⛰️#14 - Missing Tramper, Major Road Closures Affect Hikes, 10 Years of BCT, & More

And we are back with the 14th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday.

I'll let you know what’s going on in the hiking scene in New Zealand, along with other related bits and pieces I find interesting.

FYI, Black Friday is NOT tomorrow, it’s next week. Not that you’d know it when every outdoor brand has launched their Black Friday sales already. If there’s an actual epic sale, let me know.

Annnyway, let’s get into it.

Table of Contents

• 🥾 Missing Man On The Remarkables (Found)

• 🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

• 😹 Hiking Funny

• 🎁 A Couple Of Competitions To Enter

• 🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

🥾 Missing Man On The Remarkables (Found)

In what was a good result for Search and Rescue and other rescue volunteers in Queenstown, a man was missing overnight after starting on the Wye Creek Track (here) on Wednesday morning enroute to finishing at The Remarkables Ski Field by 8 pm. When he didn’t arrive at 8 pm he was reported missing.

He was found safe this afternoon (Thursday), with Constable Pepper Ruston of Queenstown Police Search and Rescue saying about the missing man "..and while slightly hypothermic and extremely hungry, in overall good spirits".

It was a cold night in Queenstown, with some steady rain throughout the morning. Having completed the route a few times, this isn’t an easy route if you’re not an experienced hiker (we don’t know about the man’s experience). And there was still a good amount of snow on The Remarks skifield which can make things a lot more difficult if you’re not prepared for it.

Even as the weather is getting warmer and the days are getting longer, making sure someone knows your plan is super helpful, and in this case, might have saved his life. And how good are all the volunteers who helped find him ASAP!

A few more details can be read here.

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

• If you’re planning a hike in the Matukituki Valley (Mt Aspiring National Park) between December 2nd and 13th, the Wanaka - Mount Aspiring Road will be closed periodically. You’ll still be able to get in and out on all days (except Monday 8th), but take a look at the schedule below before you find yourself stranded for hours. The Matukituki Valley is the gateway to popular hikes like Rob Roy Glacier, Liverpool Hut, French Ridge Hut, and Aspiring Hut.

• And another major road closure affecting hiking plans, is the Desert Road (North Island) closure between Waiouru and Turangi. The Desert Road will be closed from January 6th to late-Feb. This mostly affects some hikes in Tongariro National Park (not the Tongariro Alpine Crossing) and Kaimanawa Forest Park. Details here.

• The Tararua Tramping Club helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of Field Hut. They put together a 6-minute video you can watch here.

• If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a few weeks, I’ve no doubt mentioned the Backcountry Trust which you may or may not be familiar with. What I was surprised to learn, is that the BCT was set up about this time 10 years ago after a successful pilot project (they then went and got more formal etc.) In this thread Rob Brown goes into some detail about that pilot project involving South Huxley Biv (#8 wire being the MVP)…and 10 years later, it got another facelift. They expand on that in the above thread as well.

• Fletcher Building has entered a 5-year partnership with Backcountry Trust (there it is again) to provide cheap as building materials for hut maintenance. This summer they’ll tackle renovations on 30 huts! Source.

• Work continues on the Cathedral Cove walkway, with some key infrastructure being installed earlier in the week. Contractors are still seeing dozens climbing around barriers and ignoring all the signs mentioning the track is closed, daily. (details here). Yay for selfish humans. An instant $200 fine for people caught on the track would be a nice little cash earner for DOC…

• Bird flu alert! DOC is preparing for the potential of bird flu arriving in NZ as it spreads around the world. We can do our part by looking out for signs of the disease affecting birds. Symptoms include:

  • sudden death

  • tremors

  • weakness

  • paralysis

  • difficulty breathing

  • diarrhoea

  Report 3+ sick or dead birds. Fingers crossed it doesn’t arrive on our shores. We’ll hear more from DOC in the coming weeks about the containment plan if bird flu does reach our shoes.

😹 Hiking Funny

(click on the image for the full video on Instagram)

🎁 A Couple Of Competitions To Enter

• NEW COAST Giveaway with Coast Portland - enter here

• NEW Wilderness Wonders with Real Meals - enter here (closes March 31st, 2025)

• NEW Beer Merch with Sprig + Fern & Beer Hut - enter here (closes November 28th)

• An Awesome Prizepack with Racers Edge Wanaka - enter here (entries open until December 2nd)

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

On Saturday I joined a new hiking group based out of Queenstown on their 2nd trip. They were off to Kirtle Burn Hut for an overnight trip as part of the Love Our Huts campaign.

Rotaract is, in short, a young persons Rotary Club targeting ages 20 to 40 years old. You can find out more here: https://queenstownrotary.co.nz/stories/rotaract-new-club-for-central-lakes

They’ve got a bunch of hikes (both day and overnight) planned for the summer months. And from my experience, everyone was super chill and cool to hike with (I couldn’t stay for the overnight part of the trip).

Kirtle Burn Hut is in the underrated Pisa Ranges, between Queenstown and Wanaka. There’s a heap of trails throughout the Pisa Ranges, and some great huts (Meg Hut goes good) to stay at.

You can find your nearest Rotaract Club on the club finder page.

Have a great week, hike it up.

As always, reply to this email (or message me on Whatsapp +642041702764) with anything and everything…I’m happy to chat.

Chur,

Jub

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