A wrap of the biggest stories and best writing about the outdoors from New Zealand and around the world. 

The final photographs of a missing climber have been developed from a camera found on Hooker Glacier.

Discovered by mountaineer Chris Hill, the camera was found intact in a backpack and handed in to police and Land Search and Rescue for identification.

After the developed photographs were posted on social media, it was discovered that the backpack and camera belonged to climber Richard Stiles and depicted Steve Robinson, a 29-year-old who was killed when buried by an avalanche in 1997.

Stiles survived the avalanche and is now a doctor in Lithgow, Australia.

“It was one of the more horrible feelings that I’ve had, to have to turn around and walk away from that avalanche, knowing that a dear friend was no longer with me, in fact buried underneath some massive ice boulders, that somehow I had escaped,” Stiles said.

Robinson’s sister Chris Schiesser said the discovery has been a rollercoaster.

“Anything that comes to you once someone has passed … that comes to you from beyond the grave, it’s a bit of a gift,” she said.

“At the same time I’m thinking, oh my god, that’ll have been taken the day before he died and he’d have had no idea. So it’s been hugely emotional but also wonderful.”

The Guardian has the full story.

Auckland Council says stay off Waitākere Tracks

Auckland Council is reminding people to follow the lockdown rules and avoid tramping during level 4.

“No one should be driving to a regional park for any activity like tramping. There is major storm damage across the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park and we cannot guarantee the safety of the tracks for anyone,” ranger Stephen Bell said.

Access to Te Henga/Bethells Beach has been limited to residents only, and several roads, including Lone Kauri Rd in Karekare, are affected by slips or washouts.

Bell has asked residents of Huia, Karekare, Piha and Te Henga to stay off tracks until they can be assessed.

“We have had reports of entire sections of some tracks being washed away and of some bridges gone. It is simply not safe at the moment,” he said.

See NZ Herald for the full story.

PCT season goes up in flames

Wildfire closures have seen Southbound walkers on the Pacific Crest Trail forced to call it quits this season.

According to Backpacker, the USA Forest Service has announced one of California’s largest ever wildfire closures, shutting all national forests in the state.

Anybody caught in those areas will face a $5000 fine.

The Forest Service’s Samantha Reho said the closures are a preventative measure.

“We understand this decision is especially hard with the approaching Labor Day weekend, when so many people enjoy our national forests, but we don’t compromise when it comes to public safety,” she said. 

Bad year for fatalities in Grand Canyon National Park

A hiker has become the 18th person to die in the Grand Canyon this year. 

David Colburn, a 48-year-old fire chief, was hiking a narrow slot when he fell 15m to his death. His body was recovered the following day.

The Grand Canyon averages a dozen deaths each year, with the most common cause of fatalities being airplane crashes, falls, overheating and drowning.

Read the full story here.