[landscapephotograph description=”Key Summit Panorama, looking toward Lake Marion” photoname=”Key Summit” photo=”https://timmulholland.com/wordpress1/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/KeySummitPan3.jpg” photourl=”http://illuminataphoto.zenfolio.com/p606278338/h5729FD90#h5729fd90″][/landscapephotograph]
Let’s see… It’s been more than a year since we hiked/tramped up to Key Summit in Fiordland National Park in southwest New Zealand. In may ways, it feels like it was just yesterday and in other ways it feels like I was another person then. Key Summit was one of our favorite hikes for the whole year – outstanding views, great weather and a hike that was “just right” – except for the part where Mom said, “hey, let’s go just a little bit further…” I believe that the “little bit further” parts doubled the length of the whole hike.
The Key Summit Track follows the route of the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand’s many famous multi-day tramps, for the first couple of kilometers. We had spent the night in Te Anau, I believe, and then drop the road towards Milford. About 45 minutes from Te Anau is a parking area called “The Divide,” and this is the starting point for the Routeburn Track and Key Summit Track. There’s also a bus stop at The Divide for those folks who are looking for transportation to/from the Routeburn Track so that they can hike from one end to the other, and leave they’re vehicle at the other end (or, be picked up by the bus).
The day that we hiked started out pleasantly cool (hats and gloves weather) and once we got a bit higher and above the trees it was time to open the jackets and air out a bit. I don’t recall the route being all that memorable until you get to the top of Key Summit and then the vistas open up in all directions! SPECTACULAR! There’s not a lot to write about the hike itself. It wasn’t difficult, but it wasn’t easy. It takes a bit of effort to hike upward to Key Summit, but once you’re “on top,” most of the hiking is relatively flat. And, like many hikes, it was easier to hike downhill back to the car at The Divide.
There were a few other hikers/trampers already up on Key Summit, so we weren’t alone. At the main point of interest, there are several beautiful, fragile little tarns (alpine ponds/lakes). You can see for many miles in every direction from atop Key Summit. One of our favorite views from Key Summit was looking across the valley to see Lake Marion, a beautiful lake to which we had hiked a couple of months earlier, a few days before Christmas.
As noted earlier, someone in our party kept saying “hey, let’s hike just a little farther…” The additional steps were interesting and gave us a different perspective hiking along the ridge between Lake Fergus and Lake McKellar, more time in the warm sun, and more time to growl – are we there yet? After another mile or two of walking south on a poorly defined track, we came to a knoll and the our learless feeder said that we could return to the car.
Unlike other postings that I’ve written, the gallery for this one is not extensive – you’ll be able to enjoy it in a few minutes – and, I do hope that you’ll enjoy it. And, I’ve thrown in a couple of other photographs from Te Anau and a nearby waterfall, Humboldt Falls, which is at the end of a long drive in Fiordland National Park.
‘Til next time, this is 43 N MSN signing off…