WALK THE LINE
As I scrambled up the rough track to the top of Conical Hill, the swirling cloud parted, uncovering the Hollyford Valley below me, before snatching it from view again. Even with the temperature falling from the raw breeze, and without my pack, left at the Harris Saddle shelter below, I was sweating freely. It wasn’t just from the demands of the climb, it was from anticipation, too.
At 1515 metres above sea level, I was making for the loftiest point on New Zealand’s famous Routeburn Track, reached by a rapid ascent from the saddle, the highest section of the main track, and some 260 metres below.
On sapphire sky days, the views from Conical Hill make you feel you have wings. Standing high above the Hollyford, you can look west to the Darran Mountains, where the highest peaks in the Fiordland National Park are found, still tipped with snow in late summer.
But it is the view to the north that is the
