I backpacked the Routeburn Track during the last 3 days of 2009. The trail is located on the west coast of New Zealand, and crosses the border between Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park. Hikers usually complete the trail over 3 days, but it would be easy enough to do it in 2 or less. Trail runners do it in a matter of hours every year or so.

Depite the rather short distance of the track, the end points are hundreds of miles away from each other by road - so bus transport is usually necessary. There are a couple other trails in that area, which you can combine with the Routeburn to make a round trip if need be.

I went with my friend Oriane, and we did it in the standard way over 3 days. On our first day we took a bus from Queenstown to Glenorchy and then started the trail right away, walking through forest along the amazingly glacial blue water of the Route Burn ("burn" being the Scottish word for creek). After gradually climbing all day, we started to get into more open valleys with amazing long distance views. On the way, we crossed lots of hanging bridges over streams and waterfalls. We ended our day at Routeburn Falls Hut, which was really busy - we were the last 2 to arrive. Moments after we arrived, it started to rain - just made it!

The next day, we woke up to find rather cold temperatures and looming clouds. We ate breakfast, and then headed out into the windy and cold "wilderness." I assumed it was going to rain, but it started to snow instead! We made our way up to Harris Saddle, and really didn't get wet at all on account of the snow just bouncing off our jackets. The views were actually pretty clear, despite all the weather. We stopped at the day-use hut and had a snack/avoided the wind and then started down the other side into Fiordland National Park.

The weather cleared up more for us at this point, and we slowly made our way down a huge valley overlooking the Hollyford River. I got some amazing photographs in this area, and on occassion massive rainbows filled the valley. After that, we made our way down to Lake Mackenzie, where we stayed for that night. Many card games were played.

On our final day, we woke up and were treated to pretty decent weather, overcast - but no rain. We had the opportunity to soak in a bit of sun later in the day, as well as some amazing views from Key Summit. I also did my traditional waterfall dunking on this day (Sierra Mist - It's kinda like that!).

We did a pretty good job with timing, so we ended up getting to "The Divide" about 20 minutes before our pickup time. All in all, and amazing experience! I highly recommend it!