Kepler Track

Kepler Day 1 - Control Gates to Luxmore Hut - 2/22/17

Te Anau is a small, cute town with one main street that is about two to three blocks long. Fortunately, they still have an awesome breakfast place called Sandfly Cafe that serves salted caramel lattes and giant dishes of food. We got their biggest dish and were both so full that we couldn't eat for hours into the hike. After stopping at the grocery store for snacks and then at Subway to get sandwiches for lunch... It was time to begin!

It was about a 15 minute drive to the car park for the start of Kepler Track - one of the most well known hikes (or "tramps" as they say here) in NZ. It is one of the country's "Great Walks" which means it is well cared for with wider trails and more safety measures in place such as steps, extra gravel. The start is at the control gates for the dam at Lake Te Anau. We parked and then started walking along the lake, then past the gates, then onwards along the beach for about an hour or so.

The start

At the Control gates

Lush rainforest near the beach

Lake Te Anau

After reaching a campsite called Brod Bay, the trail began to immediately head upwards. The switchbacks were very well graded with nice soft dirt, so the climb felt relatively easy. Before we knew it, we had already reached the limestone bluffs which marked the halfway point. We ascended another hour or so and then we broke the treeline. Expansive views looking down at the lake, fiords, peaks, and town below is stretched out in all directions.

The ridge walk at this point was very wide and remained so as we walked along the exposed ridge. At this height, everything was grassy tussock and we could actually look across the lake to the mountain range beyond and see that the tree line ended almost at a uniform spot on each mountain. It made for a cool vista. After walking another 30 minutes, sometimes on boardwalk, we finally reached Luxmore Hut.

Vegetation changed a bit as we climbed up the mountain

Te Anau town visible through the trees

Limestone Bluffs

Panoramic views from above the tree line

Walking along the wide ridge

You might be able to see the far way mountain range of you enlarge this pic. Picture is a bit hazy...

One of several alpine lakes

Finally at Luxmore hut

Upon arrival we discovered that almost the entire bunkroom was reserved for a high school group. The was a separate room with beds close together that the remaining travelers were alloted. We picked out our spots then enjoyed relaxing with nice views in the common area. After that we took the 10-minute side trip over to see Luxmore Cave!

Common area and kitchen furnished with sinks with rubbing water and gas stoves

You have to take your shoes off before entering

Entrance to Luxmore Cave

Luxmore Cave had a nice wooden staircase to the entrance, but after that you were on your own. We had to use our headlamps for light and carefully step through the slippery cave. There was even water trickling down the center of it. The formations in the rock were pretty cool but we only went about 100 feet or so before the cave started getting pretty narrow (you would have to crawl to continue). It seems like it continues further extensively but we were happy with what we saw.

picture taken from bottom of stairs at entrance

Looking back at entrance deeper in the cave

Above my head

As far as we wanted to go

Looking at Luxmore as we returned from the cave

After the cave we just made dinner then listened to the ranger's safety presentation. Afterwards I talked to him about what to expect the next day since I knew I'd be scared. He did a good job comforting me and explaining the width of the trail. In the meantime the high school kids had arrived and boy were they loud! Also they had fries and ice cream helicoptered in for them! No joke. Kev and I watched sunset then it was bedtime.

High Schoolers waving bye to the helicopter

Sunset panorama

View from bed

DAY 1 STATS:

8.4 miles (not incl. cave), 3:43:03 moving time, 2977 elevation gain

Kepler Day 2 - Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut - 2/23/17

We woke up the next morning to a gorgeous sunrise outside the window. It took a while for the sun to rise above the mountains, so we had breakfast. Just as we were about to head out to get a better view, we saw a Kea right next to our bunkroom! He was just hopping about, not scared of anyone, and just trying to gnaw on anything he could find... The railing, picnic table, and even a stick someone held out. We are had fun hanging out with him and seeing his crazy antics. Kea have to be one of our favourite animals now.

Sunrise in bed

Kea! Your friendly, neighbourhood alpine parrot!

Really isn't scared! And look at that view behind too!

Sunrise with kea friend

Hobbling around

After that, we finished getting ready then started our hike. The next 5 hours were exposed on much more narrow ridges than the prior day. There won't be many pictures because of this, but perhaps Kevin will add some of his later on. 

The first 30 minutes of the hike were an ascent that was not so steep at first.. but kept getting steeper as we continued. Eventually we started rounding a rocky area and the trail was mostly wide enough but it became rather steep after the photo taken below. There was one part near the photo below where the trail suddenly narrowed and got uneven for about 2 steps. No likey.

About 45 min into hike

We rounded a corner around the mountain then continues our ascent towards Mount Luxmore. The trail narrowed again a couple of times next to some slips but it wasn't as uneven as the bit on the other side. We got to Luxmore about 10 min later and Stef was happy for the rest to recuperate some nerves. Kevin did the 15 minute roundtrip to go to the top of the mountain. 

After this was a more comfortable but still steep section to get to Forest Burn Shelter. There was always shrubs and the mountain to the left and the trail became at least 3 feet wide at least after this with no change, but it definitely took some nerves to walk next to the step slope on the right. As we walked towards Forest Burn, it became apparent that we would have to walk down gravelly switchbacks to get to it. At first this was ok but the last few were uneven.. the last turn was the scariest because it was sloped sideways down towards the steep slope and you're just thinking hmm... Hope my feet don't start sliding. After passing this section there was no going back...

