Kepler Track - Jan. 4-6, 2009

One of the main attractions of our vacation here in New Zealand is the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park, one of New Zealand’s 8 Great Walks. This roundtrip hike takes 4 days and spans 60 km through alpine peaks and lush rainforests. As usual Kaye took over 3000 pictures (or maybe it just seemed like that many) so the hike will be pretty well documented. Our hike started January 4^th at the Te Anau Control Gates with near perfect conditions. Here’s me at the start with my walking staff.

Aside from the sand flies we encountered near the beginning, the hiking was smooth, flat and easy. After 6 km we started our near 1000m ascent into the alpine regions of Mt. Luxmore. Our hike was nearly straight up from there on as we traversed switchbacks and stairs. The forest scenery changed as we went up from familiar scenery to rain forests filled with leafy ferns and weeping moss covered rocks and trees.

At about 950m, we escaped the forest completely and reached the alpine portion on our way to the Luxmore Hut (at 1085m). The temperature seemed to have dropped at least 10 degrees and a constant rain came down as we finished of the last few kilometers and made it to the hut.

After an hour or so of resting indoors Kaye and I decided to do a side a hike over to the nearby Luxmore Caves. We were told they reached 1 km long and people had been lost in them for hours. We dropped down 150 feet into complete darkness and crawl space conditions, before deciding to turn back for the warm fire back at the hut. We spent the evening chatting with the other hikers and playing cards, hoping for a break in the rain or clouds. No luck, although we did spot a curious Kia bird (world’s only alpine parrot and quite large)on the porch – apparently they will rip your bag apart, steal windshield wipers, take your shoelaces, anything they can get their beaks on.

The second day, we awoke to more rain. We set off through the main alpine section of the hike. Once we left the sheltered side of the mountain, we were hit by 40-50 km/hr winds and sideways rain. Also swirling clouds and fog, which obscured most of the views. At times, we were walking along a narrow trail with the mountain dropping steeply to one side and rising steeply to the other, barely able to see more than 30 ft in front of us.

However, it did clear occasionally to display incredible views of the steep valleys below, the south arm of Lake Te Anau, or the Murchison Mountains beyond. Between the two alpine shelters, (Forest Burn Shelter at 1270m and Hanging Valley Shelter at 1390m), we followed exposed ridgeline the whole way. For 15 minutes or so, the rain stopped and the views were clear – we could see hikers dotted along the ridge in front of us, Mt. Luxmore behind us, and waterfalls cascading down the mountains all around – it was beautiful. Later that night we heard that some people had seen no views, so we felt lucky.

You can see the trail winding along the ridgeline behind Kaye...

Here's the both of us on the ridgeline...

After the Hanging Valley Shelter, we started the STEEP descent to the Iris Burn Hut, which included 91 switchbacks (as we were told by the hut warden, we thought counting them would just depress us) and lots of stairs. The great views continued until we dropped back below the treeline, and then we walked through more forest until we reached the Iris Burn Hut. Here's me starting down the stairs:

And some of the views down in the forest on the way to the hut:

We took a side hike to the Iris Burn Falls. Here is Kaye, managing to stand still despite the sand flies:

While in the hut that night, we heard they were calling for heavy rains for the next 2 days. Many of us considered passing through the next hut and finishing the track on the 3^rd day. The heavy rain we awoke to in the morning confirmed our choice. Despite our rain clothes, we were soaked within 1 hr. And although the track has fairly flat, it was covered in mud, puddles, and stream crossings. After 22.2km, we decided to catch the shuttle at Rainbow Reach rather than continue another 9.5 km to Control Gates. Our sanity depended on this, haha. We have no pictures as we were fairly miserable from the rain and aching feet and backs. Despite the difficult last day, the entire track was a wonderful experience and we would recommend it to anyone who loves hiking! Just pack lightly and bring rain gear!