Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2023 i Wilderness

EDITORIAL WE ARE SO FORTUNATE in New Zealand to have such an incredible hut network. There are more than 900 huts scattered around the country, smoothing so much outdoor adventure and offering a chance of escape into the wilderness, a place of reinvigoration, refreshment and nourishment for body and the soul. I’ve travelled far and wide and have yet to encounter anything like the huts we have here. In the European alps you’ll find often-glamorous refugios; Scotland has its basic bothies. But I’ve not been anywhere that can compete with the number, character and cultural significance of New Zealand’s backcountry huts. We are indeed fortunate to have had such organisations as the Forest Service, Department of Conservation, individual tramping, alpine and hunting clubs, and, lately, the Back Country Trust -…

Swimming the south’s 344 LAKES A community of more than 200 South Island swimmers are hoping to float and freestyle their way across every lake in the South Island. The Southern Lakes Swimming Club (SLSC) believes the ‘dream’ to swim in all of the South Island’s 344 named lakes to be ‘near impossible’. But it has set the challenge for its club members. Otago’s Liana Smith is participating and will combine it with her passion for hiking to reach the more remote lakes on the list. Recently she plunged into Lake Unknown in Mt Aspiring National Park, which she reached after three days of solo climbing and scree-slope navigating. She’s no stranger to tough physical challenges. Last year she completed the ‘triple crown’ of New Zealand swims - Lake Taupo…

You have until March 3, 2023, to submit your best images. COMPETITION TIPS Follow these tips to give yourself the best shot at winning: * Multiple images may be submitted, but you should only inelude one image per email entry. * Don’t send dozens of variations of the same shot - choose your favourite. * The best photos tell a story - human or animal elements can bring personality, colour and excitement to an image. * Dare to be different, Every year we get dozens of images of kea, the Kepler Track, Mueller Hut and Aoraki / Mt Cook. Find unique places and subjects, or frame classic vistas in new ways. * We use dozens of entries to illustrate stories in future issues of the magazine (which we pay for).…

These three fun #microchallenges will encourage you to better appreciate your surroundings. Our favourite nine #microchallenge completers receive a Walk1200km badge. The best entry of each challenge receives a prize from our partners. #microchallenge16: Visit a place made famous in a movie or TV show This one is location, location, location! Can you visit Mordor or Karekare Beach where The Piano was filmed. We want some Walk1200km action at famous movie locations. Take a photo of you at the location. Don’t forget to tell us where it is and which film or show it’s from. #microchallenge16 Partner prize: A pair of Bridgedale Midweight Merino Performance Fit socks. #microchallenge17: Visit a hut To keep with the hut theme of the March issue, can you find your own amazing backcountry hut to…

Two powerful alpine waterfalls surround me as I hang several hundred metres in the air, high above a picturesque valley in the Southern Alps. My hands are tightly clasped around a pathetic clump of snow tussock, my feet tucked into earthen toeholds. This is the Waterfall Face on the Rabbit Pass Route, and I am reconsidering my lite choices… but I get ahead of myself. This story really starts with two chance meetings with an American backpacker, Katie, in different areas of Fiordland. Fast-forward a couple of years and together we decide to do the classic Crossing from the Makarora to the East Mātukituki over Rabbit Pass. The route is infamous: tell anyone about it and the first thing they’ll ask is, “How did you find the Waterfall Face?” We…

$549 (PLUS SUBSCRIPTION) / 114G Features: The inReach Messenger is Garmin’s latest satellite-based SOS and Communications device. It enables users to call for SOS/rescue with the push of a button (as with a PLB), but also send and receive text-based Communications or download a weather forecast via the Iridium satellite network. The Messenger will use cellular or WIFI networks during Communications if these networks are available. It can track a users’ position from every two minutes through to every four hours, with the location tracking appearing on a shareable map on Garmin’s Explore website. The biggest point of difference from similar devices though is its extensive battery life. The Messenger will remain active for up to 28 days sending your location every 10 minutes. This is roughly double the battery…

INSULATION There are two two types of insulation: Down: The best for weight and bulk. Most down is now treated with a water-resistant coating to maintain loft and prevent dumping when wet. Check the label to make sure the down is dry treated. Most manufacturers use down that meets the Responsible Down Standard for animal welfare. Synthetic: A good option for prolonged damp conditions, lower budgets or where weight is less important. The bags are heavier and less compressible than down for the same warmth rating but are durable, easier to wash and they’ll be warmer when wet. High-end and budget synthetic bags are available. FILL POWER The fill power (or loft) of a bag indicates the insulative quality of the down in the bag. Bags with high fill power…

