I'm going to be on the South Island in mid-May with a few non-climbing buddies and am looking at doing one of the great walks. I'm looking at the Milford, Routeburn, and Kepler.

I'm leaning towards the Routeburn because I'm of course partial to alpine scenery and even though the Milford is the most popular, it seems more "forresty" and less alpine. The Kepler looks amazing, but I think I'm seeing the same scenes online over and over, and its hard to know what the entire circuit is like. The Kepler is the easiest as far as logistics though as no shuttle is required and we'll most likely have a rental car. Crowds and booking is less of a concern since it'll be out of season.

Can anyone make a reccomendations or provide any insight into May conditions? Looks like a strong possiblity of snow, but would it be enough to need crampons/ice axe? And would it be mellow enough for a few noobs to make it through safely? Looks like the Routeburn could be a little sketch with snow on it...

Thanks!

Kepler is a day. Milford is a day. routeburn is a transport nightmare as you end 350 km from the start via road.

Dart-Rees over Cascade saddle. Could spend a night at French Ridge Hut as well at the end.

Wilkin-Young as well.

Possibly make a loop of the Rouetburn and Greenstone tracks, avoiding the logistics problem. I did that years ago with 1 night's stay in a hut; don't know how practical that is now.

scottsolinko wrote:Kepler is a day. Milford is a day. routeburn is a transport nightmare as you end 350 km from the start via road.

Dart-Rees over Cascade saddle. Could spend a night at French Ridge Hut as well at the end.

Wilkin-Young as well.

How are the Kepler and Milford 1 day? Aren't they 60 km (38 miles) and 54 km (34 miles), respectively?

Not that that's impossible, but I want to enjoy the rest of my trip, and not have my buddies kill me!

Possibly make a loop of the Rouetburn and Greenstone tracks, avoiding the logistics problem. I did that years ago with 1 night's stay in a hut; don't know how practical that is now.

I checked that out, but that's got to be pushing 100km...you did that in 2 days?

Thanks for the feedback!

Ben

benjamingray wrote:

scottsolinko wrote:Kepler is a day. Milford is a day. routeburn is a transport nightmare as you end 350 km from the start via road.

Dart-Rees over Cascade saddle. Could spend a night at French Ridge Hut as well at the end.

Wilkin-Young as well.

How are the Kepler and Milford 1 day? Aren't they 60 km (38 miles) and 54 km (34 miles), respectively?

Not that that's impossible, but I want to enjoy the rest of my trip, and not have my buddies kill me!

Possibly make a loop of the Rouetburn and Greenstone tracks, avoiding the logistics problem. I did that years ago with 1 night's stay in a hut; don't know how practical that is now.

I checked that out, but that's got to be pushing 100km...you did that in 2 days?

Thanks for the feedback!

Ben

i think doing them in a day would be more satisfying but then i enjoy longer days

i don't know about the milford but the kepler is pretty cruisy