Routeburn Track (Day 2)

We woke up bright and early today after going to bed so early the night before. It was a beautiful day and the rain had finally gone away! The weather can change quickly here so we made sure to get on the trail early after a quick breakfast. We had another 12Km or so to go before getting to our next hut called Routeburn Falls hut. To get there, the first half of the day was uphill and into the mountains overlooking the Hollyford Valley. We had a beautiful morning for this part of the track with stunning views out into the Darran Mountains and over the Valley. Just as we were leaving the Valley, the clouds started rolling in as the day heated up and completely filled it in. It was crazy how fast they rolled in so thank goodness we started early when we did or we wouldn't have even realised the beautiful sights we were missing.

After we left the Hollyford Valley, we finally made it to the highest point of the Routeburn Track at the Harris Saddle. Here there were a couple of cabins for day use and emergency shelter only so we took a break for lunch. After relaxing a bit, we decided to do an optional side track up Conical Hill which was about an hour hike up a fairly steep mountain to get some good views out over the valley and of Harris Lake. By this point, a good bit of cloud cover had rolled in, but we still had some nice views at the top of Conical Hill. It was a tough climb but worth the effort.

After, we began our descent to the Routeburn Falls Hut where we would spend the night. This hut was very nice. The bunks were less crammed together with separate sleeping areas of 4 bunks each. The front porch of the hut had beautiful views out over Routeburn Valley. Again, we had a nice dinner and relaxed, taking in the wonderful views, before calling it a night. Today had been great and I saw some of the prettiest views I have ever seen in my life.

Me and Leslie climbing up the mountain with Lake MacKenzie below.

Me continuing the hike up

Beautiful view out over the are we had hiked through the previous day

Stunning View (and I'm not just referring to me in the picture)

Me with Hollyford Valley and Darran Mountains in background

Leslie taking it all in

The mountains up here had glaciers on them as you can sort of see in the background

Me on the hobbit trail

Me with Hollyford Valley in background

Bilbo
Les taking a break at the Harris Saddle

View of the Harris Saddle huts from hike up Conical Hill

Les at the top of Conical Hill

Me walking out to the edge of one of the lookout points up to Conical Hill





Lake Harris

Routeburn Valley (the roof of the Routeburn Falls Hut where we stayed is at the bottom).


Routeburn Falls


The view from the front porch of the Hut