View from the sideline 旁观者: Walking the Routeburn Track (Part 3)

Walking The Routeburn Track - Final Part

Lake MacKenzie would rank the most scenic of the Routeburn Track. Whether be it in the evening, early morning or even in the afternoon, you will never get tire of admiring its beauty and the surrounding mountains. In fact the evening scene of the setting sun casting its golden light on Mt Ailsa with the emerald Lake Mackenzie on the foreground is just breathtaking.

Lake MacKenzie

On The way to Split Rock

Day 3: It was time to wake up before the sunrise for the "once in a lifetime' photo shoot. The temperature was freezing cold, my fingers were numb, the face,nose and toes did not respond to command from your brain, but the reward was well worth it. So much for trying to capture the the best landscape scene and that is life, to be part of the landscape yourself, I guess.

Beech forest

By 8am, breakfast was well served. We packed up for next stage of the journey - Lake Howden Hut. Before we embarked towards Lake Howden, we visited the Split Rock, a short walk from the MacKenzie Hut and passed the camping ground.

Leading to Lake Howden

By 10.30 am it was time to move on. Lake Howden here we come. This was another 8 km 4 hrs+ journey. Initial part of the walk was in the canopy of the beech forest. We were out from the forest after 2 hours of walking and into open country again. This was where you have the full view of the Darran Mountains and the Hollyford river and track on the right. It was hot and sunny and really in contrast to the cloudy and foggy weather on the Harris Saddle route. At the very least we have a good view of the scene which we were unable to appreciate the day before due to the low cloud.

Darran Mountain & Hollyford River

Earland Fall

Once we passed The Orchard, the 2 majestic waterfalls were not too far away. The first waterfall was just beside the bridge. Even though it is a small in size, it is beautiful. The part where falling rocks were prominent, ie just after the small waterfall, did throw caution to the air. It was passed 12 noon now and it was time to have lunch beside the HUGE Earland Falls. A straight fall from a height of 174 m, you are not going to pass it without getting wet. We were trying for alternate route but the alternate route was even harder! We don't mind to get wet.

Tireness, fatigue and, to a certain degree, disorientation, must have set in after 2 "tough" days. The walk to Lake Howden seemed to go on forever. With painful soles, blistered feet and aching bodies, we dragged slowly along the track, putting a small step ahead as move. Snail pace really.

The Summit Conference

Lake Howden

It was such a relief to see the sight of Howden Hut and we were welcome on arrival by swamp of sandflies ! The Howden Hut is one of the smallest huts along Routeburn Track. Due to its location where it is only 3 hours from The Divide or 2 hours to the next hut along the Greenstone Track, not many would put a night there. But we glad we did. Other than the sandflies,the ever very friendly Ranger Phil, the scene over Lake Howden, seeing the Scaup or diving ducks doing their routine and the spectacular view from the top of The Summit, about 1 1/2 hrs return from the Hut, made the stay worth every penny.

Scaup

The Summit

We have scheduled meeting with Ranger Phil at 8 pm, but we also didn't like to miss the sunset at The Summit. When we reached the top of The Summit, the bright sunny Sun was still shining but the the chilly wind brought the temperature to almost freezing.

Tonight was for different set of chefs to prepared our meals - noodles with green peas and fish floss. Also it was time to clear out all the excess food.

As with all facilities along the Routeburn Track, Howden Hut was simple and clean. As we have plenty of time to get to The Divide to pick up our rental car, we decided to give something back to DOC before we leave. We were the last to leave and took the opportunity to tidy up the place.

Evening sun - The Summit

We were fortunate to have another excellent weather the next day. It was time to say goodbye to Ranger Phil while he was busy working on the track. The backpack was not as heavy. May be all the foodstuffs were gone, may be the excitement of getting back to the civilisation we are well accustomed to or may be the satisfaction of completing one of the 9 Great Walks. But there was no hiding that there were smiling faces allround.

The Routeburn track is a beautiful and enjoyable journey suitable for any able walker with reasonable fitness. If you put in the hard yard before venturing into it, you will be rewarded. During our weekly routine tramp, we have clocked 270 km, 16 tracks around Greater Auckland and 80 hours of sweat, cursing, arguments, cramps, bruises etc before tackling Routeburn and these have brought huge benefits to the group, as well as those who did not turn up at Routeburn.

Now it is time to plan the next venture - The Heaphy Track. Yes the longest among the 9 Great Walks at 78 km. This time the group is getting bigger - 12 people in total. Even with the experience of the Routeburn Track, this time around was not easy either. Organising the logistic of transport was the toughest and getting suitable vehicle for such big group wasn't easy. As Zhu Gek Liang said in the Battle of the Three Kingdom, everything is all set, just wait for the wind to arrive.

Coming out to The Divide

Not only the Heaphy track. We are doing back to back to back : Heaphy track, Whanganui Journey and then Tongariro Alphine Crossing. And even before starting these, the plan for next year : Rakiura Track or Lake Waikaremoana Track.