Location: Routeburn track near Queenstown/Glenorchy, on the south island of New Zealand
About:  The Routeburn track is another one of New Zealand's Great Walks.  It takes you through some of New Zealand's finest mountain scenery, offering breath taking views of crystal clear streams, waterfalls, lakes, rugged snow capped mountains and deep valleys. 
New Zealand Dept of Conservation site for Routeburn Track:  http://www.doc.govt.nz/Explore/002~Tracks-and-Walks/Great-Walks/Routeburn-Track/index.asp
Time of year visited:  Late November 2002
Elevation:  450M to 1277m above sea level
Locations within the park photographed:  Routeburn Flats, North Routeburn track, Harris pass, Lake Mackenzie
Route map:

Map source: Routeburn Track from NZTopoOnline, Version 4.6
 New Zealand Mainland, Crown Copyright Reserved.

 
Map source: Routeburn Track from NZTopoOnline, Version 4.6
 New Zealand Mainland, Crown Copyright Reserved.

Travelogue:

Day Nine:  Queenstown to Routeburn Flats

The Routeburn track was our second back country track during our visit to New Zealand.  This track also one of the "Great Walks" in the New Zealand Park system.  It offers some spectacular views of the lush New Zealand Alpine and sub-alpine zones, including many peaks and trailside streams and waterfalls.

After an overnight stay in Queenstown, we departed for the Routeburn track trailhead.  The drive from Queenstown to the trailhead is one of the more spectacular drives we've taken.  The road from Queenstown to Glenorchy runs along Lake Wakatipu, which is New Zealand's longest lake at 77Km.

We stopped in Glenorchy to visit the ranger station there, check on weather conditions, and register for our back country visit in case we turn up missing.  We had already picked up our permits in Queenstown, so we had only a brief visit and then we were on to the track.

The drive from Glenorchy to the trailhead follows the Dart river.  The river crosses a couple of bridges, passing the several stations. The stations have some of the most enviable scenery we've seen. Lush green fields were dotted with numerous sheep.  White, snow capped peaks off in the distance.  A beautiful blue river flowing through the valley.  The scenery definitely made for a very good start to our backcountry trip.

We arrived at the Routeburn shelter trailhead about mid-morning.  We parked our car, geared up and started on our way.  The hike to our first camping location at the Routeburn Flats campground was about 4mi/6.5km.  The trail was a relatively gentle climb, though with some steep spots.  Occasional breaks in the trees offered us nice views of the valley behind us. 

Along the way you could hear the rushing waters of the Routeburn river, but rarely got to get up close.  Several swing bridges crossed the river and it's feeding tributaries.  These bridges, made of large, heavy gauged spun wire and wood, made an otherwise very difficult if not impossible cross over the rapidly rushing water, quite simple.  However, the weight of our packs and our stride at times would set up reverberations in the bridges that made for a little of a wild ride across.

Upon arrival at Routeburn Flats, we were greeted with a large grassy field for the tent campers like us, as well as a nice bunkhouse for those wishing to avoid tent camping.  Like most bunkhouses in the New Zealand park system, reservations were required and use of the bunkhouse facilities is not allowed by tent campers.   Tent campers had a separate location, about 50m away, complete with it's own cooking shelter and water source.  Water here, and everywhere else on the track has to be filtered or boiled.

We set up camp, ate lunch and decided to venture up the North Routeburn track for a short day hike.  Crossing the Routeburn river proved to be the most interesting challenge of our stay.  The water was ice cold, entering it immediately sent pain up through our legs.  We both had brought sandles or water shoes for crossing streams (saving our boots from getting wet), so we donned those and made the crossing at one of the widest  shallow points we could find. 

We made it across the river, re-donned our boots and hiked up the North Routeburn track.  We were virtually alone on that track, running into only one other couple heading back toward the campground.  We followed the river most of the way up the track, venturing away for a bit into a densely wooded area.  There a beautiful set of waterfalls cascading down the mountain offered for an photo opportunity too hard to pass. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon on the North Routeburn track, exploring the area and enjoying the views of the snowcapped mountains that seemed to rise straight out of the ground.  From our vantage point we could see Emily Pass which rises behind our campground, and further up the valley the mountains of Humboldt range, including Mount Momus and Mount Somnus.

We returned to camp, ate dinner and visited with the couple we passed on the North Routeburn. They were from the UK, and had been in NZ for several weeks, backpacking from location to location.  Fires were allowed at the campground, which was nice though the temperatures didn't demand a fire. However, they were busy trying to dry out their boots from the crossing at the river.   We helped them try out their boots while hearing about their travels in New Zealand and Australia.

