Hi Everyone,
I'm looking for advise for my parents. They will be in New Zealand from January to March 2008 and are thinking of doing the Routeburn Track. We have read through the information on the website of the Department of Conservation but still have some questions.
On the sites it says that you can do the track in 3 days. My parents are 64 and 63 years old. My dad is pretty fit but a diabetic and my stepmum is fairly fit. They love going for walks but in the past couple of years they only did day walks, e.g. in the National Parks at the West Coast of the US. Do you think they will manage this track in 3 days without a problem or should they take more time and do it in 4 days? They will be in New Zealand for about 7 weeks so there is no need to rush.
Is it right that you can start the walk from both directions? If that's right what direction would you recommend.
Thanks a lot in advance.
BerlinGal
I did the Routeburne last christmas and it was simply amazing.
You can easily do it in 3 days, it is not that hard and you have plenty of time to sit down and enjoy the fantastic scenery. We spend a couple of hours on the second day, just sitting around, eating lunch and relaxing, and we had plenty of time to get to the hut.
Many people walk it in two days to save money, so your parents should be fine with three. Actually since you're only allowed to sleep/camp in certain areas, increasing it to four days doesn't really work. - You still have to walk over the top and down to Lake Mackenzie in one day.
Yes, you can walk both ways. Most people (I think) start near Glenorchy and finish at the Divide. I walked it the other way, and it was fantastic. I really don't think it makes any difference on the Routeburn.
To second #2, the extra day probably won't save much energy. The 2nd day (which is where you go over the top and down to Lake Mackenzie as tby21 says) is where you'd like to break it up if you want to take it easy, but there is no camping or hut accommodation to stop at for the night between Routeburn Falls and Lake Mackenzie huts. The "extra" hut is Howden Hut, which is just 1-2 hours (if I recall correctly) before the end of the trail at the Divide. So, it's not so much useful for people who want to make the tramp overall easier. However, it would be great if your parents just love nature and the tramping so much that they'd like to extend the tramp by one day. Lake Mackenzie and the Howden area seemed like nice places to sit out and relax for some extra time!
By staying the extra night at Howden Hut they would be able to take in a great side trip on their way out to the Divide the following day.Its the Key Summit walk, which would add another hour or two to their walk that day.
I would recomend starting at the divide. That's the way I did it. I was pleased I was going down hill between the Roueburn Falls Hut & Routeburn Flats hut as it seemed steeper than on the other side above lake mackenzie. Another option for an extra day is to stay at the Routeburn Flats hut. Hopefully you can open the following link..check out the track diagram on page 3 that indicates distance and elevation Routeburn Track.
I walked from the Divide to Routeburn Flats/ Glenorchy too and liked it a lot. Walking the track in this direction has the advantage of offering a great view down from Harris Saddle (on the way towards Routeburn Falls Hut) which would otherwise be in your back. If your parents want to combine the track with a cruise in Milford Sound, they could do the cruise around midday/ afternoon and ask to be dropped off at the Divide on the way back to Te Anau. They could then walk only the short distance (1 - 1 1/2h) to Howden Hut, the first on the track and do the detour to (beautiful) Key Summit if the weather is generous. As has been pointed out above, this is the only way to stretch time on the track (if only by 1 hour) because there are no more huts on the track than those trampers stay in anyway. Thus the distance you have to cover per day is fixed. Whatever direction you choose the hardest and longest day across Harris Saddle is the one in the middle so your parents will have already become used to carrying a heavy pack and will have eaten some of their food and thus reduced the weight of the their packs. The Routeburn is a great choice!
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