In the mood for some summer season hiking, I went to NZ for the first two weeks of March. As I was going solo, I elected to go the guided trip routine through Ultimate Hikes New Zealand which has a deal with New Zealand to build and operate private backcountry huts on three of the most popular “tracks” on the South Island. Dave Metsky did a New Zealand trip a few years back and submitted some great trip reports so for those who are considering going self supported, it would be worth searching for Dave’s report. A heads up is that the trips are not mileage marathons, many hikers on their own would be quite capable of completing the mileage, in a far shorter time, although the logistics of hut reservations (either guided or non guided makes this a difficult option).
For some background, New Zealand is very dependent on tourism and the government is the major body that builds and maintains trails. The westerly half of the south island is loaded with mountains which resemble the Rockies more than the Whites. As the mountains are right off the ocean and in the path of prevailing winds, they tend to be wet with tropical type rain forests down in the valleys. The down slope areas to the east tend to be drier and flatter and good for farming (and of far less interest to hikers). The latitude is just about identical to the whites (roughly 45 degree from the equator). I went at the end of their summer season which is usually the driest time on the south island, although dry is a relative term given the geography. Overall the characteristics of the southern mountains are much more steep and jagged, there are not a lot of ridgeline hikes as the ridgelines resemble the Knifes Edge at Katahdin. There are still active snowfields and glaciers present in the area, although many of the snowfields resembled Tuckerman’s in early June.
Ultimate Hikes New Zealand is a for profit entity that has been running a hut to hut trek from around the turn of the century on the Milford Track which is reportedly the premiere hiking trip in New Zealand. There may be other better trips, but the accessibility and PR generated by the Milford makes it definitely the most publicized. The Routeburn Track is another popular trip that runs above the treeline where it reportedly has extensive views of the surrounding mountains (my hike was in the clouds, so I did not get the extensive views). It “felt” like a similar hike to the Crawford path. These hikes are marketed for folks with little hiking experience who want some backcountry luxury while in some spectacular remote areas. I elected to go “full boat” and signed up for the “Classic” eight day trip which is two of their most popular tracks combined into one trip, the Milford and the Routeburn.
The Milford Track trip lived up to its PR, it was a “five day trip but in reality it was 3 days of hiking and one and a half days of travel to and from the trailheads. The actual hiking trail length is 33.3 miles. Due to the need for camping permits for both guided hikers and unguided hikers there is not an option to do it in less time, unless it is done as a trail run with no overnights. The overall trip runs up a glacial valley from the east into the heart of the New Zealand mountains, then climbs over McKinnon Pass to another glacial valley that runs outs to Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord). The majority of the trip is walking along the rivers at the base of glacial valleys surrounded by steep mountains usually 2000 feet or more with sheer cliffs, many of which have seasonal and rainfall induced waterfalls. Out of the five days, I had 45 minutes of rain, and therefore the waterfalls were less visible, which was more than made up for by spectacular views. Along the route, the trail does pass Sunderland Falls which is the 5th (or 11th) highest waterfall in the world dependent upon definitions. A fun part of the trip, was to walk behind the base of Sunderland falls, I got to test my Goretex “guaranteed to keep you dry“ test as it was akin to walking through a minor hurricane at times. My trip over McKinnon pass was in shorts and T shirts, per the guides it was about as nice weather as it could be for a climb up and over the pass. The last night of the trip is a stay in Miter Peak Lodge on Milford Sound which is the only accommodations on the sound. The last day is a boat tour of the sounds before a bus trip back to where the trip started ( I was dropped off part way to catch up with my next trip).
The Routeburn Track is a 3 day event with a total length of 22 miles. It is definitely something that could be done as a long day hike and I believe that the camping limitations are less. The trail maintenance is excellent. One of the hutkeepers mentioned that Ultimate Hikes contribution to half the cost to maintain the trail for one year was $150,000. The entire route is switchbacked up any incline and well graded on the traverses. Crushed rock is flown in as needed and if concrete is needed they use it.
As part of my Classic trip, I got to spend a half a day and night in Te Anau, a lakeside tourist town. The lake is the largest fresh water lake in Indo asia and its surrounded by mountains. It is also the lake that accesses the beginning of the Milford Track via a 2 hour boat trip. The town of Te Anau has tourist attractions and facilities but is quite small and doesn’t have air service making it less of an option for a hiking base, although it is closer to the mountains.
