The Routeburn track is a three day hut-to-hut walk starting from near Milford Sound and crossing the Southern Alps over to the Queenstown side. As it was a two night trip it needed a two hip flask level of packing.
Day one was hiking up to Mackenzie hut and was a lovely sunny afternoon hiking through alpine gardens and waterfalls and ending with a ‘refreshing’ dip at the lake next to the hut.
Logistics can be tough with getting from the start/end of the trailhead and for having all the gear you need for a multi day hike. I opted to make it easy and used a company that relocated the camper to the end of the trailhead so it would be waiting for me as well as having them provide the backpack stocked with cooking stuff and camping food. I think it would be fair to say the food was pretty basic. When I got to the hut and saw the list of what was for dinner I was looking forward to the cheese and crackers as I had dragged some wine up. Lets just say it wasn’t a fancy cheese board style of starter….
The next morning was unfortunately not quite such a bright day. Moist airflow was the situation according to the weather report in the hut. The forecast was accurate and it was time to get the waterproofs out and trudge on to the next hut.
As I headed down to the hut it was a reminder there is very much a class system for hikers and I was not in 1st class! You pass the hut that is for the private guided hikers (table clothes, washer and dryers, non-dehydrated food!) and then get to your hut that has a bit of a laundry feel as every tries to dry out their soggy gear.
Luckily I had some spare (dry!) socks for the final days hike down to the trail head. It brought back some nice memories of when Heather and I were here on our original global adventure 20 years ago and we did this stretch as an out and back day hike. Luckily today it didn’t snow this time.
