Advice hiking in Queenstown / Wanaka area
I am coming to New Zealand for a week or so at the start of January next year and was hoping to do a 1 or 2 night hike whilst there. For the hike looking for great scenery and the fewer people the better. Very happy to camp as opposed to stay in huts. I am flying into Queenstown and planning on driving from there up to Christchurch to fly out. I will be with a companion and have done a fair bit of hiking before and are reasonably fit. I have listed some thoughts below on potential hikes and would appreciate any comments on these and any other suggestions of other hikes.
- I had initally thought to do the routeburn track(I realise this wil be crowded but thought the spectacular scenery would make it worthwhile) but unfortunately the hut and campsites at Lake Mackenzie are booked out for the week i am there. One option would be to stay at routeburn flats and walk to lake howden in a day, would this be possible for a reasonably fit person to do without killing themselves? Would another option be to stay at the non DOC campsite at the head Lake Mackenzie that I read about on this site? Is it generally easy to find spots 500m+ off the track to camp at?
- Hump Ridge track. I know this is not that close to Queenstown but thought that the scenery looked pretty good and they have availability
- Gillespie Pass circuit. thought trhis looks good with the added excitement of a jet boat ride.
Any advice about what would be the best option would be appreciated.
32 comments
conical hill on the routeburn gives a 360 degree view, half hour climb from the track, even on the track you're high above the hollyford valley with great views as long as you're not in the clouds....
thres also key summit
november varies for snow. if spring continues the way winter has been it should be pretty free of snow but as i speak snow is due to fall to low levels tomorrow, just depends how much late season snow falls...
waterfall face aint for the faint hearted
photos here of climb of the face
http://www.david-noble.net/NZ/Jan09/Wilkins/Day8.html
they arent my shots. i wasnt even on the trip. just the best shots i've seen showing the route in detail
Crap, someone from the DOC just told me they're guessing they have about 1.5 meters of snow at Cascade Saddle and that it would be likely to have snow/ice in November. Now I'm going to be stuck doing the Routeburn! (haha, can't wait, it looks spectacular)
I wonder if Kepler is likely to have significant avalanche danger in November. That track looks pretty amazing and convenient from the end of Routeburn.
they are being pretty presumptuous about November, the weather could to anything between now and then,,, it's been a mild winter and that snow is only a recent dump.
kepler might have a bit of avalanche danger but often not enough to stop you walking it, its ok till mid afternoon
The Kepler convenient from the Routeburn??? The two tracks are about 100 road km apart (or about 4 days tramping down the Livingstone mountains).
Teh Kepler has its fair share of avalanche paths as well, but like Waynowski says it has been a mild winter. What snow that is around is likely to clear fairly quickly. If you are here late November, as aposed to early November, you might be in luck. Even a couple of weeks can make a difference with Spring thaw.
I meant Kepler was convenient from Routeburn since tracknet offers three daily buses between The Divide and Te Anau (and four on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). I'm planning on starting Routeburn sometime around the 1st-3rd of November. Then 5 days on Routeburn, 1 night in Te Anau, and 5 days on Kepler, avalanche conditions permitting. Is that not likely to be doable? Unfortunately I cannot push the dates back any later.
Yeah, that is totally doable. Tracknet are great for transport to and from Te Anau/The Divide.
5 Days on the Routeburn and 5 days on the Kepler? Both of these tracks only need 3 days to walk but Im guessing you are planning on doing some side trips? Either way I would suggest carrying a tent to keep your expenses down (you are looking at $50 a night per hut on the Routeburn/Kepler).
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| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
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| Started by | sjosha |
| On | 8 December 2011 |
| Replies | 31 |
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