South Island hike recommendations late April

[Ground parrot]

My partner and I are heading to NZ in April. We were lucky to score Milford track tickets starting 15 April, but have another 10 days free after that so I'm looking to squeeze in another multi-day hike.

What would people recommend? Some possibilities:
- Hollyford track (but transport is very expensive)
- Rees-Dart track (not sure how this track would be so late in the season?)
- Mueller hut for an overnight - again, seems weather dependent

We are both reasonably fit and mentally tough. My partner has a bit of experience doing walls and Overland in Tas and is comfortable with multi day trips. I've done a lot more than him, and have done NZ's dusky track. We don't want anything off track or requiring serious navigation. I'm also a little wary of river crossings not having had to navigate anything challenging as yet. We don't mind tenting if no huts.

Alternative is to stay at either wanaka or Mt Cook and do day walks - is one preferable over the other?

We don't want to venture too far from queenstown - Mt Cook is fine as is fjordland and Mt aspiring.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[wayno]

rees dart is usually fine then, subject to not having heavy rain. watch out for vacancies on the other great walks there

[tomh]

The Gillespie Pass track (all huts) is a top grade 3-4 day walk well worth considering. Crossing the Makarora will need attention - the bridges at Blue Pools might not be restored by April but you can avoid them by getting a jet boat to the mouth of the Young. Alternatively - as we did when the water level was low - you can cross the Makarora on foot near the mouth of the Young. Make sure you check the water level and volume first!

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/otago/gillespie-pass-brochure-web.pdf
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/mount-aspiring-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/gillespie-pass-circuit/

[Ground parrot]

Thanks for the suggestions and sorry for the delay in reply. I've been keeping the Gillespie Pass in mind as we are looking for a 4 day walk, and the alpine scenery looks spectacular, but I'm wondering how "challenging" it is.

Can anyone with experience comment on the difficulty of the day going over Gillespie Pass?

It comes off the back of a 20km day with a bit of a climb, and I think the pass itself would be the biggest ascent and descent I have done together in a single day. Slightly bigger than up and over the Ironbounds in SW Tas which I remember being a grueling 10 hour day with never-ending descent, and similar to the 1000m descent from the Pleasant Range on the Dusky track which was very slow going and really took a toll on my knees (and that did not include having to gain so much elevation in a single day). I also need to bear in mind my partner's tolerance for type 2 fun.

The blue pools bridge is still out so we would be looking to jet boat to Young River mouth, and pick up at Kerin Forks. I would also allow a day for the side trip to Crucible Lake.

The alternative is Greenstone-Caples, which would be less type 2 and I hope may be relatively quiet at the end of April. I'll save Rees-Dart for another trip when I have 5 days to do the Cascade Saddle.

Thanks again for any advice!

[Chev]

Take this with a grain of salt as it's 20-odd years since I did either walk, but I think Gillespie Pass is reasonably comparable to the Ironbounds. Maybe a bit harder (steeper sections, less developed track) going up from Young hut, but easier coming down the Siberia side than the east side of the Ironbounds. I don't remember anything too technical or sketchy, though it could go that way in icy conditions. But in decent weather, just a solid slog and still type one fun.

Definitely one of the highlights of our, so far only, NZ trip.

[Ground parrot]

Thanks Chev - that is somewhat reassuring. I always worry about my (lack) of cardio fitness for big ascents, but then I find it's the trickiness of the downhill where the pain is. I remember well the intimidation factor looking up at the Ironbounds however the ascent was relatively quick. It was the downhill that made it a long day.

We are doing the Milford Track first in NZ and looking at the elevation profile for that it's got a large descent that might be a good test of my appetite for 1000m drops (although no doubt the milford will have a better quality track).

In any event, if we go through with the Gillespie then I think I'd rate myself slower than the DOC times and allow 10 hours for going over the pass.

A lot of people recommend this trip!

[johnrs]

HI GP
All of your suggestons are fine, Rees/Dart/Cascade saddle/Greenstone and Capl4es.
But weather and timing are ever present in NZ
John

[Casparvitch]

Did the Gillespie pass a year ago.
Had 20mm+ of rain going over the pass, and another 20mm+ walking out to blue river.
Still probably the best hiking experience I've had.
There were some reasonably large ice fields on the Siberia hut side - would've prefer to have some sort of microspikes for that I think, but we were fine.
Other than that, it's a reasonably tough saddle and we had long days on the trail, but still good fun. Get going early

NB: we were camping and split the ascent up by overnighting in one of the alpine bowls halfway up (DOC recommended it given the weather) - still a hard day!!.