The accommodations for the guided trips are deluxe by hiking standards. The best comparison is they are closer to the Highland Center than the AMC huts, although located in areas where the AMC huts would be. The new Maine Huts and Trails network huts are based on the Ultimate Hikes system, although the locations are less spectacular. Private rooms with private baths are available in most huts. I stayed in the bunkrooms that had 4 beds per room but due to typical client demand for private rooms and some open spaces on the trip, I had a bunkroom to myself most nights. Each hut has a diesel generator which supplies hot water for showers and heat for a clothes drying room which meant that hikers could wash their hiking clothes at the end of the day and dry them before the next day which cut down on spare clothes in the pack. Speaking of packs, the tour provided free backpacks for loan for the duration of the trips. I used my new ULA gear Circuit Pack which was a bit big for the reduced amount of gear required by it worked well. The toilets are mostly flush toilets including some in very remote locations. The huts serve two hot meals per day, generally three course with fresh vegetables and salads. Lunches were make your own from an extensive selection. Each hut has a bar with a basic beer selection and several varieties of wine. The Milford trips are guided by four guides who appeared to be well trained and liked their work. They mostly tended to the folks who were new to hiking and needed help but were available to all. The huts are constantly being upgraded as needed usually due to natural influences. I did stop by the unguided hikers huts and they were pretty nice by white mountain standards complete with gas cooking stoves, running water and a caretaker. The huts on the Routeburn Track were either brand new or extensively renovated. The company had spent 13 million New Zealand dollars over the last two years on these two huts, both located in spectacular areas. The company appears to upgrade each new hut design based on prior huts designs, so the new ones are even better laid out. They have refined the installation of the Diesel power systems to the point where it easy to not notice the generator is running. I did get a private tour of one of the new generator installations and it was impressive. Resupply to all huts are via helicopter, but the trips are scheduled so that the hikers are not in the areas when the resupply occurs, although sight seeing helicopter tours are noticeable on occasion.
I was based out of Queenstown NZ which is the major base for activities on the south island. Just about any adventure activity is available. Jet boating, bungy jumping, off road tours, hiking shuttles, steamboat trips and just about any other activity is available. There is an active night life in town but I didn’t partake of it much. There is a large range of lodging from backpackers hostels to high end resort hotels , but it is a tourist spot and prices for meal and outdoor gear is expensive. A merino base layer shirt was $140 NZ dollars (about $100 US). Still a great location to base a trip with jet service available right to town.
I utilized shuttles from the airport and my trip provided shuttles to and from the trail. Even though the straight line distances are rather short, driving miles can be long as there are large lakes and mountains in the way. The roads are curvy and not wide, plus the speed limits are low so getting to and from trailheads can eat up some time. There are numerous hiking shuttles which although they appear expensive are probably the way to go, rather than renting a vehicle.
As an alternative to the guided trip, I did meet a regional hiking group that does “guided” self supported trips through Milford and other areas. They do most of the planning and get the hard to get reservations but are not allowed to advertise their services. Unfortunately I did not get direct contact info but I did get some possible ways of locating them.
Overall it was great trip and I would recommend the Ultimate Hikes Option for those who want to get out into spectacular territory without the need to haul a lot of gear or lot of preplanning. For those with spouses who may not appreciate “roughing it”, it may be a way of getting out in the backcountry as a couple.
For some background, New Zealand is very dependent on tourism and the government is the major body that builds and maintains trails. The westerly half of the south island is loaded with mountains which resemble the Rockies more than the Whites. As the mountains are right off the ocean and in the path of prevailing winds, they tend to be wet with tropical type rain forests down in the valleys. The down slope areas to the east tend to be drier and flatter and good for farming (and of far less interest to hikers). The latitude is just about identical to the whites (roughly 45 degree from the equator). I went at the end of their summer season which is usually the driest time on the south island, although dry is a relative term given the geography. Overall the characteristics of the southern mountains are much more steep and jagged, there are not a lot of ridgeline hikes as the ridgelines resemble the Knifes Edge at Katahdin. There are still active snowfields and glaciers present in the area, although many of the snowfields resembled Tuckerman’s in early June.
Ultimate Hikes New Zealand is a for profit entity that has been running a hut to hut trek from around the turn of the century on the Milford Track which is reportedly the premiere hiking trip in New Zealand. There may be other better trips, but the accessibility and PR generated by the Milford makes it definitely the most publicized. The Routeburn Track is another popular trip that runs above the treeline where it reportedly has extensive views of the surrounding mountains (my hike was in the clouds, so I did not get the extensive views). It “felt” like a similar hike to the Crawford path. These hikes are marketed for folks with little hiking experience who want some backcountry luxury while in some spectacular remote areas. I elected to go “full boat” and signed up for the “Classic” eight day trip which is two of their most popular tracks combined into one trip, the Milford and the Routeburn.
