Glenorchy Hotel, we were out the door by 7am, hoping to secure our bottom bunk!  First day of the Routeburn Track is only a 4 hour hike.  We lucked out with the weather.  It was relatively clear and cool, which is a boon for this rainforest area.  The drive to the track is itself stunning.  The valley and surrounding mountains were used in The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the scene of middle earth and Isengard.

The trek to the first hut, the Kiwis call it a gradual ascent.  We called it “climbing a mountain”.  It is truly beautiful – gorges, waterfalls, crystal clear aqua colored pools.  We were also lucky enough to see a Kea, an ornery large parrot species only found in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.  A passing guide told us they work in teams.  One distracts, while the other will shred your backpack in search of food.  We made it passed the team without incident.  Tracey had flashbacks of being attacked by the monkey on Gibraltar…

The Kea are very smart.  Several people have witnessed them tobogganing down corrugated iron roofs- sliding down on feet and tail, following one another in line, falling off when they reach the edge of the roof, and then flying away with shrieks of delight.

Upon arriving at the hut, we asked the ranger if we were in the right place.  This hut is new and has flushing toilets.  Oh, the luxury of it all. ..and we did get our bottom bunk!  After a lunch of Alfredo noodles, coffee and tea, we took a very short walk to Routeburn Falls just up the hill.  The hut ranger told us it is so cold in the winter that the falls freeze…so it actually looks like the picture!

We had a nice evening in the hut talking with new friends.  Debbie and Mike from Napier NZ (Mike is a police officer that spent time in Christchurch helping out after the 2011 quakes…he could NOT however help out with my NZ speeding tickets :().  We spent a fair amount of time talking with Samuel from France, now Denver, who is working on his PhD in Geology at the Colorado School of Mines.  It is always great to have a resident Geologist with you in NZ to talk about how this incredible landscape was formed and is still evolving with glaciers, earthquakes and volcanoes.

Day Two Routeburn

The evening was uneventful.  As usual, there was the cabin snorer.  He started around 9pm and didn’t stop.  He was still “sleeping” and snoring when we left the cabin at 7:30 am to start our hike.

The weather prediction was for rain all day.  It turned out to be accurate!  Heavier rain was to be expected after 1pm with thunderstorms.  Our aim was to beat the heavy rain and storms.  It was cloudy and drizzly when we left the cabin past the beautiful Routeburn Falls.  With the rain, the bad news is not great views, the good news, more waterfalls and full streams.  The rain grew steadier as the hike progressed.  Most of the hike was above the bush line along high ridges, so some views of rocky mountains, huge boulders, high mountain lakes and streams.  Unfortunately, when we crossed the Harris Saddle and Conical Hill, we were in thick clouds.  We were supposed to be able to see towering mountain snow covered mountain peaks and even the distant Tasman Sea and beaches.  Another plus side was that Tracey could not see the steep cliff descents along the narrow tracks we were following.

As we descended toward our cabin, we reentered the dark green mystical looking forest.  We were “below” the clouds enough to see Lake MacKenzie against the enormous steep cliff with waterfalls running down into the lake.  We arrived just in time to make coffee, tea and some hot soup that was so refreshing after the rain drenched hike.

We hung up our wet clothes near the wood stove…as did everyone else as they arrived at the cabin!  My hiking pants were soaked.  For some reason I decided not to wear the rain paints, but at least they were dry while I wait for the others to dry!

We enjoyed our freeze dried Thai Curry Chicken amongst our new friends in the cabin:  the great Kiwi couple, Mike and Debbie from the North Island, two Aussies who gave us some good tips for our upcoming Australia trip, and a young kid in his twenties from Germany who had sprained his ankle.  His intent was to do the whole 32k trip in one day but said he slipped three times and couldn’t continue. We were treated by the cabin ranger’s fire emergency briefing that turned into a 30 minute stand up comedy routine!  He was hilarious…cabin mates had tears in their eyes laughing so hard.  In part, he described to us what we should have seen today on our hike if it hadn’t rained all day!

The rain never stopped throughout the evening…was nice to sleep to pattering on the cabin roof.  And we had no major snorers!

Day Three Routeburn

The day started early…out of the bunks at 5:30 am for our bagels, nutella, apple and instant coffee!  After breakfast and packing up, we were back on the trail to Howden Lake hut at 7:30 am.  The rain finally stopped, at least the heavy part, but we were still in the clouds most of the day…perhaps “above” the clouds after the steep ascent immediately after leaving the MacKenzie Hut.  The rains of the past couple days enhanced both the waterfalls and the mystical fairy Lord of the Rings, green, mossy forest.

About halfway into the final day 12km hike we came upon a toilet.  This in itself was kind of interesting, sort of like a toilet in the middle of nowhere.  What was even more interesting were the squawking Kea we were warned about.  There were about five of these southern alpine parrots, all seemingly very interested in us and more likely our packs.  Just hoping we would set them down as we used the toilet for them to pillage through!  We were smarter than the bird :).

There were many waterfalls on our path due to the rain which at times poured over our paths.  Most were fine to cross, not too deep and we were able to pick our way over rocks.  Earland Falls took the cake though…it was roaring!  Earland Falls are is over 550 ft high (174m) there is a flood path to take if the path is flooded and the ridge covered.  It wasn’t quite there yet, so I decided to cross directly in front of the falls.  Tracey followed, we made it to the other side, both looking like drenched rats…and cold! Water temps in lakes and streams here are in the 50s.  It did seem a bit refreshing!

We decided NOT to stay at the Howden Lake Hut, instead, did lunch there and hiked what we were to hike on Day 4 to the car park.  We were looking forward to finding a dry place to stay, a hearty meal and comfortable bed instead of the hut.

We said good bye to our new Kiwi friends, Mike and Debbie, found our car that was transferred to us by Trackhooper and headed to Te Anau for the evening…New adventures await!

And a few more pics…