Day 335: Routeburn

In the morning I went to one of the many hiking companies around and rented a sleeping back for the 3 days I needed to do my hike. I'd picked up a bit of food in Franz Josef, but I got a few more things just to be safe. This hike wasn't the longest or hardest I'd done, but I had the heaviest pack for it since I had to carry all my food, sleeping bag and extra clothes. Snow was unexpected at this time of year, but not unheard of, and to be safe I had to bring cold weather and wet weather clothes. My shuttle didn't leave until 12:30, and didn't get to the start of the hike until 2pm, but in the direction I was going the first day was the shortest, so I wasn't worried about the time.

The first couple hours were a slow, leisurely climb through forest, following along a river. The highlight of this stretch for me was a brief section where the path exited out of the woods into a field surrounded on all sides by mountains. I took a break here for a snack and to just spend 20 minutes sitting and enjoying the scenery.


Awhile later there was a turn off for the campground, but the hut I was staying was still a good hike away. Just beyond the campground the path really started to climb, and it was an hour of solid climbing uphill before I got to my place for the night. The bunkhouses are buildings that can bunk about 50 people, but they don't have any bedding or food. They have to be reserved well in advance to get a spot (I got a bit lucky being able to do the hike at all), but they have cooking facilities and toilets, so it's a nice middle-ground. The bunkhouse was at Routeburn Falls, which in addition to being a nice waterfall gave a beautiful view down at the valley I'd spent the afternoon walking through.