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DOC Land
Altitude: 198m to 1633m. Gain: 5213m. Loss: 5417m . Gradient: 9 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Prolonged scrambles (4/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
The first, northenmost Fiordland section of madpom's 'Grand Traverse' from East Cape to West cape.
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This route starts with three steep challenging passes through the Earl Mountains, leading to the start of Fiordland proper in the Clinton, The Earls, while steep and demanding are much like the Humboldt Mountains that came before in their nature: dry, rocky. Good flat valley floors with campspots and rock wrens aplenty.
West of the Clinton the nature of the country changes. Vegetation becomes lush, undergrowth thick and any flat section of valley floor boggy. Finding good spots to camp is a real challenge - often only one or two suitable spots for a tent are passed in a day's travel.
After a brief stroll along the Milford Track, we dive off into the midst of it all: bashing through marshland and winding deep creeks to the western Clinton valleyside and from there climbing steep deer trails through thick undergrowth onto the Indecision tops. The indecision provides a hanging valley within a hanging valley - challenging navigation to drop from high tussock basins past tall bluffs and waterfalls to the flat valley floor below.
A tough windfall bash along the shore of Lake Te Anau takes us into the first of the great valleys of Wapiti country: the Worsley. We traverse the full length of the valley, from broad flats on the lakeshore to steep scrubby marshy scrambles up the southern valley head. The wonderful Worsley Biv in the head of the Wild Natives is our reward, together with views down Bligh Sound from the pass above it. Seemingly impassable passes connect the heads of the Wild Natives, but deer trails show the way. Finally, we descend the mighty Glaisnock from the head of the Taheke all the way back to the shores of Lake Te Anau and the sheltered North Fiord.
Altitude: 407m to 1295m. Gain: 935m. Loss: 49m . Gradient: 16 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Streams (2/6)
Follow the marked DOC track/route up the true right side of Falls Creek from the Christie Falls bridge on the Milford Sound road. The rough track climbs steeply above the series of waterfalls at first but is well marked and cut, later veering away from the main creek and following a side-creek up the valleyside before sidling - beyond which track cutting seems to have ceased and the track become very overgrown. The track/route crosses two smaller scrubby side creeks before dropping to the river where a third broad rock & shingle creek bed descends from the SE.
Leave the track (which the map shows crossing the river to the northern bank at this point) and climb the spur to the south of the side-creek as far as the bushedge. There is no scrub-layer and the spur leads straight out onto tussock faces. Make a sidling climb SW to the Melita Saddle at pt1309, keeping above the heads of various steep slipped-out creekheads.
2-4hrs road to saddle
Altitude: 790m to 1633m. Gain: 337m. Loss: 845m . Gradient: 15 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Streams (2/6)
From the Melita Saddle climb the spur towards Consolation Peak. There are several small layers of bluffs but they are all passable. At around 1500m a broad gentler-sloping face is reached leading across the north face of Consolation. Follow this face west to the saddle with Mistake Creek, keeping above steep faces and bluffs below. I ended up climbing to ~1600m to get round the last steep bluffs before the saddle, but other parties report sticking to lower narrower terraces at ~1500m all the way to the saddle.
There are camp spots and water on the saddle, but the are exposed to the south. Below that the valley is too steep, scrubby or marshy to camp until the main forks.
From the eastern side of the Falls-Mistake Saddle, follow the creek down, scrambling down the true left of a series of small waterfalls into the basin below. The creek can be followed on either bank through rough rock, tussock and low scrub until about 1100m.
The descent from the hanging valley to the main Mistake flats below is normally made in mature beech 50m south of the creek. This involves a tough 150m scrub bash from the creek to the bushedge. Once in the bush reasonable deer trails follow a small spur and layer gullies to reach the valley floor.
There are flat, dry but flood prone campspots on the flat open valley floor - but more protected bush campspots exist on the bushedge just south of the creek leading to U Pass.
Melita-Forks 2-4 hrs
Altitude: 790m to 1205m. Gain: 426m. Loss: 13m . Gradient: 12 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
There is no track or markers up the west branch of Mistake Creek draining U Pass. Enter the trees on the true right and generally keep within earshot of the stream as you climb the hill. There were deer trails around in April 2016 to follow and the bush, despite being full of ferns, was quite open. After an hour or so the bush begins to open up into scrub so drop down to the stream bank of the west branch and rock hop up the stream for best travel. The daunting waterfall tumbling out of the upper hanging valley points the way.
