Trip 044 - Routeburn / Rockburn

 

DATE: April 7-10, 2023 (Easter 4-Days)
LEADER: To be confirmed
TRIP GRADE: Moderate Upwards (5-7+ hrs)

One of the three Xmas trips offered in late 1947 was the first listed OTC trip to the Rockburn. The North Routeburn first appeared as a club trip in 1967, which marked the start of many later trips into the Routeburn Valley.

The three-pass circuit of the North Routeburn and Rockburn via North Col, Park Pass and Sugarloaf Pass is a classic semi-alpine tramping trip, and is good as, or better, than the nearby Great Walk. The club had ventured to Lake Nerine prior to the first Three Pass trip shown on the club trip programme in 1990 (where a second Lake Nerine was apparently discovered). Examples include Queens Birthday 1989 (4 trampers), and Waitangi Weekend 2006 (around 16 trampers). The Five Pass trip in 2010 also traversed to Lake Nerine from Park Pass and North Col.

This trip offers the option of completing the Three Pass circuit over the four days (includes off-track and steep snowgrass traverses), as well as trips into the Rockburn, either via Sugarloaf Pass or via the Rockburn Gorge (which can also be used as a round trip option).

This is a camping trip, and is graded moderate grade upwards.