Three Amigos...

The Routeburn and Caples Tracks

Well, we survived our 5 days in the bush and both trails were beautiful!

We started our hike around 10 am on January 17 and finished by 11:45 am on January 21. We saw some beautiful sights, hiked our butts off, ate our butts off and got eaten alive by sandflies...but, it was amazing! The best part about these hikes is that, if you book early enough, you get to stay in these huts along the way that have flush toilets, gas stoves, lights and beds with mattresses. It was like fancy camping! It was awesome and I may never want to camp and sleep in a tent for more than a couple of days ever again because of how spoiled we were!

Our first day on the Routeburn was actually pretty easy. We only had to hike in about 2 hours to our first stop. We were staying at the Routeburn Flats Hut. It was a pretty easy hike, with a well groomed path and lots of pretty scenery along the way, but the highlight was definitely the view from the hut! We were in a valley surrounded by rolling hills and some snow capped mountains in the distance - very nice way to start the trip. Oh, I have to mention Dirty Randy. Within 5 minutes of being on the trail, Dave was already searching the fallen wood for a good walking stick. He was very successful and managed to find a great moss-covered stick that we nicknamed Dirty Randy. Our trip wouldn't have been the same without DR! Since our first day was so short and easy we retraced our steps a little on the path and ended up at a beautiful little river, where we spent a couple of hours skipping rocks and enjoying the nice weather. Dave capped off the first day with a swim (or quick dip) in the river in the valley.

Dave and Dirty Randy

 

The next day was probably the hardest and longest day of the hike, but, in my opinion, it was also the most rewarding with the views. We hiked for about 5.5 hours to the Lake Mackenzie Hut and in the process we had to climb over the Harris Saddle. This is where the stunning views were. We were basically surrounded 360 degrees by gorgeous mountains - you felt like you were walking on the top of the world. And the best part was that we actually had fantastic weather. It was a little cool but other than that there wasn't that much wind and no rain on that day. We even managed to get to the hut early enough for a swim in Lake Mackenzie. It was FREEZING! I think it may have even been a little colder than the swim at Lake Marian. But we were rewarded with clear blue skies and sunshine for almost the rest of the afternoon, so we got to sit outside and enjoy the weather for a while.

Harris Saddle

 

The rain, unfortunately, came the next day when we hiked from Mackenzie to Lake Howden Hut. We woke up to rain and it pretty much rained consistently for the rest of the day. Luckily, the hike was only 3-4 hours that day and when we got to the hut, the warden had the wood stove going so it was nice and warm and dry for the rest of the afternoon and night.

Most people who do the Routeburn either skip this last hut and hike all the way out to the road (it's only another hour of walking) or they stay at Howden and hike out the next day. Dave and I, on the recommendation of Ashley and Chad, decided to hike the Caples Track back towards Glenorchy where we started the Routeburn. It only adds one night on your trip, but it saves you a 4 hour bus ride back to your car.

The first day on the Caples was definitely the better of the two. We got to pass another saddle (the McKellar Saddle) and the views from here did not disappoint! It was beautiful! We stayed at the Upper Caples Hut, which wasn't as fancy as the Routeburn huts because the Caples Track isn't one of New Zealands "Great Walks", but it still had beds, wood fire place, water and a drop toilet. Again, it was in a valley surrounded by mountains with a clear river running by it. We managed to get there pretty early in the day and since the weather had cleared up and it was sunny we spent the afternoon swimming in the river and hanging out outside. That is, until the sandflies came out in full force!

Upper Caples Hut

 

If you have never experienced sandflies, you are lucky. They SUCK! I think they may even be worse than mosquitos because they are much smaller and quieter, but their bites itch way more and there seems to be so many more of them. There must have been hundreds of them at this hut and they went to town on our feet and legs mostly. It is 3-4 days since we finished the hike now and I am still itching because of them!

We finished our trek walking out from the Upper Caples Hut the next day. Most of the trek was flat, through a valley along a stream. It was an easy day to finish but we were definitely under a bit of a time crunch since our pick up was at 12 noon. We made it in time and we were happy to finish the trek with loads of great memories and photos, and Dave was especially happy that he got to swim in glacial rivers/lakes on each day of the trail!

 

We are now making our way up the west coast of the south island for the next week or so...and we're excited for the next adventures!

Thanks for reading,

xoxo