Peak Bagging, New Zealand-Style: 60km on the Kepler Track + Milford Sound

Key Summit Hike, Routeburn Track

Day -1: Milford Sound Drive and Key Summit

We arrived in Te Anau intending to set up camp and spend some time relaxing in preparation for our impending 3-day hike on the Kepler Track, but the weather was so fantastic it seemed a shame to waste it hanging around a campsite. Wet and windy conditions are common around here and it was probable this would be the only nice weather we would encounter during our week-long stay in Fiordland. That said, we changed our plans to take advantage of the sunshine and drive down to Milford Sound. We also decided to do the final leg of the Routeburn and the hike up to Key Summit for good measure. So glad we did as the weather was gorgeous all day and the views were spectacular!

Milford Sound

Near the trailhead at Rainbow Reach

Day 1: Rainbow Reach to Brod Bay Campsite, 15.1km

Lunch: Pumpkin soup (dehydrated soup mix), crackers, dried sausage

Dinner: Brown rice, sardines in tomato sauce, chocolate almond bark

Well, the Kepler Track is an excellent antidote to homesickness, if you're Canadian. Our first day's hike was very much like the forest hiking we do back home in British Columbia. The only obvious difference being that most of the trees in Fiordland are deciduous, where the forests of B.C. are made up mostly of evergreens. Other than that, the landscape was pretty familiar: the ground carpeted in ferns, mossy tree trunks, branches covered with old man's beard and rocky streams.

For the first few hours, the trail ran parallel to the rushing Waiau River, with waters so clear you could see the stones deep at the bottom of the river. Towards the end of the hike the trail traced the shore of Lake Te Anau and we couldn't resist stopping at one of the quiet beaches along the way to wade into the cool waters. Ah!

Heading "over the top" on the Kepler Track

Day 2: Brod Bay Campsite to Iris Burn Campsite, 22.8km

Breakfast: Couscous, canned chicken and apricots, coffee and tea

Lunch: Pasta with dried sausage

Dinner: Minestrone cup of soup and mac and cheese with tuna

The weather on our second day on the Kepler was the pits! For most of the day, we hiked through a gale with winds reaching 100km per hour. The views, on the other hand, were fabulous. We love alpine hiking, and have enjoyed a number of stellar alpine hikes around the world, but we've never done alpine hiking quite like this before. Stunning!

As camping is not an option at high altitudes on the Kepler (those staying in the huts can break their journey at the Luxmore Hut though), we had to take on the challenge of ascending, crossing "the top" and descending in one day. The initial climb to the summit of Mount Luxmore (1400+ metres) took us almost 4 hours, with a lengthy stop at the Luxmore Hut for lunch. From there, we were wowed by the views all afternoon as we headed across numerous saddles past the Forest Burn and Hanging Valley Emergency Shelters. We descended in the late afternoon to the Iris Burn Hut to enjoy a much-deserved large dinner and to rest our very tired feet!

All-in-all it was an amazing day that I'll never forget! I heard New Zealand's Southern Alps inspired a young Sir Edmund Hillary to champion the sport of alpine climbing. Well, of course!

View near the Luxmore Hut

Arriving at the Hanging Valley Hut

Day 3: Iris Burn Campsite to Rainbow Reach, 22.2km

Breakfast: Hot oatmeal, crackers and peanut butter

Lunch (eaten on the trail): Gorp (almonds and M&Ms), crackers, dried fruit, granola bars

The hike out from the Iris Burn campsite was very similar to the first day's hike to Brod Bay. Though the views were a bit less spectacular than the day before, the easy hike gave our tired feet a bit of a break. We arrived at Rainbow Reach in the mid-afternoon and made it back to Te Anau with enough time to get to the D.O.C. (Department of Conservation) office to pick up our tickets for our 3-day hike on the Routeburn Track (we'll be doing the full trail this time around). We're starting that hike tomorrow, by the way. Yikes! Obviously I had a temporary lapse of reason when I made these arrangements. Oh well! Onward!

Heading back to Rainbow Reach

If you're interested in reading about the alpine hiking we've done in Canada you can check out some of our previous blog posts.