Death Valley

No, not THAT Death Valley.

Halfway along Wakatipu's Humboldt Mountains, Death Valley is a hanging valley which feeds into the head of Kay Creek. Previously I'd been up the track from the Caples Valley as far as Kay Creek Hut and had also explored up Scott Creek from the Routeburn Road as far as Scott Basin. But I hadn't connected the two. Now was the time to make the missing link.

Lydia above Scott Basin

Saddling up on the Routeburn Road I was unpleasantly surprised by the weight of my pack. Scott Creek Track has no gentle warm up; it is straight into one of the steepest parts of the track. We were spoiled by having our VIP (Very Impressive Porter) lug my pack the first 2.5 hours up to the bushline while Lydia & I had the luxury of taking turns with her pack.

The upper Scott was nice travel and pleasant going with a gentle breeze counteracting the blazing sun. Plans had been left rather open. but on reaching the saddle we decided to turn eastward, popping over the pass below Pt1960 to camp by Death Lake. It's not officially named that on maps, but being the only lake at the head of Death Valley it seems an apt moniker. The pass appeared dauntingly steep from a distance but lines of weakness in the ramparts became obvious as we approached. Still, it was plenty steep enough to lug overburdened packs up.

The pass into Death Valley.
We angled up left from the left hand end of the snow.

Picking our way down the loose rock (not quite loose enough to be scree) on the other side we were startled to hear voices. A couple was ascending and commented on the state of the track and how it was impossible to follow. "Hang on a minute" I thought, "There is no track up Death Valley." I'm not quite sure what they were expecting but they seemed a little out of their depth. In next to no time we had a serene camp set up on the shores of Death Lake and I dived into its sun-warmed waters.

Camp at Death Lake

Walking down Death Valley in the early morning was fun, albeit slow. We crisscrossed the stream a couple of times in search of greener shorter grass on the other side but managed to keep dry feet. On reaching the scrubline, the "strong animal trails" promised by Moirs Guide soon petered out into a vague nothingness but it didn't take too long to crash down to the trees, and from there it was easy down to Kay Creek Hut. Originally a musterers' hut, Kay Creek Hut was overhauled in 2016 by students from Otago University's Phys Ed department. Their humour is evident in the stone steps labeled "Stairway to Heaven"... leading to the long drop!

Looking up Death Valley from the scrubline

Having abandoned my original ambitious idea of pushing all the way through to Steele Creek we opted instead to relax at Kay Creek Hut for a few hours, knowing that we only had to drop down into the Caples Valley. Back in familiar territory I enjoyed Kay Creek and was unable to resist one alluring swimming hole we passed on the track. Arriving at Upper Caples Hut just before 5pm we lounged around for an hour in the hope of a rendezvous with my Dad, who coincidentally was planning to stay there that night. Without a key we were outside at the mercy of the sandflies so when 6pm rolled around and there was still no sign of Dad it was time to plod another 2 hours down the valley to Mid Caples Hut where we could be sure of a bed and a sandfly-free shelter. (we discovered later that Dad had also changed plans and didn't make it to Upper Caples).

Kay Creek

Feeling sticky from sweat, sunblock and insect repellent, I decided that a 9:30pm swim would be just the ticket - and it was! I didn't realise how tired I was until I lay down in bed and didn't so much as roll over for two hours.The forecast heavy rain never materialised overnight but nevertheless we were in no rush to get anywhere and spent the entire day sleeping and relaxing in the sunshine at Mid Caples Hut.

Caples Valley

The glorious swimming hole at Mid Caples