Hello all,
I am hoping you dear fellow locals can help me here =)
My brother and I are intending to try Routeburn Track come mid October or November. However, we wish to do freedom camping 500m away from the track so the spot will be North Branch side track end and also Emily Pass end.
The question is, do I need to pay any fees even if we are not staying in any of the accomodations huts or campsite?
Thank you for your time and patience =)
no you won't. but at that time of year there can be avalanche danger on the track depending on what hte snowfall has been like oiver winter and around that time.
pay attention to the docs warnings page
doc will close the track and or sections of the track they deem to be too risky if there is avalanche danger. technically they can't stop you from going anyway, but if you're not experienced at reading avalanche danger and not experienced in snow then don't go. you can't see all the avalanche danger from the track snow builds up on ledges high up that are out of sight from the track and can let go onto the track..
doc has required people to take a helicopter flight to get around the harris saddle bluffs right into november on some years. but again they can't stop you from walking the track...
just be aware if you're travelling a long way to get there that it may be too dangerous to proceed at that time of year, the last couple of years ther has been heavy snowfall into spring and summer
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/plan-and-prepare/alerts/fiordland/#routeburn
also pay attention to this site regarding avalnche warnings
it will become active during winter....
http://www.avalanche.net.nz/
Thank you so much for the reply and advices waynowski =)
Really appreciate it, we want to respect any rules which are stated so we want to double check.
If anyone has been to the 2 locations I mentioned to camp, I really wish to hear out your experience and opinions =)
no hsortag of places to camp on the routeburn river but if its going to rain watch out for the river rising
on hte emily pass side it could be rocky
Thanks again waynowski =)
Is it possible if I send a PM in the future regarding any questions?
I am compiling some locations on maps etc and maybe you can advise me more on those later on?
Yes, we wanted to camp at the head of L. Mackenzie but the warden invited us to stay at the DoC quarters as he said it was fragile around the lake.
There's a rumour of a 2 person rock bivvy (shelter) 500m away from the Routeburn Track in the North Branch of the Routeburn close to the river but near the bush edge. I've marked a possible location for it on my map software and will post it on this site as a hut until corrected as to its location.
I'll call it the North Routeburn Rock Bivvy if you want to search for it on this site.
@Honora ,thanx for the input :)
Yes we heard a lot on the rocky side of lake Mackenzie, we probably will just give Emily pass a try and hopefully able to find a good spot lol.
I manage to locate the rock bivvy you mentioned, looking at the mark it is still quite near to Routeburn Flats campsite, we are intending to follow the north branch side track all e way up the north through the stream/river until the next opening on the map :)
If anyone has more info, do share~
the reality is, no one is likely to tell how far you are from the track, the bush is thick, you could be camping a lot closer than 500m and i dont see the harm, technically you shouldnt be but it's just an abstract number made up by doc, if you're actually never on the track how would you know when you're within 500m of it if you cant see it and you don't have a gps?
500m makes camping a lot of places on the milford inpossible since the valleys are so narrow there is no flat place 500m either side of the track, perhaps thats where the number comes from..
out of site out of mind really..... people do worse things, like stay in the shelters and pay nothing.
you camp where you camp and unless a doc ranger finds you and tells you to move on, everyone is happy... if doc don't want people taking advantage of the track for free then they should collect a fee from people when they start their walks.....
