The Routeburn and Caples Tracks

Stunted Beech Tree at Key Summit

Hey All,

So last Friday was Waitangi Day here and it's a national holiday. Hurray! So we took excessive advantage of the three day weekend and made it a five day weekend by adding Thursday and Monday. We had planned to do this trip over New Years but because I tweaked my foot on the Milford track we rescheduled for this weekend.

It was awesome! The Caples and Routeburn tracks form almost a loop about an hour west of Queenstown. The problem with the Routeburn is the start and end of the track are about a 4 hour drive from each other and you usually have to arrange transport ($50+ bus ride pp) to get back to your car at the other end of the track. So to avoid this, we added the Caples track to get closer to our car without an expensive bus ride. But it's still only MOSTLY a loop. We had to arrange for a boat to the start of the Caples,

It was a very scenic boatride!

drive our car to the end of the Routeburn, ride our bikes back to Glenorchy (where the boat leaves from) and store our bikes while we were on the track. Whew! Glad to get that sorted. The bike ride turned out to be genius.

Leaving the Routeburn Shelter

It was a nice, completely flat (except for one minor hill) ride between enormous mountains and across the Dart and Rees rivers. The ride was followed by lunch at Glenorchy Cafe (with yummy sandwiches and a massive brownie!) and then the boat ride to the start of the Caples track. The rest of the description is mostly from the DOC write up with some of our extra highlights thrown in (unfortunately for me the trail description goes the opposite way from the way we went, so my apologies if we seem to go the wrong way at times)...

Day 1 -

Greenstone road end to Mid Caples Hut:

Time: 2 - 3 hr

Follow the Greenstone/Caples Track from the car park. The track continues past the confluence of the Caples and Greenstone Rivers.

Alongside the Caples River

From here the track continues on the true left bank of the Caples River, and along the valley floor follows the bush edge for most of the way, with occasional grassy clearings to cross. Just before the Mid-Caples Hut (12 bunks) the track crosses a grassland clearing.

The view from the Mid Caples Hut

Mid Caples Hut to Upper Caples Hut

Time: 1 hr 30 min to 2 hr 30 min

It is easy travel (but not if you're already exhausted) up the valley through bush and grassy clearings. Upper Caples Hut (12 bunks) is located in a clearing in the bush where the valley begins to narrow. We met a nice family there and took some time to ice our ankles in the stream (and it was icy!)

Day 2 -

Upper Caples Hut to Howden Hut:

Time: 5 - 8 hr

From Upper Caples Hut the track climbs steadily through beech forest. The track is quite rough with exposed tree roots and rocks.

(They are not kidding!!!)

Care is required on this section of track during heavy or prolonged rain - some streams flood and become hazardous to cross (lucky for us it was nice out). As the track approaches the subalpine zone the gradient becomes quite steep. (also, not kidding!!!) The open tussock tops of McKellar Saddle are reached after about three hours. The track over the saddle has been board-walked to avoid damaging the fragile subalpine vegetation. There are good views from the saddle.

On the west side of the saddle the track enters the bush and drops steeply over rocks and roots (This part was NOT fun, especially on Dave's knees and ankles. Getting old sucks), before emerging on the open valley floor upstream from Lake McKellar.

Some flooding may occur here after heavy rain. The track crosses the valley to a junction in the track. McKellar Hut lies to the left, and Howden Hut lies to the right. It takes about an hour to reach either hut from this point.

Day 3 -

Howden Hut to Mackenzie Hut

Time: 3-4 hours

Distance: 8.6 km

We started out this leg of the trip with a side trip up to the top of Key summit. We'd been to Key summit before during our first trip to New Zealand and could barely see each other, the fog, rain and wind were so bad. This time things were much better...

McKellar saddle is behind Dave where the cloud is sneaking over the hill.

Wasting time while waiting in vain for a view of lake Marion.

The track continues a gradual ascent to Mackenzie Hut. This section included an area called the ‘Orchard’, an open grassy area dotted with ribbonwood trees just up from Earland Falls. An emergency bridge is situated down stream should the falls be in flood.

