“On a Mish” #24 A Little Bit Different (Part One). Mt Cuba(1449m). Fiordland National Park. 14.1.2019. While I do enjoy hiking the many classic hiking trails in Aotearoa, I prefer heading to places outside of the norm – usually by myself. To be in a place where there isn’t a single soul for miles is an incredible thing, and one so many will never get the opportunity to emjoy. Every so often I am joined by someone else and most of the time I make sure we go somewhere away from the masses. The aim is to hike to somewhere a little bit different and have a ‘real’ wilderness experience…
Tourism was slowly returning to New Zealand after Covid put an abrupt end to everyone plans. Just before the Corona chaos New Zealand’s tourism industry was booming. At the time I worked on the Fiordland Navigator as it slowly drifted around Doubtful Sound blowing the minds of its many passengers. The boat’s maximum capacity is 72 and it was usually full or very near to it. The crew were kept busy all summer so when we it got downtime, we made the most of it.
On one of our weeks off I headed to the hills with fellow Navi crewmate Dylan. Our plan was to camp above McKellar Saddle with what we hoped would be a grand view of the Greenstone Valley and beyond. One of the many benefits of the week-on-week-off roster was having seven days to play with, which meant you could pick the best weather days to go on a mish. As a large high pressure ridge rolled over the South Island we made our way towards the start of our adventure.
To access where I wanted to camp, we would be starting our mish at the Divide. This is where the Routeburn Track starts and in 2019 the place was just as busy as the Fiordland Navigator. Finding a place to park was the first challenge we faced, and we hoped it was the last one which involved people. Eventually we found a spot and the real mish could begin.
Whether it is busy or not, nothing can take away from the beauty of Fiordland when seen from the Routeburn Track. The hike up to either Key Summit or continue further is pure pleasure for the eyes, and it is no wonder the Key Summit section of the track is considered one of New Zealand’s best day walks. Our venture into the Ailsa Range would give us similar views, but hopefully without the hum of hordes of humans.
After the up and down of the start of the track we wandered past Howden Hut. Little did we know that only a few years later the hut would be taken out by a landslide with people still inside! Thankfully no one was injured or worse, incredible when you think of the devastation. Every now and then Fiordland unleashes its fury and sometimes human structures are removed from the planet. I stopped in a Howden Hut over a hundred times as a guide on the Routeburn and Greenstone Tracks and I never once thought that it might not be there one day. R.I.P to an awesome hut.
After Howden Hut and the lake it was named after, we pushed on down the Greenstone Track towards the Junction with the McKellar Saddle and Caples Valley Tracks. It was here that we stopped for a bite to eat and, while we ate, we prepped our heads for what was going to be one epic mish into the mountain tops. One that was a little bit different than what everyone else in the area was doing…
