New Zealand - the Routeburn Track Robert and Courtney Schafer Dec 2006 Click here to return to the main page We spent two days hiking the famous Routeburn Track, starting near Glenorchy and spending the first night at the Routeburn Falls hut, continuing on the second day over Harris Saddle and past Lake MacKenzie, spending the second night at Howden Hut very near the ending point of the track at the Divide. We lucked out with the weather and had a beautiful clear day for our crossing of the alpine sections, with spectacular views of the Hollyford valley and the Darran mountains.

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View across Lake Wakatipu along the way to the start of the Routeburn	The road to Glenorchy has spectacular views	Snowcapped peaks of the southern Alps	Catherine, Robert, and Courtney at the start of the Routeburn Track	Robert crossing the first of many swinging bridges
Courtney in the mossy forest at the start of the track	Courtney and Catherine on a swinging bridge	We crossed over many swift cascades such as this one	There are many cool waterfalls	Looking back down the Routeburn valley, as we start to climb
Courtney and Robert in the Routeburn valley, near the Routeburn Flats hut	High snowy peaks loom over the valley	Catherine and Robert eating lunch in Routeburn Flats hut	Awesome valley view as we climb up towards the Routeburn Falls hut	Another view back down the valley
Robert on the Routeburn Track	The Routeburn Flats hut is in the flat valley below	Yet another view of the valley	Climbing toward the Routeburn Falls hut	Catherine on the deck of the Routeburn Falls hut
Robert near Routeburn Falls	The large common room of the Routeburn Falls hut	Last light from the deck of the Routeburn Falls hut	Looking back down on the Routeburn Falls hut	Alpine view on the way to Harris Saddle
Catherine taking pictures	Alpine scenery	Views expand as we climb higher	Looking back down toward the Routeburn valley	Robert and Courtney above Harris lake
The Harris saddle shelter	Robert and Courtney at Harris saddle	Hard to believe none of these peaks are higher than about 4000ft!	Snowy peaks tower over the Hollyford valley	Catherine on the long rolling alpine traverse
The Routeburn has some stunning views!	Robert, Courtney, and Catherine at yet another spectacular viewpoint	Robert on the trail just before it descends toward Lake MacKenzie	The Lake MacKenzie hut is visible far, far below	Catherine on the trail to Lake MacKenzie
Lake MacKenzie lies below towering rock walls	The MacKenzie valley	View from the Lake MacKenzie hut	Courtney on the trail heading down	Stunning views are still had even below treeline
Catherine enjoys the view of the Darran mountains	One of many lovely little waterfalls beside the trail	Earland Falls	The lower section of Earland Falls	Deep green moss covers the rocks
Catherine approaches Howden hut	Catherine and Robert, ready for dinner at Howden Hut	Panorama of the view from Harris Saddle	Panorama of Lake Wakatipu, on the road to Glenorchy