tramping the Rees Dart Track & Cascade Saddle, Mt. Aspiring National Park, New Zealand - 2020/1/6-10

[@ToblerX]

Great video. Best Rees Dart video I've seen.

[@travel2walk]

Thank! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@stevekurian7131]

Superb eye-catching compositions. Thank you.

[@sal8527]

My late husband and I did the Rees Dart in 1996. Wonderful time. Shame you couldn’t make it out to the Pylon. The views there were mind blowing. Thanks for the memories!

[@travel2walk]

Glad I could bring you back to your hike! On our previous visit to the West Matukituki Valley, we tried for the Pylon from the Aspiring Hut, but turned around about half way between the Pylon and the brushline. I didn't except having to make the a climbing move and kinda lost confidence, so we made the safe decision to turn back. I did learn that y'all don't kid around with your expert rated routes. However, we did have a great view already toward the head of the West Matukituki Valley and Mt. Aspiring. I do look for returning and doing that Cascade Saddle traverse at some point in the future now that I have more climbing experience.

[@sal8527]

@@travel2walk Yeah, we’d actually been living in NZ for a while at that point, so had a good amount of climbing experience. Weather is absolutely key. We had excellent weather but as you know, stuff can move in really quickly down there! I actually wonder if the track may have shifted some since we were there because the degree of climbing they show in the official NZ gov’t videos now doesn’t really match my memory. There were a good deal of scree slopes, and a few very narrow bits that would have landed you down into the glacial bed if you weren’t careful. But now they show some vertical ascents and that I don’t recall. (But I am old and in my dotage lol. And if they were very short I might have just taken them in stride at the time.) Of course due to global warming there have been significant changes to the geography around the glaciers there in recent decades.

[@travel2walk]

@@sal8527 Perhaps the difference is the direction the DOC has been recommending hikers to reach the pylon. Most of their material recommend from the West Matukituki side, which has some very steep vertical sections. If you were hiking the Rees-Dart to the Pylon like the hike in this video, then you wouldn't have encountered those vertical sections.

[@sal8527]

@@travel2walk That’s the most plausible explanation. Although my late husband planned our tramps and knowing him he might well have ignored the guidance. Got us into trouble more than once!

[@travel2walk]

@@sal8527 Sounded like he was a pretty cool guy and that y'all had a lot of fun adventures together.

[@grahamwellbourn8010]

Did that trip over 50 years ago. No fancy bridges or tracks then. Wonderful country.

[@travel2walk]

Don't forget uphill both ways in the snow. ;) I joke. Hard to imagine how bad the bushwhacking through those jungle sections would have been. That's got to be quiet the different experience of getting to the middle of no where. Sounds like you know plenty of off trail opportunities in New Zealand. Do you know have suggestions of other hikes or routes I should look into for the next time I'm back? I'd greatly appreciate the insight.

[@margaretmarykingfisher]

@@travel2walk Did it in 1984 ...ditto what Graham said

[@Paul-travl]

Very nice!

[@travel2walk]

Thanks!

[@GoneFeralWithSquidly]

That elevation profile at 0:20 My legs would be jello after that!!

[@travel2walk]

Yea, this was rated as advanced by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and they are pretty accurate with those ratings. I approach them like i do with my BBQ, low and slow. :)

[@EllOfAWalk]

Great channel. New subscriber here. Keep up the great work😊👍

[@travel2walk]

Thanks! Looking forward to your videos from across the pond.

[@dronetasticvoyage]

Great video!

[@travel2walk]

Thanks! Been thinking of getting a drone, any advice?

[@dronetasticvoyage]

@@travel2walk you get what you pay for. So don’t go cheap on the drones. I am looking to replace my Mavic mini which is way too lite and is easily blown away in the wind. Mavic pro 2 is expensive but worth the cost and is portable if you plan to use it on hikes.

[@travel2walk]

@@dronetasticvoyage Cool, thanks for the advice. I was looking at the mini and the pro 2, that information about the wind helps a lot.

[@expeditionepics8368]

Thanks for the subscription, got you back! Nice vid. 🤙🏻

[@travel2walk]

Thanks! Happy to support everyone!

[@martinbundgaard97]

Great video and channel! Let’s stay in touch hiking fellow. Subscribed! 🌳

[@travel2walk]

Thanks Martin, looking forward to seeing more of your hikes.