Day Ten:  Routeburn Flats to Lake Mackenzie

The next morning, we ate breakfast, packed up camp and started up the mountain.  Routeburn falls was our next waypoint on the way to Lake Mackenzie which is about 8.5mi/13.6km away. The hike to the falls from the flats is about 1.5mi/2.3km and is steep in several places. On the way up toward falls, we entered a clearing that offered a view of the valley below.  The clearing, a result of a landslide many years ago, is bordered by signs saying not to stop inside the clearing as rock slides still occur.  We did stop for a couple of quick pictures and were on our way.

We passed Routeburn Falls bunk house, stopping for a snack and a few pics of the rushing water.  A DOC bunkhouse and a private lodge are located here.  The lodge is for customers of a private guide company that provides food and shelter to it's patrons.  The Routeburn falls is a fairly large falls, maybe 50 ft high, and definitely powerful at this time of the year.  The spray from the falls made for a tough time getting a picture and keeping my camera dry.

On the way up to Harris Pass, the highest point on the trip that is 2mi/3.25km from the falls, we encountered many large groups of relatively un-laden individuals walking cheerfully down toward the private bunk house.  With our full packs on, we were a little jealous of their ability to come from Lake Mackenzie with little on their backs. 

The walk from the Falls to Harris pass was completely above the tree line.  We crossed several small streams that fed the Routeburn river.  The crisp cold water was a welcome source of fresh water, though we still filtered our water just in case!  Large boulders littered the landscape, and at this time of the year the grasses were just starting to grow and few wildflowers or other plants were blooming. 

As we approached the pass, the climb steepened quite a bit.  We stopped to take several pictures of the spectacular view we had back down the valley and of the immediate area.  Mt Xenicus loomed over Lake Harris that is the source of the Routeburn river.  We had to cross only one snow field, which was good as the trail cut through some very steep areas that would have proved to be a long way down had one slipped.

We arrived at Harris pass shelter about 1:00 pm, stopping for lunch and to tend to my wife's feet again as another blister had formed.  Sitting on the deck of the shelter, we ate our lunch amongst a large group of 20 people or so that had came up from Lake MacKenzie.   We certainly didn't have as much solitude as we hoped, but the crowds of people were not overwhelming.  Signs are posted on the shelter not to feed the kea (New Zealand parrot), but none were in sight. 

At Harris Pass there is a short spur trail up to Conical mountain. Due to the amount of snow on the trail, the trail was closed, though that didn't stop several people from trying to reach the top. A few returned back to the shelter indicating it was harder and steeper than they expected, none that we're aware of actually made it to the top.  If they had, reportedly Conical mountain offers a full 360 degree view of the entire area, and on a clear day even out to the sea. 

After Harris pass, the trail skirts the mountain side, staying relatively level most of the way, dropping just a bit before making a sharp fishhook curve that begins the drop down the mountain.  From this curve, you can see Lake Mackenzie and the huts clearly below.

The drop into Lake Mackenzie was a series of switchbacks that weren't too steep, except for the last 400m or so, which was very steep, very rocky and slippery in spots.  This was tough on our already tired feet and legs. 

When we arrived at Lake Mackenzie it was almost if we had ventured into a summer resort.  People seemed to be everywhere, most lounging on the deck or grass next to the hut.  Fortunately the campground was a little further up the trail between the hut and another private lodge.  The campground was much smaller (only 9 spots total) and was far enough away to avoid the noise of the huts.

Lake Mackenzie was set within a small valley surrounded by several more snow capped mountains.  The lake was beautiful, though the sand flies were quite thick, especially near the water.    We lounged by the lake for a bit until the sun started to set and then went back for dinner and much needed rest.   We only stayed one night at Lake Mackenzie, so we did not get to explore the lake area much at all.

 

 

Day Eleven:  Lake Mackenzie to Routeburn Flats

Our itinerary required us to backtrack the way we came the very next day.  This was the biggest mistake of the trip, one that we won't make again.  We climbed the steep trail back up to the fishook curve and back to Harris Pass.  When we reached Harris pass, we could see and hear a thunderstorm starting to form far out to the east of us, and in the direction we were heading.  As we approached Routeburn falls, the storm was getting closer.  At this point, we decided to try to get down the mountain as fast as we could, hopefully to beat the storm to our campground.

We made it from Routeburn falls to the Flats in about 45 minutes.  Along the way we heard thunder clapping through the trees and the occasional raindrop would land on us.  We made it to the hut just as it began to pour.  Since it didn't look like the rain was going to let up anytime soon, we got our raingear on and made for the campsite.  We setup our camp in the rain, and then ventured over to the cooking shelter for dinner.  We sat, ate dinner and visited with two other groups also hiding out from the rain.  An hour or so later, the rain stopped just in time to go to bed.  After hiking 17 miles in two days, we were exhausted.

Day Twelve:  Routeburn Flats to Trailhead

The next day we hiked out under beautiful mostly sunny skies back to our car. We made it back to Routeburn shelter by mid morning and started on our way to our next destination, Aoraki Mt Cook.

For more photos from this hike, browse the complete New Zealand gallery