Winter. Frost. Snow. Ghosts.
Well, one anyway: Ghost Lake, which lies below, frozen and glistening, as we wait at Ghost Lake Hut for the sun to appear. We had left the warmth of the hut early, set up cameras and watched the sun slink – seemingly reluctantly – over the eastern horizon. Numb fingers on cold cameras and tripods, but it was worth it. The dawn was sublime: sheer grand spectacle almost beating the evening before when, at dusk, we had watched a fantastically large, orange super moon pop above the Southern Alps.
To the southeast the great arc of the northern Kā Tiritiri o te Moana stretched to the southern horizon. Inversion cloud, snaking around spurs and copses of beech trees, clung like small glaciers in hollows and valleys.
Ten of us were tramping the Old Ghost Road, and had the track almost to ourselves. Despite having decades of tramping experience between us, none of us had walked the route before.
The 85km Old Ghost Road is one of three multi-day tracks that traverse Kahurangi National Park (the other two are the Heaphy and Wangapeka). Built with extraordinary skill, in many places laboriously hewn through granite, this world-class track ushers trampers and mountain bikers through the southwestern wilderness of the park. Mossy beech forests, rattling stands of mountain neinei, granite tors, earthquake lakes and curious transitions from granite to limestone are all prominent features.
Historic gold-mining trails from the 1870s existed at both ends of what is now the Old Ghost Road. In the early 2000s, after building the Rough and Tumble Lodge in Seddonville, American Marion Boatwright and his Kiwi wife Susan Cook mooted the idea of connecting the two. With other locals, the couple formed the Lyell–Mōkihinui Trust, raised money, and nutted out an ingenious route that includes the Lyell Range tops. Following years of effort by volunteers and paid professionals, and considerable government support, the track finally opened in December 2015.
Early plans included a groundbreaking concept for New Zealand: to build a dual-use track for trampers and mountain bikers. It was an inspired decision, and the resulting trail is beautifully contoured and benched, making for exhilarating riding or civilised strolling. Two sleepouts and tent sites can be booked at each hut in summer, and quirky signs and other bespoke details add a rustic flavour.
I had invited enough tramping buddies that we could fill the huts and virtually have the track to ourselves. Accordingly, ten of us set off from the Buller end late one afternoon in August.
From the historic Lyell mining settlement, the Old Ghost Road follows a gently graded mining track that sidles through beech forest in the Lyell Valley to the long-abandoned mining settlements of Gibbstown and Zalatown. The track crosses several small streams, including Irishman’s Creek, which can be impassable when in flood, and crosses steep bluffs protected by safety barriers and rock nets. It’s a steady climb to the Lyell Range, and the forest diminishes with altitude on the approach to Lyell Saddle Hut.
That evening light snow began to fall, and we woke to a wonderland of lacy white that delicately covered the beech forest and provided stark contrast to the vibrant red leaves of the mountain neinei.
On the next stage, the track leaves the mining trail and climbs in long zigzags to the subalpine tops of the Lyell Range and a convenient shelter on the ridge crest. Beyond is a spectacular section of travel that sidles sometimes steep slopes below Rocky Tor. There are excellent views from several lookouts, and the many interesting granite formations culminate in a large standing obelisk known as The Tombstone. On the last hour or so before Ghost Lake the track re-enters the forest, dominated here by stunted beech and mountain neinei. There are some lovely bonsai-like gardens on this section, edged by moss and decorated with rounded pebbles that almost look strategically placed. In other places icicles hung from shady rocks.
Perched above a formidable cliff, Ghost Lake Hut offers outstanding views of the northern Southern Alps and Mt Owen, Kahurangi’s highest peak. Ghost Lake lies in the basin below, an attractive mountain tarn flanked by boulder jumbles, tussock, cliffs and a patch of beech forest, a photographer’s delight of textures, colours and landforms.
The next morning, we reluctantly left the hut. Weka footprints in the snow drifts were like little arrows of determination.
On this section the track-makers’ ingenuity is particularly apparent as it zigzags down a ramp, wending over the intricate Skyline Ridge and passing more granite features to reach a dramatically steep, three-tiered descent off a rocky ridgetop, the only stairs on the track. These are now bypassed by a new section that sidles and descends into Stern Creek, passing an attractive waterfall, to the pleasant flats where Stern Valley Hut is sited.
