Nick Groves leaves the manicured Routeburn Track for alpine passes and tarns in seldom-trod side valleys
It isn’t that I have anything in particular against our most popular hikes, nowadays branded together under the ‘Great Walks’ banner, it’s just that generally I prefer to avoid these busy tracks over the summer season. The last time I did the Routeburn from end to end was sometime last century. On that particular trip, my two companions and I didn’t encounter a single other person on the entire trail during the four days we enjoyed this classic route through the mountains of Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks. Admittedly, we chose to do the trip in the middle of a very hard and snowy August, when the only sensible method of traveling through this winter landscape was on skis, which stayed on our boots from the first swing bridge until we skied onto the Milford Road. Fast forward a number of years and the popularity of the Routeburn has increased hugely, due in part to the International Big Sell of a selection of our better-known (‘iconic’ is the term generally used) backcountry trails. Marie was keen to experience a taste of a justifiably famous walk, but not especially keen to do so in mid-winter, so I devised a slight variation, in fact a complete deviation, from the well-trodden, and quite likely fully booked, trail. Upon arriving at the car park and modern day-shelter complex at the start of the track, I felt my stubborn refusal to join the crowds completely vindicated. Being a warm afternoon in mid January, there was barely a place left to squeeze in our car, suggesting that the track and huts along the way were going to be anything but far from the madding crowds. [caption id="attachment_22432" align="aligncenter" width="1280"]

