Milford or Routeburn winter conditions?
I'm thinking about doing one of these tracks in late June.
Is this a possability ?
how likely am i to see other trampers or wardens at this time of year?
whats the avalanche situation in june ? likely or not?
I did the kepler last Oct and the snow up top was fairly deep but made it accross without too much trouble :)
its potentially doable. it all depends on how much snow has fallen.. and when the last big dump was and how much it warms up afterwards
theres a chance that there wont be a great avalanche risk, expect snow though. you need to talk to DOC closer to the time about what the avalanche risk is at the time...
if there has been a lot of snow then there will be avalanche risk. how much, cant tell until the time comes... the area can still be relatively free of heavy snow at that time of year . the weather is hit and miss then.... expect cool to cold conditions generally, could be calm , could be stormy, could be rainly.... could be sunny...
avalanche risk on the kepler is a lot less than on the routeburn or milford, theres a lot of areas on those tracks where snow or ice accumulates in large amounts above the tracks after big dumps... there are dozens of avalanche paths that cross those tracks
Thanks Waynowski :)
If it is no go for these tracks when the time comes what would you recomend for an alternative? im willing to be out for about 6 days and am looking for a good adventure :)
what happens with the huts in june. are the just always open?
is the water likly to be running i the huts?
The Greenstone/Caples would be a good alternative then. Begin and end at The Divide. You'll need to cross McKellar Saddle (in the snow probably) but the Grerenstone side of it has been upgraded by DoC since I last did it last and the near vertical descent is now a gentle zigzag.
The Great Walk huts go into winter mode in late April/early May. There wont be gas or cookers or flush toilets, but there will be a long drop toilet and the water is still on inside. There's usually a good supply of firewood/coal too. You dont have to book or pay the ridiculous Summer prices to stay there, they drop to about 3 or 4 of those blue back country tickets (or you can use your Backcountry Pass if you have one).
greenstone can be monotonous,
theres also the hollyford. rees dart, theres cascade sadle but i wouldnt bank on that being snow free, and it can be dangerous in snow.
do you think the rees dart - the cascade saddle be snowy up top?
how passable are the bridgeless rivers?
the caples greenstone might be a good option if the weather turns bad last minute . not much logistical changes :)
all comes down to the weather at the time and when the last snowfall was and how big it was.. you only need the bridges when its raining
... cascade saddle is a lot higher than rees saddle... more chance of snow...
pay attention to the doc track alerts, and contact doc closer to the time for track conditions
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/plan-and-prepare/alerts/
all the stream crossings are easy unless theres been heavy rain, the water can go back down to normal in a matter of hours after heavy rain
Thanks for the tips :)
The Rees Dart is what I first wanted to tramp but people I talked to said it would be too dangerouse. That was in October. I ended up on the kepler and that was great.
It's would have been too easy if there wasn't thigh deep snow up top :)
Search the forums
| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | linz01 |
| On | 14 March 2013 |
| Replies | 21 |
| Permanent link | |
Participation in the forums signifies acceptance of forum rules.
In order to manage spam, new members are limited to 1 post every 10 minutes.
Formatting your posts
The forums support MarkDown syntax. Following is a quick reference.
| Type this... | To get this... | |
|---|---|---|
| Italic | *Italic text* | *Italic text* |
| Bold | **Bold text** | **Bold text** |
| Quoted text | > Quoted text | > Quoted text |
| Emojis | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: |
| Lists |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
| Links | https://tramper.nz | https://tramper.nz |
| Images |  URL/of/image |
 |
| Mentions | @username | @username |