Rees and Dart track

We are doing this tramp in December, so will let you know afterwards.

My pics from 2005 are at http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v424/pmcke/Rees-Dart%20March%202005/?start=all

I havn't done the Dart, Ive done the Rees and gone over Cascade Saddle. The Rees is straight forward. Track is well maintained. Its mostly flat with a gentle gain in altitude as you make your way towards the Rees saddle. There are a couple of unbridged streams to get across (probably wet boots), from memory its 25 Mile Creek which people have drowned in trying to cross when its in flood, so watch out if it rains! 25 Mile Hut was extremely dilapidated when I stayed there in 2008. Its shelter in an emergency or a convienient place to stay thats handy to Muddy Creek carpark if you are coming down the Rees (which is what I did). I certainly dont recommend staying there for any other reason unless you like that kind of thing I guess, and if you are heading up to Shelter Rock from Muddy Creek then you have no need. Worth a visit to read the grafitti carved into the walls and table though. At Rees saddle its well worth spending an hour or two climbing the eastern peak of the saddle for a fantastic view. Failing that, a climb up the small Western hill gives you a pretty good view down the Rees and a nice big cliff to look over and only takes about 30 minutes return. Snowy Creek is an interestingly carved vally that you travel down. Chilly in the morning but should be nice and sunny by the time you get there from Shelter Rock. Dart hut can be extremely crowded/full to bursting. Be prepared to sleep outside or bring a tent. The reson its sometimes so full is becuase most parties spend two nights here and do a daytrip to the Cascade Saddle. Deffinetly do this. Highlight of the trip, without doubt. Again, watch for bad weather, none of the streams up to the saddle are bridged and a lady drowned there last year or the year before. Its about 8 hours return to the Saddle up the gnarly upper Dart valley. All glacialy carved, massive polishing and scarring, and near the glacier its like walking in a quarry theres so many piles of ground up rock everywhere. If you can spend another couple of hours up at the saddle (due to long daylight hours or if you are a speedy walker) then you can get fantastic views climbing the big mountain to the South of the Saddle whos name I cant remember (its a straight forward climb up a big spur). The view from the The Pylon is gobsmaking but that requires an additional 2 hour return walk from the Saddle. Theres a longdrop toilet at the Cascade creek, if the weather forcast is good it might be worthwhile taking a tent up there and camping at the creek. This will give you plenty of time to view the Pylon, the Saddle and/or climb the big mountain to the South. Like I said I havn't done the Dart but from what Ive been told its basically just flat passing through patches of bush and big grassy flats. Very straight forward and unchallenging.

The Rees Dart is one of my favourite tracks. I did it April 2009. My photos can be viewed here: http://picasaweb.google.com/pjg084/NZ09Tramp3ReesDartTrack# Unfortunately we were held up in Dart Hut for an extra day / night due to bad weather. Didn't get to tramp up to Cascade. Rather interesting seeing the hut was full of noisy high school kids. They were with us for the whole trip.

That big mountain is Mount Tyndall.

Thanks everyone for the info and great photo"s pmcke and pjg084 I am looking foward to this track i just hope the weather holds for me. I got hit by a huge storm in 2009 on the Caples and in 2010 on the Hollyford [worst since 1994]so third time lucky i hope [how bad can 25 mile creek get] Lindsay

Ah, Mt Tyndall. Thats the beast, thanks Honara! Yes, Linsay, from reading your earlier posts you do seam slightly unlucky in the weather department. Hopefully 3rd times the charm, as you say. 25 Mile Creek was about 5 metres across and lower calf deep when I crossed it. Theres a bronze plaque there commemorating the person/people who drowned there. The problem is where you cross the creek you are only a few metres from the main Rees river so I think what happened is the person/people crossing the flooded 25 Mile Creek got knocked over and then swept into the considerably bigger Rees. If you are coming up from Muddy Creek and you're unlucky to find 25 Mile Creek in flood you are at least on the correct side of the stream to use 25 Mile Hut as a shelter though!

They say rivers drop as quickly as they rise in NZ. That seems true of 25 Mile Creek. Days before we started the Rees Dart last year it rained and it rained. As you'll see in my pics, 25 Mile Creek was but a puddle. It was spooky to read the plaque prior to crossing it. Thankfully as soon as we saw the creek we were relieved to see it so low. When we arrived at Dart Hut - where we spent a rain day - the warden told us of a party having to be helecoptered out three days prior. I bumped into the group at the Glenorchy store a week prior as I set off on the Caples Greenstone. There had been tonnes of fresh snow and DOC told them all to carry EPIRBs. He said that had they waited for a few more hours they'd have gotten through just fine, due to the rivers dropping so quickly. Oh well. At least they didn't risk it.

Don't go stumbling out in the dark looking for the privy at 25 Mile Hut. You'll likely end up falling off a bluff into the chasm of the gorge, be very cautious.