GEAR REWARDS FOR WALK 1200KM MILESTONES My partner Roni introduced me to the Walk1200km challenge last year. We have since walked the Tongariro Northern Circuit (October 2022) and recently the Milford Track together (January 2023). We are doing it for pride - rainbow/queer visibility and mastery of physical/mental challenges orí the track. As a reward, we give ourselves hiking gear each month and at the end of completing the challenge. I am in my second year of Walk1200km and recently gifted myself an Aarn pack. Walk1200km is such a great idea - thank you for getting us all out there more. - Luca Fox IT’S EASY TO JUDGE On a recent Tararua Ranges tramp, I met Ivan Elliott and his wife Sinéad at Tōtara Flats Hut. We chatted over dinner…

Wilderness is looking for a freelance part-time newsletter and social media editor to begin in early March. It’ a remote work opportunity that can be done anywhere there’s an internet connection. It is up to eight hours a week and involves writing Wilderness’s daily, weekly and monthly newsletters, sharing content on its social media channels as well as finding ways to be more engaging on social media to grow the magazine’s audience and presence. It requires a clever wordsmith who also has a genuine interest in the subject matter - tramping in New Zealand. Keen? Head to www.wildernessmag.co.nz to find the full job description and details on how to apply. www.gearshop.co.nz…

#microchallenge10: Share Walk 1200km with a friend FURTHER FASTER $100 VOUCHER Conall Maskey introduced his wife to the Walk1200km challenge on a Christmas Day mission to Angelus Hut. Luca Tiger introduced her friends Tammie and Toby to the challenge as they walked the Gillespie Pass Circuit. Danielle Brown roped in her mum and now both are doing the Walk1200km challenge #microchallenge11: Find an unusual stone BACK COUNTRY CUISINE WINNER! Janet Goodman found this ‘heart of stone“ in the Maruia River. Katie Durkmead found some stones in the Marlborough Sounds. “There’s so much difference and variation that you can find from just one stream.” Kristina Moore found plenty of stones on the Gillespie Lagoon Track near Fox Glacier. The stone track ‘carried on for about 2km until the track hit the…

Get your photo published here to receive a meal from Real Meals worth $17. Learn more about Real Meals at www.realmeals.co.nz.…

Walk1200km partner spotlight The name says it all, Back Country Cuisine is food for the backcountry. Its home is in Invercargill, one of the southernmost cities in the world, set amongst a region that is a gourmet food box. Here is accessto some of the best backcountry anywhere with Rakiura/Stewart Island, Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks providing the perfect testing grounds for Back Country Cuisine meals. The company’s mission is to help improve people’s mental and physical wellbeing by reducing barriers to enjoyment and participation in the outdoors. With its freeze-dried meals, the company claims it can help do this in four ways: Back Country Cuisine acknowledges that ‘fresh is best’ from a nutritional perspective. But, in an outdoors setting, that has to be balanced against the reality of…

Tramping’as a term is beginning to decline in popularity, with the English-originated word ‘hiking’ taking over. It’s true, I read it on the news. The Mountain Safety Council has come to this conclusion after studying Google searches from within New Zealand over the past five years. (I can’t see a safety connection with this research, but that’s a column for another day.) I usually self-censor when talking to foreigners and opt to use ‘hiking’ lest people think this ‘tramping’ activity I engage in involves a lack of personal hygiene. Recently, speaking to an American, I forgot and said tramping. She did a noticeable double-take and asked if it was similar to ‘plogging’. Then I did a double-take. Plogging is a combination of running and picking up rubbish. The term comes…

40 The Wilderness WILD HUTS WHY ARE HUTS SO DEEPLY EMBEDDED IN OUR OUTDOOR CULTURE? The first answer is obvious: shelter. New Zealand is a mountainous country with a tempestuous climate. Ever since the ancestors of Māori first stepped ashore, the need for refuge in the wilds of Aotearoa has been abundantly obvious. Today, hut density and distribution in New Zealand mirrors the environment; the wetter and more rugged it is, usually the more huts there are. In the winterless north, a handful of huts; on the wild and wet mountains of Tai Poutini/the West Coast, hundreds. But any tramper will quickly tell you that shelter is not the only appeal of a backcountry hut. How about history? New Zealand boasts huts of many vintages, from stone huts used in the…

“I select my gear according to the activity, with lightweight and key considerations. In several weeks I am walking the Dusky Track in Fiordland and am packing what you see in the photo.” PACK I have an Aarn Featherlite Freedom pack and a new Sea to Summit Ultra Sil 501 Pack Liner and a 20l Dry Sac - for accessible day stuff. EXTRAS Conversational stories I am reading Tamatea/ Dusky written by Peta Carey. This is a compulsory coffee table book, and an engaging narrative read. I’ll take a fishing line to hope fully catch blue cod at Supper Cove. COOKING AND FOOD Food is important to me, so Drip coffee with a Local Dehy vegan porridge rate as the best meal of the day. Freeze dried meals keep organisation…