Wilderness June 2021

WALKING THE TONGARIRO NORTHERN CIRCUIT a couple of winters ago, I met up with an outdoor instructor on his day off in the car park. We walked together and got to talking about his career in the outdoors and I marvelled at his commitment to spend his downtime in the mountains. At South Crater, as we stomped through the snow, a lone tramper appeared a few hundred metres behind us. My companion immediately started making comments about the likelihood of the tramper being unprepared for the conditions. Even from this distance, his trained eye could see something wasn’t quite right. At the eastern end of South Crater, we climbed to the ridge leading to Red Crater and sheltered behind a large rock. It was impossible to walk further without crampons;…

ROUTEBURN IN A DAY Further to the web-exclusive story ‘The Routeburn in one day’ (March 1), this may be of interest. On November 22, 1986, Russell Prince and Ross Redpath started from The Divide on the Milford Road and ran the track in just over 7hr – return! Russell and Ross were together at Glenorchy in a time of 3hr14min. Russell finished at The Divide in 7hr08min and Ross in 7hr20min. Not a bad effort, eh? - Ray Willett DOGS HAVE NO PLACE IN NATIVE BUSH I enjoy reading Wilderness and the encouragement it gives to everyone to enjoy New Zealand’s outdoors. However, the article ‘A tramper’s best friend’ (April 2021), encouraging people to take pet dogs on tramping trips, was disappointing. New Zealand has amazing scenery and forests, mountains…

It’s great to see more plus-sized gear is becoming available (‘Go big or go home’, May 2021). I’m a big person (160kg) and am completing an overnight tramp every month this year as a way to lose weight. Lots of gear I have bought is heavy and bulky – my only winter piece of clothing is a big wind-stopper fleece that weighs 1500g. I know I won’t find anything filled with down that fits me. My raincoat only just makes it round my puku and it always seems to take up way too much space and weight in my pack. I have some tips for my fellow plus-sized hikers: • Pack light where you can so you have more room for your raincoat and warm gear. • Hunting stores stock…

Get your photo published here to receive a $30 Silva Pocket Thermo Compass for accurate wayfinding and temperature-sussing. Learn more about Silva at e.ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz…

TRAMPER NUMBERS on some of the country’s rockstar tourist tracks have plummeted due to Covid-19, while some local tracks have seen a boost in numbers, according to DOC. The department released figures for tracks and huts around the country over summer, which showed huge declines on tracks popular with international tourists. Visitors to Milford Sound were down 78 per cent on 2019/2020 while Franz Josef Glacier and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing were both down 72 per cent. Numbers on the Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier walks were also down 67 per cent. DOC visitor centres saw a 59 per cent reduction in visitors, falling from 640,000 to 262,000. But tracks popular with Kiwis or near cities were mostly stable or grew. The Pilgrims Way Coastal Track at Godley Head near…

A NEW 55KM cycle trail linking Clyde and Cromwell via the rugged Cromwell Gorge opened in May. The grade 1-2 trail follows Lake Dunstan, linking the vineyards of Bannock-burn through to the start of the Otago Central Rail Trail in Clyde and the new Roxburgh Gorge Trail via Alexandra. It includes spectacular sections cantilevered over Lake Dunstan, weaving between the Cairnmuir and Dunstan mountains and around enormous schist cliffs. Work on the $6m trail began in 2019 and was expected to open last year, but was hampered by issues with rockfall and delays from Covid-19. It forms part of the $26m New Zealand Cycle Trail Project, linking the rail trail with Queenstown via the Kawarau Gorge and to Wanaka via the Clutha River.…