The Milford Track trip lived up to its PR, it was a “five day trip but in reality it was 3 days of hiking and one and a half days of travel to and from the trailheads. The actual hiking trail length is 33.3 miles. Due to the need for camping permits for both guided hikers and unguided hikers there is not an option to do it in less time, unless it is done as a trail run with no overnights. The overall trip runs up a glacial valley from the east into the heart of the New Zealand mountains, then climbs over McKinnon Pass to another glacial valley that runs outs to Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord). The majority of the trip is walking along the rivers at the base of glacial valleys surrounded by steep mountains usually 2000 feet or more with sheer cliffs, many of which have seasonal and rainfall induced waterfalls. Out of the five days, I had 45 minutes of rain, and therefore the waterfalls were less visible, which was more than made up for by spectacular views. Along the route, the trail does pass Sunderland Falls which is the 5th (or 11th) highest waterfall in the world dependent upon definitions. A fun part of the trip, was to walk behind the base of Sunderland falls, I got to test my Goretex “guaranteed to keep you dry“ test as it was akin to walking through a minor hurricane at times. My trip over McKinnon pass was in shorts and T shirts, per the guides it was about as nice weather as it could be for a climb up and over the pass. The last night of the trip is a stay in Miter Peak Lodge on Milford Sound which is the only accommodations on the sound. The last day is a boat tour of the sounds before a bus trip back to where the trip started ( I was dropped off part way to catch up with my next trip).
The Routeburn Track is a 3 day event with a total length of 22 miles. It is definitely something that could be done as a long day hike and I believe that the camping limitations are less. The trail maintenance is excellent. One of the hutkeepers mentioned that Ultimate Hikes contribution to half the cost to maintain the trail for one year was $150,000. The entire route is switchbacked up any incline and well graded on the traverses. Crushed rock is flown in as needed and if concrete is needed they use it.
As part of my Classic trip, I got to spend a half a day and night in Te Anau, a lakeside tourist town. The lake is the largest fresh water lake in Indo asia and its surrounded by mountains. It is also the lake that accesses the beginning of the Milford Track via a 2 hour boat trip. The town of Te Anau has tourist attractions and facilities but is quite small and doesn’t have air service making it less of an option for a hiking base, although it is closer to the mountains.
The accommodations for the guided trips are deluxe by hiking standards. The best comparison is they are closer to the Highland Center than the AMC huts, although located in areas where the AMC huts would be. The new Maine Huts and Trails network huts are based on the Ultimate Hikes system, although the locations are less spectacular. Private rooms with private baths are available in most huts. I stayed in the bunkrooms that had 4 beds per room but due to typical client demand for private rooms and some open spaces on the trip, I had a bunkroom to myself most nights. Each hut has a diesel generator which supplies hot water for showers and heat for a clothes drying room which meant that hikers could wash their hiking clothes at the end of the day and dry them before the next day which cut down on spare clothes in the pack. Speaking of packs, the tour provided free backpacks for loan for the duration of the trips. I used my new ULA gear Circuit Pack which was a bit big for the reduced amount of gear required by it worked well. The toilets are mostly flush toilets including some in very remote locations. The huts serve two hot meals per day, generally three course with fresh vegetables and salads. Lunches were make your own from an extensive selection. Each hut has a bar with a basic beer selection and several varieties of wine. The Milford trips are guided by four guides who appeared to be well trained and liked their work. They mostly tended to the folks who were new to hiking and needed help but were available to all. The huts are constantly being upgraded as needed usually due to natural influences. I did stop by the unguided hikers huts and they were pretty nice by white mountain standards complete with gas cooking stoves, running water and a caretaker. The huts on the Routeburn Track were either brand new or extensively renovated. The company had spent 13 million New Zealand dollars over the last two years on these two huts, both located in spectacular areas. The company appears to upgrade each new hut design based on prior huts designs, so the new ones are even better laid out. They have refined the installation of the Diesel power systems to the point where it easy to not notice the generator is running. I did get a private tour of one of the new generator installations and it was impressive. Resupply to all huts are via helicopter, but the trips are scheduled so that the hikers are not in the areas when the resupply occurs, although sight seeing helicopter tours are noticeable on occasion.
I was based out of Queenstown NZ which is the major base for activities on the south island. Just about any adventure activity is available. Jet boating, bungy jumping, off road tours, hiking shuttles, steamboat trips and just about any other activity is available. There is an active night life in town but I didn’t partake of it much. There is a large range of lodging from backpackers hostels to high end resort hotels , but it is a tourist spot and prices for meal and outdoor gear is expensive. A merino base layer shirt was $140 NZ dollars (about $100 US). Still a great location to base a trip with jet service available right to town.
I utilized shuttles from the airport and my trip provided shuttles to and from the trail. Even though the straight line distances are rather short, driving miles can be long as there are large lakes and mountains in the way. The roads are curvy and not wide, plus the speed limits are low so getting to and from trailheads can eat up some time. There are numerous hiking shuttles which although they appear expensive are probably the way to go, rather than renting a vehicle.
As an alternative to the guided trip, I did meet a regional hiking group that does “guided” self supported trips through Milford and other areas. They do most of the planning and get the hard to get reservations but are not allowed to advertise their services. Unfortunately I did not get direct contact info but I did get some possible ways of locating them.
Overall it was great trip and I would recommend the Ultimate Hikes Option for those who want to get out into spectacular territory without the need to haul a lot of gear or lot of preplanning. For those with spouses who may not appreciate “roughing it”, it may be a way of getting out in the backcountry as a couple.
