Routeburn: Emily Pass

Two years ago, I was part of a small group of students from the Otago University Tramping Club that made its way to Mt. Xenicus as part of the annual trip to Paradise, New Zealand.  I was challenged beyond my expectations and as a result I became determined to more challenging tramping trips.  

So, when it was time to plan day walks as part of this year's Paradise trip, I raised my hand to lead a difficult one... Maybe, just maybe, there would be other new trampers out there who could make it through a 12+ hour day of walking if I promised lots of encouragement and really awesome views.

I chose to lead a trip to Emily Pass.  The plan was to walk two hours to the Emily Creek Bridge, leave the track to follow the creek up to the basin, go over the pass and down to Mackenzie Hut within five hours, and then hop back on the Routeburn track to follow it for six hours to read the carpark at the Routeburn Shelter.

Oh, how naive I was to think it would be that simple!

We woke up in the dark to choke down breakfast and catch a van ride to the start of the track.  It was a slow going tramp to the basin (note for next year: less bush bashing and more time in the stream bed). 

Routeburn Flats

Once in the basin, I could make out the depressions to the right of Emily Peak.  Unfortunately, I misinterpreted Moir's Guide North when it said something about the extreme true left. 

Look how far we'd come!

I went too extreme and lead the group up to something that did not turn out to be Emily Pass. We backtracked and made our way to the correct pass (just a few struggles with the "uncomfortably steep" section that the guide warns about). 

There are three trampers in this photo :)

Chocolate makes everything better

Feeling victorious

From the pass, Mackenzie Lake looked close-ish.  It wasn't. It took a total of 13 hours for my group to get from the car park to the hut... it was supposed to take that much time to do the whole walk!

I made the decision that our group would stay in the hut for the night (Great Walk huts cost $54/night, so it was a costly decision to make for six people).  It was better than dealing with the alpine environment in the dark (we had six to nine hours of walking to go, according to the warden).  The hut warden was AMAZING and radioed someone who went to the campsite to let the club President know my group was safe. 

The next morning we got up in the dark and high-tailed it for five and a half hours to the car park.  Thankfully, there was a van waiting (with a driver!) to take us back to Dunedin. (The rest of the club was to walk to Lake Sylvan, pack up, and head back to Dunedin... I was supposed to drive a van back to Dunedin.)

There were a lot of lessons learned on this trip: food, water, and clothes to stay warm and dry are KEY, club trips aren't the best time to try out a hard route, communication prevents Search and Rescue from being contacted, and a positive attitude keeps the whole group from turning into mental milkshakes.  I've made LOTS of notes about this trip and I hope to lead it next year.

Next weekend is another club trip and I'm leading a group again (with a co-leader!).  This next one will be all on track and we've already planned on staying in a hut.  I'm really looking forward to it!