Vittles for the Routeburn Track

Preparing for the Routeburn Track: Food

I am off to walk the Routeburn Track in two weeks time and I am starting my final preparations for the trip. I have walked sections of the track in the past but on both occasions big rain events (not uncommon in Fiordland) have scuppered me before I could finish the whole route. 

I made it as far as Howden Hut (1980's-2020) in 2019

I thought it would useful to write a series of blogs about the preparation I undertake before walking a specific Great Walk so this is the first dealing with the food I will be taking on the Routeburn. You burn a lot of calories tramping so hopefully this will be enough to keep me going. 

Conditions the last time I visited the Routeburn Track...

I also intend to write a post about the gear I will taking with me and a brief description of the convoluted transport plan I used to walk the track during Covid.

Food for the Routeburn Track:

I'm walking the Routeburn over three nights/four days which is longer than usual as I am staying one night at Routeburn Flats Hut. All of the main Great Walk huts on this track have gas cookers in them but no pots/pans etc. so you have to take these with you. I have planned a menu that will be quick and easy to prepare so most of the time I will just need hot water. 

Most Great Walk huts have cookers...Perry Saddle Hut

 I will be spending a night at Routeburn Flats, Routeburn Falls and Lake MacKenzie Huts so I will be taking three dinner meals. I will also require breakfast for days 2-4 and lunch and snacks for all four days. All up this comes to about 2.4 kilograms of food which is certainly not lite but also reasonable for 4 days. 

My food rations for the Routeburn Track

I pack my tramping food into 24 hour rations i.e. the way the military receive their rations. Everything I need to survive for 24 hours is packed into a zip-loc bag and the contents are all I have for that period. The advantage of this system is you have an easy to control amount of food for each day, it packs smaller and it is often a lighter option than carrying a big olde sack of loose food. 

A 24 hour ration I used on the Kepler Track in 2021

As this is a multi day trip in Fiordland known for random and extreme changes of weather I will also be taking a days worth of spare food. This is not a full days ration but just some items to cover breakfast and dinner in case I find myself stuck in a hut due to track closures or adverse weather. 

Emergency foods I have used in the past...

I have been lucky so far and never needed to use my emergency food but I would never undertake any trip longer that a day without carrying some. 

Now let us turn to what I will actually be eating each day...

Day one: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Flats:

The first day is short with a 2-3 hour walk from the start of the track at Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Flats Hut. I am starting in Te Anau and using a shuttle bus to get to the Queenstown end of the Routeburn Track. This is so I can leave my car in Te Anau for homeward transport after the tramp.

I am using the Tracknet shuttle to get to Routeburn Shelter

 I will be starting the actual walk some time at 1.30 pm so this has me arriving at the hut around 4-5 pm. If I continued on to Routeburn Falls Hut (as most people do) I would be arriving sometime between 5 and 7 pm as it is another 1.5 hours up the track. I decided in the planning stage that this would be cutting things a little fine...

Day One: Roast Lamb and Vegetables BBC

On the first night I will be having a Backcountry freeze dried meal...in this case the tasty Roast Lamb and Vegetables. I only use single serve freeze dried meals now as I found a larger two person meal was just too much for one person. Added to this is a simmer soup, drinks and chocolate for that day and some snacks and a breakfast meal for the next day. 

I have Instant Grits for breakfast on day two...

Contents of the day one ration are as follows:

BCC Roast Lamb and Vegetables, Trident Chicken Noodle simmer soup, Instant Grits with powdered cheese (breakfast for day two), Snacks for day two (Le Snak, muesli bar, steak bar), Jack Links beef stick, Whitakers Sante bar, Vitafresh (Orange), sugar sachet x 4, salt, pepper, Aquatabs, chux cloth

Weight:790 gm's 

Crackers and tuna fish for lunch on this tramp!!!