The fourth day was the longest but was not arduous, and we tackled it in two bites: before and after lunch. The Stern Valley Flats mark a transition from rounded granite to angular limestone. Slightly downstream of the hut the track branches up the Ernest Valley. Here the massive 1929 Murchison earthquake sent great boulders into a basin, forming two lakes and destroying much of the forest. The trail passes close by Lake Grim, before rounding above Lake Cheerful and climbing among the limestone rubble in a series of switchbacks. Mature forest resumes as the track slips through a small saddle into the Goat Creek catchment before dropping to the Mōkihinui Valley below.
Goat Creek Hut, in a little clearing just across the creek, is worth a visit. Built in 1957, this early example of a deer-culling hut has been beautifully restored by the Backcountry Trust. It was fitting that we were there with Rob Brown, who, as the trust’s manager, helped organise the work.
Beyond, the trail reaches the Mōkihinui River South Branch. A large footbridge spans the river, after which the track continues along river flats on the true left through stately forest, dominated in many places by kahikatea and other podocarps. Weka stalked the understorey, all keen red eyes and brown stabbing beaks probing the soft earth for food.
Easy travel leads to Mōkihinui Forks Hut, where the North Branch adds its strength to the now formidable Mōkihinui River. Another couple of hours took us to Specimen Point Hut, situated on an elevated perch overlooking the downstream river gorge.
From here the Old Ghost Road follows another historic gold-mining trail. Cantilevered sections and footbridges ease the route through what was once extremely difficult terrain, notably at Suicide Bluffs. The river alternates between thunderous rapids and tranquil green and aqua flows. The trail passes the site of another former mining town, Seatonville, and then the valley begins to open out shortly before the end adjacent to the Rough and Tumble Lodge.
None of us really wanted the trail to finish. Over five days I hadn’t even broken into a sweat. The scenery had been outstanding, the facilities superb, and we had all enjoyed a social time, catching up, trading stories and exclaiming at each new wonder. We felt huge admiration, gratitude and respect for those who toiled to create this magnificent trail.
Longest: The Old Ghost Road is 85km; the Heaphy is a close second (80km) and Wangapeka (60km) is third.
Most remote and rugged: Definitely the Wangapeka, which crosses two passes and has some challenging windfall sections on its West Coast side.
Hardest: The Wangapeka, for the reasons above.
Best wildlife: The Heaphy, for its great spotted kiwi, the chance to see takahē and whio, and the general abundance of other birdlife.
Best facilities: The Old Ghost Road, because of its well-stocked huts, campsites and sleep-outs, which provide lots of options and the chance to carry less.
Most family-friendly: The Old Ghost Road, for the reasons above, although the Heaphy is a close second.
Coolest historic feature: The Wangapeka, which has the utterly charming Cecil King Hut.
Geological interest: A tie between all three! The Old Ghost Road and Wangapeka both pass through interesting granite country, and the Heaphy has some lovely limestone caves on the Gouland Downs.
Botanical diversity: The Heaphy, which has everything from beech forest and high moorlands to sub-tropical nīkau palms.
History: The Heaphy wins easily as it is a historic Māori route used to cross between Mohua Golden Bay and Te Tai Poutini the West Coast. In the mid-1840s Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy explored part of this route. During the 1860s, after gold was discovered in Golden Bay, the Heaphy was developed into a mining track and named after Heaphy. It became overgrown and neglected during the first half of the twentieth century, and in the 1950s the Forest Service developed the track into a tramping trail. It later became a Great Walk, improved by the Department of Conservation. The Heaphy made history when it became a dual mountain biking/tramping trail, paving the way for other tracks like the Old Ghost Road and Paparoa Track.
Best gradient: The Old Ghost Road is a masterclass in an almost sweat-free gradient that ushers trampers and cyclists easily through what is otherwise rugged wilderness with a near-perfect surface and benching.
Best swimming: The Heaphy has the Tasman Sea section (though this can be extremely dangerous). It also has many lovely rivers (notably the Heaphy, Aorere and Gunner) as well as some hidden pools near huts like Saxon, Perry Saddle and Gouland Downs.
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