When the weather is great on the West Coast you have to make the most of it, and this was the third time we had attempted to complete the Klondyke Tracks.
On Friday afternoon we left Ashburton and headed via Arthurs Pass and Nelson Creek for Reefton, our destination for the night was the Old Nurses Hostel.
The following day we drove for 30 minutes along the road towards Springs Junction, at the top of Rahu Saddle there is a layby and a sign indicating the Klondyke Tracks. There are two tracks, one heads up the spur to the tops (called the Klondyke Spur Track) and the other follows the river valley and ends at the lower tarns (called the Klondyke Valley Track). Our plan was to take the spur track and drop down to camp at the upper tarns on Saturday and on Sunday drop down to the lower tarns and head out via the valley track.
Both tracks are signposted as taking about 3.5 hours one way so we knew we were not in for overly long days, could take our time and really soak in the extensive views of the Victoria Forest Park.
The spur track is relatively steep as it climbs a long spur to the bush line, there are intermittent views down to the main highway below and across to Mt Haast.
We had a brief stop at the bush line for morning tea and to survey the route ahead, with the markers ending here the track becomes a route so it pays to stop review where you are and where you are headed.
It is another 200 metre or so climb to get from the bush line to the ridge line, and there is a well used ground trail to follow with some cairns indicating the way to go.
From the top there were impressive views to both the upper and lower tarns, and all the way along to Mt Blackadder.
We carried on along the ridge stopping for lunch along the way. There was a cool breeze on top so we took shelter in the sun behind some large boulders.
After lunch we carried along the ridge line to where we could see the upper tarns below, I had a GPX map of where previous groups had descended but it all looked like bluffs. We decided to take a different route, this involved some sidling though tall tussocks, down climbing and even a bit of bum sliding. Nothing scary or hair raising, but a whole lot of fun, and because we could see our destination we were always heading in the right direction.
Clear of the steep tussock and scrub slopes, we had made it to the tarn filled basin. There are a few smaller tarns surrounding one large tarn, finding a solid, dry camping spot for seven tents was the final adventure of the day. We selected a site on the eastern side of the large tarn near the outlet, it proved to be a wonderful site. The still, calm night made for perfect reflections on the tarn with the moon and stars high above in the night sky.
Morning dawned calm and still, with a mirror reflection on the tarn. Breakfast was had in this alpine paradise, and we were packed up and heading away just after 8am.
There are no real markers or ground trail linking the upper and lower tarns, so we followed the outlet stream to where it drops down to the lower basin below. We continued down the dry outlet, sticking to the open boulders framed by tussock and shrubs. Once at the bottom we could see a large orange triangle track marker and headed in that direction.
All the reports of this area I had read said that there was no real camping spots around the lower tarns, and that was definitely the case. The whole area was damp and swampy, it would be very challenging to find a good camp spot.
The valley track is well marked, maintained and a great gradient. It was thoroughly enjoyable to be on this track surrounded by West Coast bush. We stopped along the way for morning tea before reaching the muddy sections before the car park.
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