The following is the way my party went and I went up, it is not necessarily the best way or the way Moirs describes. Study the fearsome line of bluffs to the true left of the waterfall. A large fan, overgrown with light scrub lies to the true left of the line of large pale grey bluffs. Climb up the fan where hard under dark grey bluffs a moderate slope climbs up to the northwest. Climb the slope all the way to the top which takes you above the pale grey bluffs and below a pale grey near vertical rock slope.Sidle southwestwards across very steep terrain, clinging to clumps of tussock, then once past the rock slope climb straight up snow grass until under more dark grey bluffs, and sidle around until the gradient eases off on a kind of grassy ledge. Follow the ledge around until a dry creek bed drops down the hill towards the main stream. Cross the dry creek bed and then climb talus slopes up and into the upper hanging valley, skirting the edge of a bouldery area on the north of the valley mouth.
The climb from the top of the slope above the overgrown fan to the ledge just north of the dry creek bed crosses extremely steep and exposed slopes. A slip would be serious. Instead of climbing as high as possible under the rock slope it MIGHT be a better route to only climb as high as the scrub line above the big grey bluffs then sidle across from there, where a slip would be contained by the scrub.
Connect with the main stream bed on the map which in April 2016 was dry (all the water falling over the waterfall emerged from underground below the lip of the hanging valley) and follow this up valley through the tussock to reach an open flat area for camping between the tarn and the stream. Both of these were dry apart from small pools and possibly dry up entirely some years.
Altitude: 800m to 1412m. Gain: 207m. Loss: 612m . Gradient: 17 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Streams (2/6)
The Mistake Creek side of U Pass is bouldery on the valley floor so head up valley from where you camped but begin to climb and sidle off the valley floor before you reach the slope beneath U Pass. As you enter the valley of U Pass climb straight up the middle on the edge of scree and then tussock higher up until you reach the top of the pass.
The descent into Hut Pass drops steeply down rocky terrain to cross a kind of basin at about 1300m and then its down into a gorge which drops all the way down to the 1000m contour. The stream shown on the map bursts into life suddenly at about 1200m so for most of the decent you are picking your way down either in the stream bed or on the true right avoiding waterfalls. The rocks in the stream are quite slick so watch for those. Down at 1000m the valley opens up and the gradient eases off as you enter the main Hut Creek. The stream from U Pass went underground and the main stream bed in the upper valley was dry in April 2016. Follow the dry stream downvalley to where the creek draining Glade Pass joins from the west.
Altitude: 213m to 1243m. Gain: 443m. Loss: 1030m . Gradient: 11 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Prolonged scrambles (4/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
Follow the gently sloping rocky river bed SW from the Hut Creek forks towards Glade Pass. The valley turns a corner giving a full view of the steep slip-slopes rising to the pass. Look out for the last vegetated slope climbing from the valley floor up the true right valleyside. This slope has a rocky gully on its downstream side and continuous scree and bluffs upstream of it. Climb the vegetated gully towards a small dry waterfall which appears impassable. Observe a large rocky outcrop just to the left of the waterfall (looking up). Climb to the base of this rocky outcrop, where you will find a deer trail cutting across the rocky face and round into the gully above the falls. It is a brief scramble exposed to falls of a few meters.
Once above the waterfall, follow the gully up, climbing steeply on snow tussock and fern until you are on tussock faces above the heads of the bluffs/slips in the main valley (and just below bluffs leading to the peak above). Sidle these tussock faces onto the Glade Saddle.
From Glade saddle, brief good travel on rock and tussock leads down valley, before the valley becomes scrubby for 500m from the bushedge. Good deer trails on the TR lead through the scrub, but end at the bush. Follow the Glade Burn downstream, crossing as required. There are brief tough boulder / waterfall sections but good deer trails generally lead round each. If rivers are high, travel is possible for all but the last 500m on the true left, but it is necessary to cross to the true right for the last 500m above the Dore Pass track.
The Dore Track pass is well marked on both banks and can be followed 1km to Glade House.
