Routeburn Track

I just posted about the Kepler Track; three days after completing that hike, I started the Routeburn Track.  The Routeburn Track is only half as long as the Kepler, 32 km, but I still took four days to do it.  (I had originally intended to do it in three days and skip the last hut, which was only an hour from the end of the trail.  But then I realized that would put me in Queenstown for New Years Eve, which would have been horribly expensive, not to mention noisy.  So I decided to stay at the last hut after all.  Whether that was a wise choice remains to be seen.)

I took a bus to get from Queenstown to the trail head.  As the bus was driving towards the mountains, we could see blue sky everywhere except where we were headed.  Great.  However, the rain held off until the moment I entered the hut, and then there was a huge downpour.

Here was the view from the first hut.

Day 2 was a gorgeous walk, at least for the first half.  (It all would have been gorgeous, but the clouds covered everything up for the second half.)  The hike went up a mountain, over a saddle, and then back down the other side.  But the up and down parts weren't nearly as steep or unrelenting as the Kepler Track.  It would go up for a while, then level off, then go up again, then level off again.  I can handle that!

The weather started closing in during the afternoon, so I was glad I got an early start.  This was probably the last good view; you can see the clouds blowing in to obscure the mountains. 

The next hut is way down there next to that lake.  As I was taking this picture, I dropped my walking pole and it slid a few feet down the hill.  I looked at it for a few minutes, wondering whether it was worth it to risk life and limb trying to retrieve the pole.  My knees were still sore from the Kepler and I didn't want to go downhill without the pole--otherwise I might have left it there!  I finally decided to go for it and carefully eased myself down to the pole.  That part was easy.  I didn't fall until I was getting back up...and then I fell over backwards onto the trail.  But with the pack on my back, I couldn't get back up!  I felt like one of those beetles that gets stuck on its back.

Once again, the moment I stepped inside the hut the clouds opened and there was a huge rainstorm.  And it rained and rained and rained.  We didn't know it, but this was the beginning of a storm that was about to shut down half of the South Island.

Day 3 was only about 3 hours long, since I had decided to stay at a hut that night after all.  It was cold and rainy and wet.  I was wearing my thermals, rain gear, and my gloves.

The trail went practically under this waterfall, which was gorgeous and would have felt wonderful on a hot, dry day.  This was not a hot, dry day. 

When I arrived at the hut, there was a notice up saying there was a severe weather forecast for a storm that was expected to hit early that afternoon and continue throughout the next day.  And wow, it really hit.  The rain, thunder, hail, and wind roared all night long.  There was a little stream just outside the hut, and when we woke up the next morning the stream had become an angry river.  Our hut warden said he'd never seen it that high before.

In the morning there was a hut meeting, and everyone who was heading up the way I had come was discouraged from going any farther; the hut warden suggested staying at the hut another night or two.  Since I only had an hour-long hike to get to the car park and catch my bus (and the trail was just slightly downhill) I decided to head out.  

It was a long, wet hour.  The trail had turned into a streambed and the water came up over my ankles.  It was pouring rain, although (thankfully) the hail had stopped and the trees protected me from the worst of the wind.  And, also thankfully, the bus had arrived early and had the heater running full-blast so I could warm up a bit.  Unfortunately I was stuck in my wet clothes for the 2-hour ride since I wasn't really going to strip down and change in front of everyone.  

Later I found out that they had started helicoptering people off my track and the nearby Milford Track--I was bummed that I missed riding in a helicopter!  Several of the roads in the area were closed due to weather-related slips (landslides).  When I got into Queenstown there was no accommodation available anywhere since people were stuck with flights being cancelled and roads being closed, etc.  Luckily I had a reservation.

Someday I want to go back and do the Routeburn during good weather.