MT ASPIRING NATIONAL PARK IS ONE of New Zealand’s most scenic parks, and this tramp along the eastern side of the park is one of its best tramps. It has it all: snow-capped peaks, glaciers, waterfalls, ancient forests, river valleys and alpine meadows. It is also challenging, with some very steep slopes to climb, descend or sidle across.
The route is divided into two sections which are often done as independent tramps. The first few days crossing Gillespie Pass follows well-marked tramping tracks, and has two large huts. This section is popular, and camping away from the huts avoids the crowds. While it is not very remote, the three days has some great scenery. The second half of the route over Rabbit Pass is more remote, with a combination of rough tracks and untracked river valleys. It has some intimidating climbs and descents. It is not as well marked as the first three days, but provides awesome views of the Southern Alps.
While many do these passes as separate tramps, the combined route is a great experience as it starts off on well-marked and maintained tracks, changes to rougher tramping tracks, then heads along an alpine route over a steep pass. There are also a number of large rivers to cross. They are glacial-melt streams, can be very cold, and after recent rain can be difficult to cross. Rabbit Pass is infamous in tramping circles, so this trip is one to both remember and to talk about for a long time afterwards.
CLIMATE
This is a high-rainfall area. The route is on the rain-shadow side of Mt Aspiring, which means that—although it can still be very wet—it does get some
