this was posted on my facebook group
from Dave Colville
Hi there Wayne and fello trampers, I am in the Police search and rescue in Nelson and I'm after any information of people in the West Sabine hut NLNP on the 5-6-7th of April. tramping boots and clothing have been left in the hut with a note saying the owner will return on the 7th to uplift? Contact me on [Email address removed]
The American who was missing on the Three Passes route has been found: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/67791566/american-tramper-found
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/339371/missing-us-tramper-found-chopper
lol @ no marked track. I must have imagined all those orange triangles in the North Routeburn and Rockburn!
German tramper is still missing near the Homer tunnel: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/67765547/police-name-missing-fiordland-tramper
sounds like the guy they found was on the five passes route, not sure why they are calling it three passes, the only three passes route I can think of is near arthurs pass. maybe they confused the names.
The (tradional) Five Passes route is a circuit of the Beans Burn-Olivine Ledge-Hidden Falls Creek-Rockburn.
The (Otago) Three Passes is North Routeburn to Park Pass via Lake Nerine then Rockburn.
You don't normally go down into Hidden Falls creek (where the ODT article says the American was found) when on the Three Passes but there are a couple of reasons you might do:
-If you want to connect North Col with Park Pass without going via Lake Nerine for whatever reason (bad weather?).
-You are disorientated on Park Pass and drop west instead of dropping east. In order to keep on doing this you would have to be not paying attention to your map in addition to your compass as the drop into Hidden Falls is over 400m more then into the Rock Burn!
More details on the American guy: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/67826077/pilot-spotted-overdue-us-tramper-waving-from-riverbed.html
Good article there, @Izogi , although they continue to publish the outright untruth of there being no tracks. NZ journalism *sigh*
So he did have a compass but lost his map at some stage. I wonder if he was going around and tried to dodge Mondays snow by dropping down into Hidden Falls, lost his map, and wasn't sure of the way out. Moirs Guide implies the lower gorge in Hidden Falls is pretty nasty so he's lucky he didn't get down that far.
The lower gorge of Hidden Falls is a bit ordinary, but I wouldn't call it nasty. (the true left anyway). I would call the route from Hidden Falls up to North Col nasty tho' especially just at the bushline where the scrub is pretty unpleasant. Access to the Serpentine Saddle is probably simpler, but you need to be on the right line.
