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The Routeburn Track (33 km)
- 21-24 April
Day 1: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Flats Hut
(6.5 km)
Barbara & Eileen again dropped us at track start – in
the pouring rain we began our journey to the Routeburn Falls
Hut. The streams and waterfalls along the way were
incredibly beautiful with the enormous flows of water. When
we got to the Routeburn Flats Hut we decided to call it
quits for the day and stay there – We settled in just as
soon as the DOC hut warden OK’d our change of plan. Rodney
had the fire roaring in no time and DOC provided us with a
light from 6 to 10 p.m. Luxury!!
Day 2: Routeburn Flats Hut to McKenzie Hut (13.6
km)
Today was going to be a long day… headed up to
Routeburn Falls Hut in drizzle, where we had a quick break
and unanimously decided we’d slept in the better hut, by
far!! The sleeping quarters at the Falls Hut are very dark
and dingy, a skylight or two wouldn’t have gone amiss. On
up the hill we climbed following the Route Burn to its
outlet from Lake Harris. Rodney performed a little “hokus
pokus” stunt and informed me that the sun would soon shine
or it would hose down, he wasn’t sure!!??
Thankfully for us, the weather began to clear. A steep
sidle and we finally surmount the Harris Saddle (1255m) and
arrive at the shelter the lunch. Conical Hill was climbed
by some and we were blessed with the mist parting, showing
the magnificent views below.
Onward we walked along a well marked track
along the exposed Hollyford face before finally catching a
glimpse of Lake McKenzie Hut far, far below. The zig-zagged
descent to the hut was “knee- jarringly” steep and the rain
had again set in for the day. |
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