Camp spots are very limited. The saddle has no water and is exposed but otherwise an option. There are dry but floodable spots on the terrace on the TR just inside the busedge. There are a few flat dry spots in the bush 500m up the Glade Burn, but all would flood in heavy rain. Potential dry safe campspots at the Dore Pass Track crossing are on the limit of the Milford Track camping exclusion zone, and also are right on the guided nature walk loop for guests at Glade House.
Forks to Glade House: 5-9hrs
For those headed in the reverse direction, occasional cairns mark this sidle and the upper section of the descent, but it would be very tricky to pick out the correct route to descend and as such the descent from Glade into Hut Creek is generally not recommended.
Altitude: 198m to 1462m. Gain: 1272m. Loss: 770m . Gradient: 15 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Streams (2/6)
From Glade House, follow the Milford Track upstream, crossing the Clinton on the bridge, and following the track to the westernmost point of the big loop in the river south of Clinton Hut. From here, aim SSE negotiating confusing ground of thick vegetation, marshy flats and deep creeks to hit the face just south of a large slip of low scrub. Climb the spur south of the 1st creek south of the slip, leading you onto the gentler slopes 80m above. This is the SSE-climbing 'ramp' that can be seen in the contours on topomaps. Climb SSE up this ramp until you reach a flat terrace at around 900m, from where you can ascend directly onto the ridge above. After a brief section of scrub which can be negotiated on excellent deer trails, good open short tussock slopes lead to pt 1483. The ridge is dotted with tarns - though ground is marshy lower down, the upper tarns offer potential camp spots.
Cross pt1483 and drop to the low (~1330m) saddle 500m to the NW. From here an easy tussock descent leads into a large basin above Indecision Lake. Head for the bushedge on the southern side of the basin - the last 50m are incredibly scrubby. Sidle SSE ('towards the view of Lake Te Anau' as Moirs puts it) just inside the bushedge, keeping the scrub above in view. The bush ends but for a line of trees some 20m below you. Continue to sidle at the same height through brief thick scrub onto tussock and rock faces beyond. Follow the curve of these round and down, leading you into the rocky head of a large dry creek which you will descend to the valley below.
The creek splits round a small vegetated spur. Follow the southern side of this spur down, just beside the southern dry creekbed, where you will pick up deer trails descending the very steep vegetated face past waterfalls in both creeks to the gully below. From the base the descent is steep but simple in the dry creekbed. The creek vanishes some 100m from the lakeshore, but continue downhill until you hit the lake, and follow the shore south to the forested dam.
There are a couple of grassy flay dry, but flood-prone campspots on the lake shore at the SE corner, and other mossy but safer spots on the top of the dam near scrubby clearing on the eastern side.
Glade Ho to Indecision Lake 5.5-8 hrs
Altitude: 205m to 714m. Gain: 42m. Loss: 551m . Gradient: 5 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)
From the southern end of the Indecision Lake, head south over the dam wall and then follow the valley of Indecision Creek down to Lake Te Anau. Deer trails are intermittent and there is much vegetation and windfall to negotiate. Initial travel may be easier on the true left of the creek, but be sure to cross to the true right before the creek becomes too big to cross lower down.
A large flat terrace is reached, 20m above Lake Te Anau. This can be followed west to the western side of the valley fan. From here travel is along/above the lakeshore all thew way to flats in the Worsley Valley. Vegetation is more open in the first 10m above the lake and initially this provides the easiest travel. A couple of bluffs 1.5km before the Worsley Flats require a climb and scramble, after which terraces 20m above the lake provide better travel than the bluffy lake-shore. The entire traverse is scrubby, steep and littered with windfall, and much cursed by hunters I've spoken with.
Eventually the flats of the Worsley Valley are reached, and you can travel on the marshy lake shore, or on dry beech terraces just above it, until the sandy beach in front of Worsley Hut is reached. The hut is visible from the shore and the track to it marked.
Indecision Lake to Worsley Hut 6-10 hrs
Altitude: 201m to 495m. Gain: 317m. Loss: 27m . Gradient: 1 deg (Moderate)
Skills: - Occasional rivers (3/6)
A cut / marked DOC track runs up the north (true left) of the Worsley from Worsley Hut to the forks with the Castle. Sections have been washed away by the river and are replaced by rough taped routes.
Good camp spots exist on the northern side of the Worsley at the forks.
