We’d hoped for some slightly better weather for tramping the Hump Ridge Track in early January, but realistically, given the track is on the eastern edge of Fiordland National Park (famed for it’s inclement weather), maybe we should have been more realistic! We ended up glad we’d packed the cold weather gear that we did, with gale-force sou-westers blowing cloud and sleet across the ridge late on Day 1 and through most of Day 2, but we did still enjoy the tramp.
There’s a lot of variety on the tramp, with acres of beautiful rimu forest, interesting rock formations on the ridge, and what should be stunning views on a good day from the boardwalk loop and lookout at the top of the Hump Ridge. The lodges are very comfortable with heating, sofas & free porridge (for those who like it tramping!), along with bottles of wine and cans of beer/cider available to purchase too. The history is also very interesting on the second and third days with plenty to learn about the logging activities in the early 1920s, responsible for the line of the track in places following the old haul railway and across 4 historic wooden viaduct (including Percy Burn Viaduct, being the largest remaining wooden viaduct in the southern hemisphere, albeit awaiting some refurbishment).
