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AFTER being made social secretary for the Auckland Tramping Club, I resigned when I found out that neither I nor any other unattached woman under fifty years old was allowed on one of their tramps to Dusky Sound.
Presumably there had been a scandal at some time and the ageing membership of the club was determined not to allow a repeat. To my mind such policies went some way toward explaining why the membership of this and other tramping clubs was, indeed, an ageing one.
It meant that the ATC was not a place foryoung people to meet anyone, in direct and obvious contrast to the meet-up groups that the young people were joining! This issue is the subject of a story in the July 2016 issue of the New Zealand outdoor magazine Wilderness, ‘Smashing Stereotypes’ by Hazel Phillips.
For want of a chaperone, I went alone to Fiordland to do one of New Zealand’s hardest tramps, even though it is not recommended to go it alone. The Dusky Track was more than back-country, with no maintenance on the track at all at that time, and huts with leaky roofs and full of mice and rats.
You can do the Dusky Track in either direction. I did it from south to north. In that direction, you get to the Dusky Track by way of a ferry on Lake Hauroko,one of the southernmost big lakes in New Zealand and at 462 m (1,516 feet) max,the deepest. Before boarding the ferry or after you step off at the Lake Hauroko road-end, which can be reached from Southland townships such as Tūātapere. you can also do the ‘short but stiff’ Lake Hauroko Lookout Track,which is one of my faves, and the Lake Hauroko Loop Bush Walk. In the other direction, the Lake Hauroko stage would be at the end.
(Here is an animation of the track that my editor Chris made on the 20th and 21st of January 2022, as an update to the post. We are just getting the hang of this!)
Trailing 84 km through the Fiordland National Park, the Dusky Track is a challenging tramp taking eight to ten days to complete and is rated by DOC as suitable only for experienced groups of trampers.
The Dusky Track is the same length as the Heaphy Track in other words, but takes twice as long to get through; especially if you add the two-day detour west down the Seaforth River to Supper Cove.
"In my opinion this is the most interesting and most rewarding Track in New Zealand," writes one blogger, Burkhard Wuensche But he adds that "that the sandflies around there are gigantic and a real problem. Also you will need some basic rout[e]finding skill, since the track might be partially washed away near the rivers. Part of the track is extremely muddy with some of the mud pools up to 1m deep." Wuensche also notes that the track is "is rated hard and only suitable for experienced groups."
The terrain is almost Macchu Picchu-like in places. But the Dusky Track has never been made into a Great Walk, all the same, because of the giant sandflies and the metre-deep mud, not to mention a descent from the Pleasant Range to Loch Maree, down rocks covered in roots and vines, which is nearly vertical in places.
There are many walkwires, structures for crossing flooded or deep rivers that are more rudimentary than bridges, around this area of the Fiordland National Park. I try not to use them, if the water is low, for fear of toppling over when I am wearing a heavy pack!
In short, the whole track is still pretty much intrepid-explorer territory, or much more so than many other tracks in any case.
Here's a 20-minute video on the track, made by another adventurer!
Local transport bookings are essential, and DOC can provide the details. The last thing you want to do is to end up quite literally in the middle of nowhere with no transport to meet you.
Travelling north, the track begins at Hauroko Burn Hut at the head of Lake Hauroko, followed by a hike of four to six hours via two walkwires to Halfway Hut, the first of the huts on the track, followed by another three to five hours and two more walkwires to Lake Roe Hut.
From here to Loch Maree Hut is the most scenic section of the route, a five to seven-hour tramp across the Pleasant Range with spectacular views of the Sound and the mountains around it, with another walkwire just before the hut. Trampers can then either head west to Supper Cove Hut on Dusky Sound via another seven walkwires, or north-east, the route which I took, to Kintail Hut, a walk of six to eight hours and one walkwire.
From there, it is a steep climb through Centre Pass to Upper Spey Hut – about five to seven hours from Kintail Hut and two walkwires – and this is followed by a final stretch of tramping via three walkwires to the Wilmot Pass Road, which leads down to the West Arm of Lake Manapouri, where you can visit the famous hydroelectric power station.
Because of the rats and mice in the huts, I spent my nights on the track outside on a mattress, placing my pack in the rodent-proof toilets for safe-keeping. As I was attacked by sandflies throughout the night, I decided that next time I would take a tent.
I didn’t do the detour to Supper Cove. Nor indeed the whole length of the main route, for I pulled a calf muscle in the end while trying to get through a muddy bit and had to be helicoptered out: my personal locator beacon proving vital at last!
I was preparing to bed down for the night with my pack and sleeping bag by the stream while waiting for the helicopter, but I didn’t even have time to make a cuppa, as the helicopter arrived and winched me up above the trees by a good 50 metres. That was a memorable ride back to Te Anau.
Leaving the helicopter to stay at the hostel in Te Anau, I realised at reception that Ihad somehow managed to lose all my credit cards on the track.
To make matters worse, I had been declared a missing person by the police, as Search and Rescue had not told the boat owner on Lake Manapouri that I had been airlifted out and, expecting me on their ferry, they had reported my absence.
I was stressed out by the whole business including the lost credit cards and forgot to follow this up myself, somehow assuming that the boat operator would have been advised.
So, it was a pleasant surprise for the police when they came checking for me at the Te Anau Hostel and found me there safe and sound after all, albeit with mixed feelings for the time wasted. In a situation like this, always think: who might be expecting you? Still, I had got out of one of New Zealand’s hardest tramps alive, and that was the important thing.
Perhaps one day I will complete the Dusky Track!
See the DOC page on the Dusky Track, and also other blogs by people who have done the whole track, posts that include photos and pass on locally useful tips such as their authors’ opinions on how to judge whether areas prone to flooding can be got through on foot or not.
Just do a search: there are heaps of blog posts on the Dusky Track! And lots of videos on Youtube and Vimeo as well!
If you liked the post above, check out my new book about the South Island! It's available for purchase from this website.
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