The DOC trap line / track crosses to the southern bank of the Worsley at Castle creek. The crossing was moderately swift and knee to thigh deep after a day of moderate rainfall. The crossing could easily become impassable. The Castle was slightly easier to cross - shin deep with a good bar to follow. Beyond here, the track remains on the southern bank all the way to the forks at the head of the valley. If the Worsley is impassable, travel up the northern bank is also possible as far as the Prospect - where the size of the river is much reduced.
Following the track up the southern bank, the forks with Terminus Creek are reached in 1-2 hours. The next forks with Prospect are reached 1-2 hours beyond Terminus. I cannot comment on the quality of this track between Castle and Prospect as I followed the northern bank to the Prospect, which consisted of rough deer trails and a couple of steep scrambles over bluffs.
Upstream of the Prospect, the DOC track / trapline continues up the southern bank of the Worsley. The track soon leaves the riverside and follows a small sidecreek as it climbs a ramp on the southern valleyside. The main river can be heard roaring over steep rocky terrain below. Crossing the small creek the track heads up a spur between the sidecreek and the next, climbing increasingly steeply before turning to cross the next rocky sidecreek and sidling flat up-valley. Soon the track drops back to the main river flats above the gorge
Not long after returning to the valley floor the track emerges onto the aptly-named Bog Clearings. An area of these clearings near the river at the downriver end consists of dry grassy river terraces with excellent camping. The remainder are ankle deep marsh. The track is poorly poled and marked with tape across the clearings and easy to lose.
From the head of Bog Clearings the track / trapline become better marked, following the southern (true right) river bank as the creek begins to climb towards the forks. About 100m above the forks the track crosses the southern branch of the Worsley and swings north to head up the north branch. Those heading up the south branch towards the Worsley Pass need to leave the track just after this crossing.
The crossing was knee deep and simple after a day of light rain - though could flood in heavy rain.
Hut -> Castle 2-3 hrs
Castle -> Terminus 1-2 hrs
Terminus -> Prospect 1-2 hrs
Prospect -> Forks 2.5-4 hrs
Altitude: 493m to 1017m. Gain: 532m. Loss: 69m . Gradient: 13 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Alpine weather (2/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
Leave the marked DOC track where it crosses the south branch of thew Wosley River above the forks and continue up the north bank of the river to the falls. A reasonable but very steep bush scramble exists up the vegetated spur between the waterfall in the main river and the waterfall in a small side-creek 20m to the north. Once above the waterfall you pick up deer trails which make a sidling-climb up the south branch of the Worsley. The trick is to remain on good trails in the scrubby by passable beech (above thick rocky near-impassable scrub near the river) without being led by deer trails up out of the valley onto faces above. Two thick scrubby gullies descend from the faces above and must be crossed - deer trails can help but are vague in thick scrub.
Soon after the second gully a brief dry terrace in the bush offers the only flat dry camp spots I saw in the upper valley.
Not long after the second scrubby gully the valley enters a massive boulderfield covered with thick scrub and fern hiding numerous deep holes and channels. Deer trails become near impossible to follow and the best approach seemed to take a tough, direct route through the boulderfield back into good beech forest beyond and upstream. Reasonable deer trails then lead through scrubby beech to the bushedge.
Above the bushedge narrow marshy clearings follow the river until the entire valley opens to marshy tussock at the point the river swings north. Leave the river and valley and climb due west to the obvious saddle on the western valleyside: the Worsley Pass.
Looking 300m west of the saddle into the head of the Wild Natives river a boulderfield consisting of a single large boulder surrounded by many smaller ones is visible 100m from the river on a terrace on the southern valleyside. The largest boulder is the Worsley Rock Biv - with good sandy flat shelter on the western side - large enough for a couple of tents with much more dry but uneven space for cooking, etc. The last 50m to the biv is very scrubby and water is hard to find at the biv site, so collect some from creek before you make the scrub-bash.
Exposed flay dry campspots also exist on the brow of the escarpment 200m west of the biv.
Forks to Biv 2.5-4 hours
Altitude: 700m to 1229m. Gain: 561m. Loss: 661m . Gradient: 21 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: Prolonged scrambles (4/7) - Streams (2/6)
From the Worsley Rock Biv, follow the terrace south of the river downstream to the escarpment above the main valley, and follow deer trails down into the main valley below, avoiding waterfalls in the creek itself. Follow the creek down to where a shungle gully / chute drops from the northern valleyside.
