Seeking advice for Dusky, 3 Passes, Heaphy & more
Original post
Hi everyone :)
I've been out of NZ for almost 18 months. Before then I'd done a few tramps (mostly day trips from Auckland), Hillary trail. I've been in the UK since, and so have focused all my efforts on the mountaineering over here (trying to get my ML) - mostly North Wales and a few other places.
I'm coming back to New Zealand for just under 5 weeks in March. I've arranged some trips, in the order we'll do them they are:
- Dusky track (4 days to the sound, 1 rest day, 4 days to Manapouri, 2 days spare)
- Three Passes track (budgeting 4 days, with 1 spare day)
- Heaphy track
- Modified Tablelands circuit track (we'll go via Lodestone day 1, pre-dawn ascent of Mt Arthur day 2, and walk out day 3 - mountains are optional though).
I've sorted out the maps I need, and been in touch with an online printer to print them. I've got a sample coming any day now, and will get the rest. Some advice on waterproof maps would be nice - are the laminated ones okay? I'm trying the repro-online ones printed on Tyvek, as over in the UK we have these great Harvey's maps that are on plastic and waterproof, really light and good for refolding while in the rain.
According to my research, it's lighter and easier to have a radio receiver (for the weather reports) + PLB, than a mountain radio. Sounds about right? Any pitfalls?
Unsure on the footwear needed. I'm torn between wearing my trail runners (Inov8 Roclites), or buying a new pair of boots (I have leather boots in the UK, but I suspect they are too heavy for wearing for 8 days on the Dusky). Would trail runners cope? Otherwise I might need to get a pair of light boots that will breathe well (so not waterproof ones - advice would be nice if this is the case)
Is a 30m bit of half-rope (7.8mm diameter) a good idea for the river crossings on these tracks? Or is it dead weight and we can get by without it?
Has the snow/ice on Three Passes melted enough so that we won't all need crampons + ice axe? I was thinking I could bring a single ice axe and chop steps, and probably have the rope to belay any of the others.
What about a raincoat? I have a very good quality hardshell raincoat, would a softshell work better with the temperatures in Fiordland (e.g. I will sweat a lot more in a hardshell)?
I'm planning to sleep in huts on each - should I bring a tent on any of these trips in case (I plan to speak to the boat operator before Dusky to find out if we'll likely clash with another trip)? Bivy bag maybe?
I'm planning to bring a synthetic summer sleeping bag (rated for maybe 5 degrees C), and thermal underwear as sleeping clothes - for most of the time I suspect this will be warm enough. Any pitfalls?
Any other advice would be very much appreciated. :)
Best regards,
-CBL_Jon
maps - any, always have a good topo.
radio - plb and radio
boots - what ever you are used to. The tracks are likely to be wetter and rougher than you think, I'd wear the boots, particularly on the longer trips. Your feet will 'always' be wet.
rope - leave behind. Do take a double dose of common cautious sense.
3 passes - one axe and rope for others in the group.
raincoat - hardshell, everytime.
sleeping bag - what ever you are used to. Nighttime temps in march 20-0C. Take a light waterproof bivvy able bag for emergencies.
and have a great series of trips
Hugh
2 deleted posts from
Pro-active, strider
Hugh is right on the money. Only two things I would add:
1. For any trip more than overnight it is a BAD idea to depend on getting to a hut. 95% of the time you will make it - the other 5% is where you run out of options and start to take risks. You need to be able to bivvy safely in case of swollen rivers or other mischances.
2. A river crossing rope is not needed. Read up on the latest info on good crossing technique. Not only are ropes tricky to use safely - in my opinion they tend to create a sense of false security and tempt people to cross where and when they simply should not. Always better to simply wait it out. (See 1. above.)
if the dusky doesnt deal to the inov8's the five passes may well do so...
dont ever wear a softshell on a tramp in nz if theres a chance of rain...
Thanks for the advice so far guys - it's good to know I wasn't too far off.
I just received the map printed on Tyvek last night. It's a pretty good map, waterproof and light, with good level of details.
Regarding the boots, what's a good boot model for NZ conditions? Do people take their socks off before river crossings - or just have everything quick drying and march over?
I will not bring a rope for river crossings then, I'll try the group wedge with poles for support.
Any other advice on things would be good too. :)
For example, I've read it's possible to fish from the hut at Dusky sound - and that there's some equipment there. Is this worth relying on, or should I bring a basic handline?
