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| The summit of Conical Hill. We made it! |
Day 1: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Flats Campsite, 6.5km
Dinner: Pasta with chorizo and tomato sauce
There's heavy debate in the backpackers and holiday parks we've been staying at in Fiordland over which is the better track, the Routeburn or the Kepler. We've heard very convincing arguments on both sides, but the verdict seems to be a bit in favour of the Routeburn and on day one of our hike it was already easy to see why. We were especially impressed by the amazing blue-hued water in the stream running alongside the trail and the picture-perfect alpine setting at the Routeburn Flats campsite. But the best was yet to come!
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| Turquoise water! |
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| Campsite at Routeburn Flats |
Day 2: Routeburn Flats Campsite, to Lake McKenzie Campsite, 13.4km + Summit of Conical Hill
Breakfast: Oatmeal, crackers, cheese, peanut butter
Lunch: Cheese and chorizo sandwiches
Snack: Cous cous and chicken
Dinner: Mashed potatoes and savoury mince
We have a winner! The view from Conical Hill takes the cake for our favourite alpine view of our around-the-world journey (taking over from the previous reigning champion, Sentinel Pass in Banff National Park, followed closely by the views at O'Cebreiro in Spain). The stunning alpine vista was definitely worth the long climb up from Routeburn Flats which, in case you're wondering, took us about 4 hours with a snack break at the Harris Saddle shelter. We were so impressed by the view, we found it hard to tear ourselves away to continue with the rest of the day's hike--it was that spectacular! In fact, once we climbed away from the tree line and past the Routeburn Falls Hut, we were pretty much gobsmacked by the views all the way to Lake McKenzie.
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| The climb above Lake Harris |
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| Looking down on the Harris Saddle shelter from Conical Hill |
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| Lake Harris viewpoint on Conical Hill |
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| View from the summit of Conical Hill |
As we headed across the Hollyford Valley face I came to suspect that some might prefer the Kepler Track for its long chain of ridge walks which offer 360 degree views down into the valleys below, but I'd take the Routeburn over the Kepler any day!
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| Alpine pond near the Harris Saddle shelter |
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| Admiring the view of the Hollyford Valley |
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| The trail from Harris Saddle shelter to Lake McKenzie |
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| Setting a good pace! We made it to the Lake McKenzie Campsite from the Harris Saddle shelter in about two hours. |
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| Heading across the Hollyford valley face |
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| Stopping to take a break and enjoy the view |
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| Our first glimpse of Lake McKenzie Hut, you can just make it out on the top left edge of the lake |
Day 3 & 4: Return Trip McKenzie Campsite to Routeburn Shelter, 19.9km
Breakfast: Oatmeal, crackers, cheese, peanut butter
Lunch: Pumpkin soup, chicken curry and brown rice
Dinner: Pasta with chorizo and cheese sauce
Breakfast: Peanut butter sandwiches
The rest of the tracks we've hiked have all been circuits, but the Routeburn is a linear track. If we had hiked it end-to-end we would have needed to make arrangements to take a shuttle bus from the far end back to the starting point to return to our car. Alternately, we also determined we could have paid a car transport company to relocate our car to the far end of the trail. Shockingly, both options would have cost us about $250 NZ. Yikes! The solution we ended up going with was to book an extra night of camping on the trail and return the way we came--from Lake McKenzie to Routeburn Shelter. This meant we missed out on hiking the last 12km to the end of the trail at the Divide but, as we already hiked Key Summit (the big highlight at the Divide-end of the trail) when we drove to Milford Sound, that's okay by us.
A good number of the hikers we've met on the Routeburn are taking similar approaches to get around paying the shuttle bus fees. Not a bad solution as the views on the trail are so fabulous it's definitely worthwhile to do the trail twice-over! Others are connecting from the Routeburn to the Cables Track which makes for a bit of a circuit hike, taking hikers somewhat close to the trailhead at Routeburn Shelter. Another good option that's easier on the pocketbook and, as an added bonus, results in an extra day or two of hiking in picture-perfect Fiordland.
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| Lake McKenzie in the morning |
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| One last look at the Lake McKenzie campsite before we head back |
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| The spot where we stopped for lunch |
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| Routeburn Falls |
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| A new friend from Denmark, sitting by a mountain stream in New Zealand at sunset playing the theme song from The Lord of the Rings on his harmonica. Oh yes, it was precious. |
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