The beech spur (the uppermost in the valley) which climbs up the southern valleyside directly opposite the shingle chute/gully leads directly to the pass into the southern branch of the Wild Natives. Follow steep boggy deer trails up the beech spur, keeping west of the small sidecreek and emerge onto tussock faces. Climb steep tussock to the pass visible above.
Small tarns exist at the pass with dry campspots exposed to the southerly.
From the pass, angle SSE down the obvious ramp beyond which leads directly towards the tarns of the Taheke Saddle visible across the valley - keeping close to the base of bluffs. Reaching the start of the drop-off into the southern branch, swing ESE, still keeping close to bluffs and pass the head of one gully, picking up very strong deer trails dropping into the second gully of the three that descend SE to the valley below (the 1st gully descends directly from the ramp, and soon bluffs out; the third gully (Mentioned by Moir's) is visible descending from higher up the mountain just to the east). Note that the deer trails are important - if you are not seeing deer trails then you are probably descending the wrong gully which will lead to impassable bluffs.
The deer trails start by descending the spur on the true right of the gully but are steep and exposed - you may find it safer to scramble down dry waterfalls int the gully itself for all of this upper part. Half way down, entering scrub, pick up the strong deer trail as it leaves the gully and descends the spur on the true left - all the way to the valley floor.
On the way down into the Wild Natives, look out for the broad sparsely vegetated creek angling east up the face opposite from below the Taheke saddle - this is the easiest route up to Taheke, leaving you with just a short sidle from the busedge to the saddle itself.
Altitude: 395m to 872m. Gain: 111m. Loss: 572m . Gradient: 7 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Occasional rivers (3/6)
From the boggy Taheke Saddle, follow the stream down, passing the two tarns on their western side. Deer trails lead through / over the scrubby headlands. From the lake outlet follow the tussock tongue down into scrubby beech, and then pick up deer trails leading you down the valley. Initially the going is slow and scrubby on the true right, but after a while deer trails cross to the true left and enter stunted but mossy open forest.
Once on the flat valley floor, and below the first main forks entering from the east, look out for where trails cross back to the true right as one of the clearings here is well-drained, sandy/grassy providing good dry camping (though prone to morning dew/frost).
Below the clearings the river starts to drop steeply into the Glaisnock. Travel is best on deer trails on the true right. A large boulderfield presents difficulties, with deer trails petering out. I found the boulder riverbed on the true right provided the best scramble-route down through this, with brief detours onto the western face around impassable falls. Soon after the last of the boulders the main Glaisnock valley is reached. The track up/down the Glaisnock valley is on the true right (southern) bank and so it is necessary to cross the Glaisnock. This crossing was a dry-foot boulder hop 1 day after moderate rainfall - so should normally not be a problem - but could easily be impassable in or soon after a big rain event. The track will be found on the riverbank and is marked with tape and blue triangles.
A good prepared bush campspot exists on the track at the forks.
Saddle -> Forks: 4-8 hours
Altitude: 236m to 395m. Gain: 8m. Loss: 167m . Gradient: 2 deg (Gentle)
Skills: - Occasional rivers (3/6)
A reasonable maintained marked route / trapline runs down the true right (south) of the Glaisnock from the Taheke confluence to Henderson Burn. The henderson Burn is knee deep and slippery in normal flows and can easily become impassable after rain. A rope is sometimes present to aid the crossing, but had been severed when I visited.
With the exception of the Henderson Burn itself there are no major creeks to cross. The track is marked intermittently with tape and blue triangles.
Good bush campspots exist on the track at the Taheke forks, Nitz forks and on the downstream side of the Henderson Burn.
Times:
Taheke-Kakapo: 0.75-1.5 hrs
Kapako-Nitz: 0.5-1 hrs
Nitz-Henderson: 0.5-1 hrs
Altitude: 207m to 244m. Gain: 22m. Loss: 51m . Gradient: 1 deg (Gentle)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)
A marked route / trapline runs down the western (true right) bank of the Glaisnock from Henderson Burn to Glaisnock Hut. The track/route leaves the river at the last bend before the hut and follows the base of the western valleyside to the hut.
There are good bush campspots on the south side of the Henderson on the track. Other than Henderson Burn there are no major creeks to cross.
Henderson -> Hut: 1.5-3 hrs