Each of these rations includes an accessories pack with a number of universal items including Raro/Vitafresh powder, 3 in 1 coffee, sugar, salt, pepper, Aquatabs (water purification), scrub pad and two freezer bags. 

My meal accessory bag included in every 24 hour ration

These are the standard accessories I include with every ration I make. 

Day Two: Routeburn Flats to Routeburn Falls:

Day two of my Routeburn tramp is a very short day...the track between Routeburn Flat & Routeburn Falls is only 1.5 hours. I will spend a goodly amount of the day exploring around the hut with a trip up to the nearby falls. I should have my pick of bunks for the night as I will probably be the first person there...

Day two: Beef Stroganoff BBC

Contents of the day two ration are as follows:

BCC Beef Stroganoff, Knorr Corn and Chicken simmer soup, porridge with milk powder/fruit/nuts (breakfast for day three), Snacks for day three (Le Snak, Nougat bar, nut mix), Jack Links beef stick, Whitakers Sante bar, Vitafresh (Orange), sugar sachet x 4, salt, pepper, aquatabs, chux cloth

Weight:760 gm's 

My food rations for the second day...

I have the Jack Links beef stick with breakfast to up my intake of protein in the morning. Porridge, bread, cereal and grits have plenty of carbohydrates and sugars but bugger all protein so you need to supplement it. Protein is the long release source of energy in your diet and you will not perform well if you are lacking in it. 

Day three: Routeburn Falls to Lake Mackenzie:

Day three is the longest on this trip and is a 5-6 hour walk up and over Harris Saddle, along the Hollyford Face and down to the hut at Lake MacKenzie. It is through some rugged alpine terrain and is the most picturesque section of this track. I will probably have lunch at Harris Saddle Shelter which is about 2-2.5 hours into the walk. 

Day three: Mediterranean Cous-Cous for diner

I have Mediterranean Cous-Cous for dinner that night...a flavored cous-cous packet with some dried vegetables, tuna fish and herbs and spices added. Cous-cous is a fantastic tramping food...lite, compact, easy to prepare but you do get sick of it after a while. The key is to give it a flavor kick with soup powder, stock cubes, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

...a BBC Muesli and Yogurt for breakfast...

Contents of the day three ration are as follows:

Mediterranean Cous-Cous, tuna sachet (for Cous-Cous), dried vegetables, Knorr Chicken Noodle soup, BCC Muesli with Yoghurt (breakfast for day four), Snacks for day four (Le Snak, muesli bar, nut mix), Haneff pate (lunch day four), Jack Links steak bar, Whitakers Sante bar, Vitafresh (Passionfruit), sugar sachet x 4, salt, pepper, aquatabs, chux cloth, scrubbing pad

Weight:410 gm's 

Day four: Lake Mackenzie to the Divide Shelter:

The last day is another big one with the climb up out of Lake MacKenzie and the trip to Lake Howden and then out to the Milford Highway. In the past you could have shortened the day with a stay at Howden Hut but alas it is no more. A landslip took it out back in early 2020...it is a damn shame as it was an awesome wee hut. DOC have no plans to replace it as there is no safe land in the immediate vicinity to build a new hut. 

Interior of the now removed Howden Hut back in 2019

I have a Backcountry muesli and yogurt pack for breakfast on the last day and will stop for lunch at the temporary shelter DOC have installed near the old Howden Hut site. I have some pate and crackers set aside for this meal and a instant soup.

My snacks for the last day of the Routeburn tramp

If I am able to get to Lake Howden then I will be able to walk off the Routeburn under my own steam. I can tuck into my emergency rations while I am waiting for the shuttle to arrive at the Divide Shelter. There are multiple seating areas, water and toilets available there.  

Emergency Rations:

So as mention previously I will be carrying some emergency rations on this tramp...partially as it is in storm prone Fiordland but also I have prior experience of the vagaries of tramping down south. Stuff happens that can make forward progress impossible. It is not a lot of food...just enough to relieve the misery of being stuck in a hut for an additional day. 

