Can you please advise which you think is the more rewarding route - Five passes or a hike covering the combined Gillespie and Rabbit passes?
I have read many reviews on both options, but never seen a comparison of the two.
Our third option is the Rees / Cascade track, but we see this as a fallback option....?
We will be departing in Late January.
Thanks in advance, Nick
You've only got 5 days, yeah? That's the absolute bare minimum you need for Gillespie/Rabbit Pass... 5 days of perfect weather! It's essential to have good weather for the crossing of Rabbit Pass. You're also leaving yourself no time for the excellent side trips of Crucible Lake, the Wilkin North Brancg Lakes, and Dragonfly Peak in the East Matukituki. I also have my doubts about you catching your flight based on the times in your other thread... getting from the Matukituki confluence to Queenstown involves another step then getting there from the Routeburn.
You need more time.
In my opinion there's something more special about the Olivine Ledge area on the 5 Passes then anything on the Gillespie/Rabbit route... it feels harder to get there, but overall there's a better range of scenery on the Gillespie/Rabbit (if you do the side trips... otherwise you're just walking on forested valley floors for 3 days). You don't get the solitude or remoteness feeling of the 5 Passes however.
Here's some photos to inspire you.
http://www.david-noble.net/NZ/Jan09/Wilkins/WilkinMenu.html
https://jazmorris.smugmug.com/Tramping/Mt-Aspiring-Region/Five-Passes-29-March-2-April/
This post has been edited by the author on 28 December 2016 at 08:33.
