The first day of the trek was sunny and hot, with blue skies. And although the forecast called for rain on the second day (maybe) and the third day (definitely), it never rained on the trek! That was great because it really sucks tramping in pouring rain. The clouds started coming in the afternoon of the second day, and it was mostly cloudy on the third day, but it never did rain.
I started the trek at the Routeburn shelter, and finished at the Divide. Some people do it in the other direction. So my first day started at the shelter, past the Routeburn Flats Hut, and ended up at the Routeburn Falls Hut. The climb was steady, and the views were gorgeous. I had done the walk from the Routeburn shelter to the Flats Hut a few months ago when I was living in Queenstown. So I had seen that part of the hike before. But this time around the weather was much nicer than the first time I did that walk. Here are some pictures from the start of the trek at the shelter to the Falls Hut.
I arrived at the Falls Hut (the first night's hut) at about 2 p.m., and a bunch of us decided to go on and climb to the Harris saddle (at 1255 meters), which is the highest point of the Routeburn trek. We did this because the weather was great that day, and the next day's forecast was cloud and rain, so we were afraid we'd get no views from the saddle the following day. So we dropped our packs at the Falls Hut and on we went, for a 2 hour climb up to Harris saddle, and then another 1.5 hour walk downhill back to the Falls Hut. That day was a bit tiring, cuz I walked for over 7 hours that day. I'm a slow walker, so it took me about 4 hours from the shelter to the Falls Hut, and then another 3.5 hours return from the Falls Hut to the saddle (a very rocky track, kind of hard on the knees). And the next day, I did that climb from Falls Hut to Harris saddle all over again, so it was like deja vu the whole way! :) I realized, though, that I didn't have to climb to Harris saddle the day before because the weather was still beautiful on that second day and the views were still great. In fact, the pictures came out better from the second day's climb because they were taken in the morning. Here are some pictures from the Falls Hut to the Harris saddle.
From the Routeburn shelter to Harris saddle, the Routeburn track goes through Mount Aspiring National Park. After reaching Harris saddle, the track continues into Fiordland National Park. So after reaching Harris saddle sometime in the late morning, you could see the Fiordland side was alot more cloudy. The clouds started coming in that late morning/early afternoon. So on that second day, the section from Harris saddle to McKenzie Hut (the second night's hut) was a bit cloudy (as you can see from the pictures below), with bits of sunshine at times. The third picture below was taken just steps away from McKenzie Hut.
I was surprised how well I slept at the huts, considering there were 24 or so other people in the same room! I didn't wake up much in the middle of the night, although someone said there was some snoring going on and one girl even screamed in her sleep. I didn't hear any of it, which made me wonder if I was the one snoring and/or screaming in my sleep. :)
So on the third day, the forecast was rain, for sure. But it never rained, though it was cloudier than the day before. Most of the walk on the third day was through beech forest, which was very similar to parts of the Milford trek. The walk from McKenzie hut ended at the Divide, where I caught a bus back to Queenstown. The most exciting pictures I have from the third day are of waterfalls, which I'll share below.
Doesn't the Routeburn trek look just amazing?! It is!
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