Journey to the Ice-age: Tackling the Epic Earnslaw Burn Hike in New Zealand
At the beginning of 2024, we decided to take on another iconic overnight mission close to home: The Earnslaw Burn Track. Many of our friends from Queenstown had already done this hike and it had become a highly recommended “must do” hike, so we decided to once again, gather our supplies, roll up our camping mats, and head off to Glenorchy for another epic adventure. It was quite the experience and we made sure to vlog all our highs and lows, which you can check out on our youtube channel here.
Located just over an hour from Queenstown, we packed up the car, picked our friends up from Fernhill on the way out of town and made the scenic drive out to Glenorchy. After a quick stop at Mrs. Wooly’s General Store for a coffee, and visiting the last flushing toilet we would see for 24 hours, we drove the final 20 minutes to the trail head.
We knew that we weren’t in for an easy hike. From our friends who had already done the track, we had been warned to avoid the walk after heavy rain, that there were a lot of fallen trees to clamber over, and that the forest section was particularly monotonous. Whilst we had been warned by others, and similarly the comments on ‘All Trails’ (our go-to navigational app) had also stated that the hike was tough, I don’t think we could have anticipated how challenging we would find this hike!
Section 1: The never-ending forest
Heading under the forest canopy, we were optimistic and feeling strong. As warned, the track was muddy (despite a dry weather week), and there were roots, trees, and branches littering the trail. Excited to be together, we were all energised and ready to take on the challenge, and the first two hours breezed by. It was actually quite fun navigating the tree roots, clambering up slippy inclines, and helping each other scramble over fallen tree trunks.
However, by the third hour in the forest the mood started to shift. It was mentally draining to keep your eyes on the ground at all times and our tiring feet were becoming clumsy, making it was easy to stumble over the maze of roots on the forest floor. We stopped often for snacks and water to keep our energy up and persevered, eager to get to the beautiful valley we knew lay ahead. The blue sky was taunting us through the trees, but I was quietly grateful to be out of the sun!
Section 2: The valley of mush
After 4.5 hours, we finally broke out of the treeline and were greeted with the most spectacular view through the valley, with Mt. Earnslaw glacier towering above us. Everyone had great big smiles; Finishing the forest section and finally seeing the beautiful views we knew were hiding from us through the treetops was invigorating, and we charged on with our newfound energy. However, the valley would present its own challenges. It quickly became obvious that the ground beneath us was far from solid and the further we walked, the more our boots would sink into the boggy ground. There was no clear path through the soggy tussocks, which meant hopping over puddles, and scouring the ground for dry patches. Safe to say, nobody avoided wet socks that day.
Despite the soggy tussocks we were thrilled to be out of the woods! We stopped a few times for snacks and photo breaks. We started to pass the first of the camping spots as we neared the glacier. We knew we had some more friends ahead of us on the trail, who were expecting us to join them, but with heavy bags and tired legs, the earlier campsites started to look very appealing.
Section 3: Sleeping under the stars
We opted not to camp directly beneath the glacier, as we could hear rockfall coming from the mountains all around us, and didn’t want to risk being caught in the way. We decided to play it safe and camped about a 45 minute walk from the base of the glacier, with a promise that we would explore the glacier the next morning. However, this presented a problem: who was going to tell our friends ahead? Sarah and Cece (our flatmate) dumped their bags at the camp and heroically started to run the rest of the trail to catch them up. Luckily, they caught them just before they set up camp (under the glacier) and we managed to get the gang back together at base camp for the night.
We pitched our tents, quickly got our dehydrated ‘Backcountry Cuisine’ out of our food bags and scoffed it down, with some sour worms for dessert.
The temperatures dropped once the sun dipped behind the mountains, so we boiled some water to pop in our camelbacks as a makeshift water bottle. Both Sarah and I run quite cold when we are camping and struggle to sleep, so we were hopeful our DIY hot water bottles combined with our new thermo sleeping liners would do the trick! We managed to make it to hiker’s midnight (9pm) before hitting the hay, totally exhausted from our big day of hiking! We tried not to the think that we had to do the whole thing again tomorrow…
Section 4 - Chasing waterfalls
We woke early and, once we had been caffeinated and scoffed down a cereal bar, Sarah, Jess, Andy, and I decided to head towards the glacier to get a closer look. We knew that this would add an additional 1h30 to our walk, but since we were never going to be here again (seriously - never doing this hike again) it seemed like an opportunity we shouldn’t miss!
Without our cumbersome bags, it was a much more enjoyable walk as we tramped towards the glacier. As we approached, we started to see waterfalls running down the sides of the mountains, as well as the rumble of rockfalls and water rushing down the glacier. If you check out the photos below, you can really get a sense of the sheer scale of the surroundings - we felt so small at the foot of the massive glacier and the path it left in the valley below.
Although it was definitely an extra effort to make the pilgrimage towards the glacier in the morning (and directly away from our route home), it was definitely worth it. The only slight kicker is that while we were dragging our heavy feet through the valley, people soared in from the skies in glacier viewing helicopter flights. I like to think that the extra effort it took us to get there made the views that little bit sweeter but maybe I’m just jealous.
Section 5: Home again, home again
Probably the most difficult thing about the Earnslaw hike is that it’s not a traditional up-and-down summit. When you’re out hiking, more often than not you tend to be exerting most of your energy on the way "“up”; the first leg of the journey. If you’re heading up a mountain, you reach the top with elation, and can relax knowing the hill will somewhat carry you back down. With the Earnslaw, this is not the case. There really isn’t much elevation gain throughout the hike, and what gain there is, is made up of ups, and downs, and ups and downs (and ups and downs again). I would say that the hike out is just as challenging as the hike in, except this time you don’t have the promise of good views ahead. I would go as far as to say that this is one of the most mentally challenging hikes that we have done.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. There is something important about doing challenging things, both for yourself and your friendships. Although we were all tired, every single person on the trip did their best to keep spirits high and keep on going.
Eventually, after another 5 or so hours, we made it through the valley of mush, through the never-ending forest and back to our car. We were all feeling a whole lot of relief at this point and excited to make our way back to Queenstown. However, there was one more mishap on the cards for Sarah. There is an access gate you need to open as you leave the parking area. What Sarah didn’t realise is that this access gate is directly next to an electrified fence. Before she knew what was happening, an electric shock had knocked Sarah flat on her bum. She did have a little cry from the “shock” of it all, but after a recovery and a google that fence electric shocks are “high pain, low risk”, we left our tumultuous day behind us and headed back to more familiar mountains.
All in all, I would still recommend the Earnslaw Burn hike for the sheer beauty of it. I don’t think we’ve ever camped in such a beautiful spot, and there really is nothing like seeing a glacier up close. With a decent level of fitness and a good attitude, it makes for a unique and challenging experience.