Pack four: emergency food for the Routeburn

I pack these emergency rations using the same method as the main ones but at least these fit in a medium zip-loc bag. I would also have some teabags and any other left over food to supplement this...

...my emergency rations for the Routeburn Track...

My emergency rations will be:

BCC Cheesy Chicken Mash, Instant oats, Trident Thai Noodle soup, Vitafresh (Orange)

Weight: 410 gm's

All of my food is carried in a yellow 13 liter sil-nylon dry bag...yellow is my color code for food items. Keeping your food in a larger bag makes it easier to find, easier to store and can protect the rest of your gear from accidental spillages. 

My 13 liter food bag from Sea to Summit...

I carry a 30 cm long piece of para cord in the bottom of this bag in case I need to hang my food bag in a hut with a rodent problem. If you are in a hut with rodents you have to remove all food from your pack or they will eat right through it to get to the goodies. 

Not an urban myth...I have seen it happen before!!!

Breakdown of some food accessories...

I carry a few additions to the basic ration load out so lets take a look at these.

 First up are the snacks I have for the first day of the track i.e. walking into Routeburn Flats. They are packed in a separate bag and will be easily accessible in my pack lid. I take 2-4 snacks per day on all my tramps...I try to keep these lite and packed with energy so cheese, muesli bars, jerky, dried fruit, nuts and chocolate. 

Day one snack's: muesli bar, Le Snak, nut mix...

I have a 3 in 1 coffee with my breakfast but the rest of the time I drink Earl Grey tea as a hot beverage. My favorite brand is Chanui and I will carry at least 3 teabags for each of the days I am tramping plus some spares. I do take other teas on occasion but Chanui is the one I like the most. 

Chanui Earl Grey for me thanks!!!

I also carry some Aquatabs for water purification...water at Great Walk huts is normally fine to drink from the taps BUT caution is always good. Additionally I might refill a water bottle from a stream or lake enroute and it needs to be treated before I drink it. I have a water filter but it is easily damaged by cold conditions so not good for an alpine area like this. 

I carry Chanui Earl Grey Tea and Aquatabs

I like soup before dinner and have taken to carrying packets of simmer soup for this purpose. My go to brands are Trident, Knorr and Continental. I usually enjoy these about an hour before my main meal to add some extra calories, salt and warming liquids to my tramping diet. Soup will beef up your nutritional intake for little extra weight or bulk. 

Simmer soups brands I will be carrying...Knorr and Trident

 I also carry packets of instant soup (Cup-O-Soup) with me for lunch breaks, rest breaks or as a pick me up on a cold day. They are easy to make...you just add boiled water and sipping one will make your lunch breaks more enjoyable. They are also excellent as emergency food as they are lite and take up little space. 

The mixed instant soup kit I carry...multiple flavors

I carry these soups in a separate bag which sits in the lid of my pack where they are easy to get to if required...

My cook kit on this trip...

I will be taking a lighter version of my standard cooking kit with me on the tramp including my Toaks cooking pot and Firemaple stove. All the main huts on the Routeburn have gas cookers but I like to carry my cooking kit for emergencies and for on trail tea/soup breaks. 

My standard cook kit...Great Walk edition

My cook kit will have the follow items in it:

Toaks 1.3 liter titanium pot, Firemaple TI stove, plastic Sea to Summit Delta mug, TI fork and spoon, Victorinox folding knife, 110gm gas cannister, lighter, carry bags

If I have enough water I will brew up for lunch at Harris Saddle Shelter, Lake Howden Shelter and at the end of the track. I only need a small 110 gm gas cannister for these occasions. 

I finish at the Divide Shelter on the Milford Highway

So that is the food I will be taking with me on the Routeburn Track. I may swap out one of the Backcountry meals for some Mac and Cheese as that is another meal I really like on trail. Apart from that this is the menu I will run with...