When I did the Dusky in 2008 there was basic hand lines and hooks in the Supper Cove hut. Even fry pans for cooking your fish in. I carried in a lightweight hand line and some preserved bait that you get from a hunting and fishing shop, but the Blue Cod there are so greedy they'll probably eat anything you use for bait.
Which 3 Passes are you doing, the Canterbury or Otago one?
Funny you should mention fishing at Supper Cove, because yes been there done that.
In the mid-70's I spent a couple of seasons with a good mate Chris Ward who was doing his PhD in geology in an area of about 800sqkm north and south of Dusky Sound. I accompanied him several times on four and six week trips into the area by floatplane or chopper.
This trip we were dropped off at the western end of the the range overlooking Acheron Passage, and spent the next three weeks working our way back to Supper Cove. That trip was marked by relentlessly fine weather. Sunburn was probably the major hazard - and some wonderful memories.
Crashed down off the tops to the hut and in those days (it may still be true) there was an old ali dinghy on the shoreline. Took it out for a paddle out past the entrance of the Cove into the Sound proper to a place called Girlies Island which features an amazingly tight little passage between it and the mainland. (There is a great pic of it on Google Earth).
We had found a couple of handlines and took to fishing for the beautiful blue cod that were all about in abundance. Because it hadn't rained for three weeks (ok at this point some of you are beginning to doubt me) the Seaforth River had started to run clear instead of its usual dark tannin brown colour - and this meant that the freshwater from the river was sitting in a layer on top of the cooler salt water.
It was so clear you could see not only the bottom about 10m down, but in the light you could see this shimmering, ghostly layer about 2m down that was the refractive interface between the two layers of water. Because there had been so little wind, there had been very little mixing for days. The surface was quite fresh water, yet diving in I could 'dip' my face into the cold, cold brine layer and taste it.
The cod are bottom feeders and once they scented the baits there were literally dozens circling around us sniffing for our hooks. In the end we could just lift up our hooks and place them down next to the three or four biggest ones we liked the look of. Never every fished like that before or after!
Dinner that night was another whole story for another thread, but I can still taste those cod even today. A moment to treasure.
Scrap any thoughts of keeping your feet dry in NZ (unless you're on a Great Walk in good wx). Especially on Dusky where you can easily find yourself knee-waist-chest deep in mud and surface water on the track many times an hour. I've seen foreigners go to absurd - and hazardous - lengths trying to avoid wet boots here. If anything drill holes in your boots to let water drain out.
Just plunge in first chance you get, then you've the power to smash through anything for the rest of the hike. For those who de-boot (and gaiter) into crossing shoes, it's inevitable you'll cling to one side of a water course longer than you should. And if there's ever a time when you don't want flimsy footwear under you, it's on a crossing.
Pop the hose in your new boots for all your breaking-in climbs. They'll mold to your feet quicker and show you which spots you want to pop some leukotape on on game days.
@Craigo. Yeah - definition of kiwi tramping = wet feet
Many of the old NZFS bushmen (some of the best ever) swore by the old rubber Buller gumboot and always cut holes in them to let the water out.
Thanks for the advice again :)
@ Yarmoss "Which 3 Passes are you doing, the Canterbury or Otago one?": We are doing the one in Arthur's Pass that ends almost in Hokitika. Not sure which one that counts as. Browning, Whitehorn (and another) pass.
I am fully aware of the wet feet and have no plans to wear any waterproof boots :) I have the trail runners as they are mesh upper and let water come and go as it pleases. Not sure if they are strong enough for the track is all. I think I have some goretex boots in NZ that I could give a once-over with a sharp pin to make permeable.
Another very important question is gaiters / waterproof overtrousers. I don't mind getting wet legs, so I think waterproof overtrousers are not necessary for the rain. But would scrub be enough of a problem that they'd be useful for that?
(Once over here I was walking in high summer, and the map directed us through a narrow alleyway - was full of stinging nettles. We were wearing shorts. Well we managed to squeeze through after much cursing and futile use of a raincoat to shield the legs. Then later on in the day, a thunderstorm arrived, deluging us. We continued swiftly to the forest (my waterproof boots long since filled to the brim with water), and we met a monstrous patch of stinging nettles. Most crucially - the path was nowhere to be seen. So in the pouring rain, futilely trying to stomp down a waist-high patch of stinging nettles, meandering in the middle to try and find the path, with a crying girlfriend - then and there I learned some important life lessons)
And if gaiters - long ones, or just ankle gaiters?
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| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
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| Started by | CBL_Jon |
| On | 19 February 2015 |
| Replies | 31 |
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