pinnacles hut is popular with large groups like school groups and does book out on some days.
https://booking.doc.govt.nz/AvailabilityDisplay.aspx?sg=KKT&sd=23/03/15&mp=1
DOC has applied this category system for the benefit of newcomers or overseas visitors. We all know why.
Two weeks ago on my bike, I came across a sign on a multi-use track that said;
"Some areas of trail require extra caution. Please ride within your ability and give way to walkers."
I was left to decide there and then (20km from anywhere) if my ability was suited to the terrain. Since I couldn't see what lay ahead it was an educated guess as no maps or brochures I carried mentioned a grade.
Later I found out it was Grade 4 (Advanced). It became very technical about half way down.
Gradings of tracks if adopted and understood by a specific recreational group can be enormously useful.
Our own understanding of 'experienced' as a definition is clear enough but I wonder how it will be interpreted by an overseas hiker?
well at least the experienced brits are reasonably likely to come dressed for the conditions...
its interesting.. i was on a guided group on the tongariro crossing in winter, they all turned up appropriately dressed with top quality clothing without exception.
unguided people however i've often seen turn up in warmer months in street wear...
the guided wwalkers were well prepared and cautious enough to get a guide, the non guided were often ignorant in their clothing preparation
"the guided wwalkers were well prepared and cautious enough to get a guide, "
Are they always this good. Some other threads would suggest this is not always so.
As for the main subject. I dont know the answer but every dealing Ive had with people from overseas has been nothing less than good. Weve met interesting people with nothing but praise for our great outdoors and its always entertaining watching them take off there boots for the last river crossing in the rain. Mind you Ive never struck a hut where non NZeras have outnumbered the locals 4 to one which I know some have. That could change perception more than you would imagine.
I like Waynowski's idea. But if I am to participate am I correct in assuming that I need to be a member of facebook?
I tried it years ago, quit it after 3 months. I hear you are never really shod of it, unless you go to painful lengths to have every reference to you removed.
I quit facebook due to the fact that I found it to be a mindless, mind numbing, dumbing down and ridiculous waste of time. Not to mention all the loonies that want to befriend a person. Don't belong to any of the other so called social media sites either for the same reasons. They are all the biggest time wasters under the sun.
But Wayno's idea appeals provided I can find some way to prevent every other mothers son and their bastards knowing I am there.
you have settings that mean no one can see any information about you, you create a logon and essentially put no information about yourself in it, you can avoid using your real name as well. i think you can turn off friend requests as well if you look in he settings, havent checked that though.
I would be interested in a group like this. I am from Australia and am a regular visitor to NZ.
Whilst I do a bit of lurking on this forum, it's mainly because I have nothing to contribute as someone has already answered my question or made the same comment as I would have.
You're all just clever and experienced people :)
The boat has sailed people, the tourists are here in numbers and they are here to stay. We all need to get used to full huts, busy tracks etc. because as the world gets more and more crowded there will soon be no such thing as "wilderness".
I recently walked the St James and encountered 27 people over the 4 days: I was the only New Zealander (and even I was born in the US). The only way to control the numbers visiting the backcountry is to limit tourism numbers and what government is going to kill that fat, sleek cash cow.
And lets be honest, the majority of Kiwis would rather have the $ tourism brings than the ability to visit a DOC hut and NOT sleep outside.
Im going to start tramping more in Winter and the shoulder months as there really are less people in the huts.
This post has been edited by the author on 8 April 2015 at 11:59.
Funny that. Only shared one hut in the last 40-or-so hut nights (xmas eve, with the elusive 'RHS' - great to meet him at last after years of seeing the name). Guess it depends where you go. Saw noone on a 4 day circuit of Western Uruweras over easter. Many hut books 6 mths since last entry. Mind you - guess most visitors up there not into the writing thing. Likewise not a soul in Northern Kaweka / Kaimanawa over Waitangi weekend till arriving at Clements Mill.
some of my last 40 hut nights I've shared with a party or two - but more I would have had to myself or our-selves. The last crowded hut ..... at least 7 years ago, and we were the only party. At the moment I can't remember sharing a campsite with another group.
No wilderness left? We'd have to start by defining wilderness.