Forest Burn Shelter in the distance prior to switchbacks

We stopped at the shelter for a while to recuperate, use the porta potty (awesome!), and eat a snack. We could hear and sort of see a Kea hobbling around underneath the shelter. After this, the ranger had mentioned that it gets even steeper and that I may have issues at this point but to just try not to think about it. So.. it did get steeper but the trail remained pretty wide so I just kept the far from the edge and only stepped closer when I needed better footing. I remained pretty calm and handled it much better than I thought I would. About halfway it got less steep and was a breather before you literally just start walking on the ridge with nothing to your left anymore. The good part was that one side was less steep and almost looked friendly. The mental games to get through all of these parts were ridiculous. Kevin of course ambled along like a goat and was loving the amazing and expansive views we were having. 

Ridge section about to commence

Panorama in similar spot to above pic

Ridge time!

Towards the end of the ridge section, we had to go around a spherical knob... But there was an option to go on top. So, of course Kevin did. Then we got to hanging valley shelter where we could take another much needed breather. The next section would be even steeper and narrower than before.. and now we would be descending steeply. 

Kevin on the higher variant (see black dot at top)

Hanging Valley shelter

Both rangers that we talked to said Stef would have no issue with the next section because there were wooden stairs for much of the path. The rangers don't know what they are talking about. You are walking down and it is almost impossible to ignore how steep both sides are. If there weren't stairs, Stef probably would have been frozen like a deer. This is the only time during the hike that Stef started to panic a bit. There were no stairs on the flat to gentle sloping bits.. and one 6 foot section of the path even passed by a big rock slip.. the trail narrowed here to maybe a foot wide. Fun times. But we made it!

Kevin enjoying the ridge - near the start.

Looking back at the ridge after completing it. Next was a descent to the left.

After that section was done with, we started our even steeper descent down to Iris Burn hut. There were supposedly 99 switchbacks to the bottom. The trail was wide and well graded, so eventually we made it down with no trouble.

Finally in the trees on one of the first several switchbacks

Meeting up with a river as we make our way down

double waterfall!

The hike down to Iris burn seemed to take forever. Just when we thought we were almost there, we saw a sign that it was another 30 minutes away. But finally we got there and claimed a nice little nook for ourselves. There were 3 bunks so we did the up with 1 stranger next to us. After that we went for a quick 30 minute peek at the waterfall, then had dinner.

River on way to waterfall

Pretty waterfall but man those sand flies would not leave us alone.

Silly Robin on way back

He hopped down to say hi

We had a talk. Pleasant fellow.

Water was clear enough to see the rocks at the bottom

Kitchen at hut

DAY 2 STATS:
9.4 miles (not incl. waterfall), 5:31:35 moving time, 2167 elevation gain

Kepler Day 3 - Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut - 2/24/17

At about 5 AM we woke up to all sorts of screeching. It was a flock of keas! If it was any other bird we would have been upset. In this case we had breakfast and spectated the antics.

Lots of kea

Trying to gnaw on the boardwalk

Sunrise begins... This is the view from the hut

Iris Burn Hut

After that we began our hike. It was a rolling rainforest walk with lots of boardwalks, bridges, rivers, and wetlands. The only variation came about an hour into the hike as we passed through an area called "The Big Slip". It had been formed by a massive rock slide in the 80s, so there was only low shrubs here and we were able to get a nice view of the valley.

Walking in the big slip

Panorama at big slip

Views behind us towards end of big slip

We finally got to Lake Manapouri, then not long after we saw we were the first ones to arrive at the hut. We took our time and picked one of the bunks downstairs where it should be cooler weather.

Lake Manapouri

Mushrooms next to us as we cross a bridge

Our bunks

Meal Time at the hut

After having dinner and listening to the ranger's recommendations, we decided to walk 30 minutes to another viewpoint of the bay. We found out that it would rain the following day, so we figured we should try to see the nice view now. It was definitely a great view of the surrounding mountains so it was worth one extra Sandfly bite. When we returned to the hut, the sun was setting, so we got a nice view there as well.

Viewpoint - Shallow Bay

At shallow bay

Moturau Hut

View from hut

Sunset yellowing the sky

DAY 3 STATS:
10.2 miles (not incl. Shallow Bay), 3:27:21 moving time, 744 feet elevation gain 

Kepler Day 4 - Moturau Hut to Control Gates - 2/25/17

Our final day was expected to be pretty easy.. just a flat walk along the lake then a river until we get back to The Anau. I would say it ended up being a longer hike than expected but since we were walking fast we still got through it pretty quickly.. just meant we were still sore despite the easier day. 

The major viewpoints along the way are shown below in the pictures. I'll explain in the captions.

Cloudy morning view at the hut.

Viewpoint at end of a one way boardwalk in center of bog. I was feeling a bit queasy this morning, but I started feeling better after drinking more water and having a snack & advil at this spot.

Smaller swing bridge was very bouncy. This crossed Forest Burn creek which actually begins at the shelter we stopped at on day 2! Cool.

Views on the river. We were a lot higher up above it than expected so we got lots of nice views like this.

Took a 5 minutes detour to see this huge swing bridge at Rainbow Reach. This is another car park area along the track, but I think it's mostly used by day hikers or people taking the bus to cut the hike short. We still had 2 hours hiking or so.

View from bridge

The bridge is a little lower on the other side, so you can see water below in this shot.

Fat bird! There were birds tweeting and flying about everywhere but it was tough to snap many good shots.

After finishing the hike we had some giant burgers. Kevin's was called the Luxmore and had 2 Patties, bacon, and even a fried egg. He ate all of it.

DAY 4 STATS:
10.1 miles, 3:31:41 moving time, 826 ft elevation gain (more than yesterday!)

FINAL OVERALL STATS:
(Per Kevin's watch)
45.3 miles, 18:07:29 moving yime, 7427 elevation gain