Lake MackenzieDrea was much braver than I (as always) and went for a very short swim

Day 4 -

Mackenzie Hut to Routeburn Falls Hut

Time: 4.5 – 6 hr
Distance: 11.3 km

From the Lake Mackenzie hut the track traverses along the exposed Hollyford face and then ascends along up a steep gully to the Harris Saddle/Tarahaka Whakatipu (1255 metres)

That wee thing in on the track is Drea... or Dave.

On the way to the Harris Saddle (where the cloud is pointing)

Wildflowers along the track.

A short, steep climb from the Harris Saddle up Conical Hill gives superb views of the Hollyford Valley through to Lake McKerrow, Martins Bay and the Tasman Sea. Conical hill is where Andrea and I got engaged. Allow one to two hours for the return trip.

The view from Conical Hill over Lake Harris

Sub-alpine herbs and cushion plants are a feature of the vegetation. These areas are very fragile so please keep to the track.

Really nice father and son we met on the way up the track. (Number 2 and 3)

They took our picture!

This sub-alpine section of track is very exposed and can be extremely hazardous in adverse weather conditions (but thankfully not today! We must be just lucky I guess). Ensure that you listen to the advice of Conservation staff in such conditions. The track drops steadily, following the Route Burn to its outlet from Lake Harris. From there a steep sidle down through moraine and the bluffs above Lake Harris leads to the Routeburn Falls hut.

There was a strange yellowish glow to the sky that we think was due to the horrific wildfires in Australia

On the descent to the Routeburn Falls Hut

View from directly above the Falls Hut

The Waterfalls at the Routeburn Falls Hut. We were able to clamber over the rocks to get a closer look.

We had reservations at the Flats hut (an hour past the Falls hut) but wanted to try and find space at the Falls hut since the view was tremendous. Drea spoke to the ranger who was incredibly nice and offered to let us stay if they had any cancellations or if not we could crash in the kitchen on some of the spare mattresses. Later on he invited us to tea (dinner) at his cabin along with the ranger up from the flats hut and his girlfriend. Turns out the Flats ranger was from Boston and his girlfriend was from Santa Rosa + went to Cal Poly. Small world! We ended up deciding to head down to the flats hut in the end to avoid having to be the last to go to sleep and the first to wake up. It also had 10 overnighters rather than 50.

Routeburn Falls Hut to Routeburn Flats Hut

Time: 1 – 1.5 hr
Distance: 2.3 km

This is a steady drop through beech forest crossing two swing bridges. A recent slip gives excellent views of the valley below. Care should be taken crossing this slip, especially after heavy rain. The Emily Creek bridge is considered to be the halfway mark. Beware of early or late season avalanches that can fall as far as this bridge.

Day 5 -

Routeburn Flats Hut to Routeburn Shelter

Time: 1.5 – 2 hr
Distance: 6.5 km
We woke up and took some time to explore the meadow around the hut. It had tremendous views of several glaciers

Side Trip - North Branch of the Route Burn, 4 – 5 hours return (we only went 30 minutes in). From the Routeburn Flats Hut cross the unbridged Route Burn and follow the North Branch through beech forest and tussock clearings. Good views of Mt. Somnus, North Col and Mt. Nereus can be found at the head of the valley.

One of the interesting flowers we found in the meadow.

From the Routeburn Falls Hut follow the well formed, easy graded track. It sidles above the Routeburn Gorge. Then past Sugarloaf Stream the track is a remnant of the old bridle path built in the 1870s and climbs directly to Bridal Veil Stream. Take care crossing the Serpentine Slip five minutes from the start of the track, especially after heavy rain.

The color of the water was amazing!!!

A flower at the end of the track. Getting water in your camera makes your shots look artsy! (or cheesy)

From the end of the track we drove back into Glenorchy to pick up our bikes and stop in to the Glenorchy Cafe for another awesome meal. (Although we probably could have done without the double desserts)

Did you get all that?

Love to all,

Dave and Andrea