Dusky

watch it in the heavy rain, you might end up with a day or two's delay if the rivers flood the track. its chronic for it...

Yup, take a ton of extra food. The whole length of track along the Seaforth is under surface water about half of the time, and navigating through that is a nightmare.

The best part is Lake Roe and the aptly named Pleasant Range. Doesn't sound like you're heading up there, unless I'm reading your post wrong, which is a shame. The Seaforth is tough going and just a forest bound mud bash.

Dusky will be a challenging place to be on your own. It's capable of the most atrocious weather; intense rainfall that submerges the track under metres of water; dense hordes of sandflies and bitter gales which flatten everything. It was many decades ago, but I spent the best part of two summers in ranges north and south of Dusky doing field work with a geologist, moving around tramping style. In general the open tops are ok to travel, but boggy, the valley floors are either steep and bouldery, or swamps from one vertical wall to the other. The only time I've ever spent a night in a tree was in the Seaforth. All this I expect will only whet your appetite. If you are going to camp, the best spots are just at bushline. Look for some outcrop with a sheltering nook underneath. If you are on your own though all the usual caveats apply with spades on and a PLB is mandatory. This is truly remote and challenging country once you leave the marked routes. We took a Mountain Radio and used it every night. If we missed two nights it would have triggered SAR to come look for us. Supper Cove is well within the reach of someone with your experience, but as others have wisely said, allow extra time for the weather to mess things up. If you really want to try something challenging, try clambering up the spurlines behind the Hut onto the range to Pts 1348 and onward above the Hilde Burn. I recall descending this one afternoon through reasonably open beech forest without more than the usual Fiordland difficulties. The views up there are magnificent.

We contemplated the Dusky a few years ago but after looking at the photos at Te Anau DOC office of people swimming to and from bridges with their packs on, etc., we decided that we weren't psychologically up for it! Mind you, Kreig, no doubt this will just get you even more keen. Maybe take a PFD?!

i was at manapouri and saw someone who looked like a stunned mullet standing near the peir. I asked her what tramp she had done, she said the Dusky, in a german accent.... I asked what she was doing next, "recovering" was all she said and probably summed it up given how tired she looked...

On the section from Loch Maree to Kintail, I took a rest day as not very many drowned trees were showing in the Loch. A German party pressed on. I had reasonable going the next day, even got some sun (that section of the Seaforth is eerie and unique, calling to mind Mark Twain territory). I arrived at Kintail to find the Germans still recovering from an ordeal the day before that sounded biblically bad. At times they were practically swimming about in the forest trying to find the infrequent markers.

This all sounds awesome!! :D Can't wait! I always take a PLB, no matter what. (Ok, except this week's Greenstone/Caples loop, that only because I lent it to a couple of friends off on a 4-day tramp, slightly out of their usual experience. Turns out, they didn't go tramping at all! :D Wise choice.... very wet.... Anyway, I now have my PLB back). ;) So, I work at Deep Cove. I'll have 7 days. Just get dropped off by the last tour bus heading back to West Arm at the start of the track. I'll plan on 3 days in, 3 out. With a day up my sleeve. If something is clearly not working, or I'm just flat-out not enjoying it, then I'll turn around. There's LOADS of great tramping around here, I know! And I plan to do as much of it as I can. Also, I suspect I'll be back next season, just for this reason.... But I want to hit the Dusky. As you all just have here, people talk of this track with reverence, and a slight shudder..... And that's what I want. To SMASH myself! :D To knock out this epic track. But I'm not stupid (despite what some may think; ok, and what evidence sometimes shows).... I'm starting from my work end. I'll only go as far as I can safely in the time frame I have. If it's TOO lakey, then at least I'll be on the side I need to be; able to get back for work the following week. If I make it through, I should be able to make it back. Famous last words.... :P And if it all turns to the brown stuff, then I'll just go when my season finishes. :) If you could compare Dusky Track to any other, which would it be?

dont know theres any one track that compares to the disky, stewart island north west circuit for mud... and cascade saddle for steep climbs....