I was scared we'd be blown off! 🥾 ⛈🏔 🌲 Kepler Track, NZ Great Walks

The Kepler Track is a challenging yet hugely rewarding four-day trail over the mountains taking you from the beech forested shorelines of Lake Te Anau to Lake Manapouri by way of tussock covered ridgelines with spectacular alpine vistas. The second day while crossing the ridgeline, we were challenged by wind gusts of up to 85km per hour making filming for the most part, almost impossible. I hesitated in making this video as I wasn’t satisfied with the qualify of film however thought it may help someone in their planning.
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Highlights
- Beautiful walking trail through spectacular native forest
- Crossing the Mountains from Te Anau to Manapouri
- Fiordland National Park is stunning
- Cascading waterfalls and rivers, big and small
- A cheeky kea hopeful of a treat at the emergency shelter. (No, he didn’t get one)
- New trail friends that made crossing the mountain so much more fun; Landon from USA, Georg from Germany and Lucas from New Zealand
- Bird songs in the forest
- Sounds of nature
- Indescribably beautiful track!
Lowlights
- The gusts on Day 2 along the ridgeline were peaking at up to 85km hour. Extremely challenging and quite scary. I was glad to have the company of Landon, Georg and Lucas.
The Facts:
Kepler Track, New Zealand Great Walks.
ℹ️Stats
📅 Date: 29/10/20222 - 01/11/2022
☀️Weather: Kepler Early Summer, one day of sunshine, one day of howling wind, two days of reasonable sun/cloud.
🌲Location: Kepler Track, Fiordland National Park, Southland, New Zealand
⛺️ Accommodation: New Zealand Great Walk Huts. Bookings Required - I booked on Opening Day of the new season and the season was sold out within hours. If you miss out, watch the website for cancellations.
Day 1 - Control Gates to Luxmore Hut
Moving Time: 3:49:20
Elevation Gain: 887 metresDistance: 15.32 km
Day 2 - Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut
Moving Time: 4:25:20
Elevation Gain: 680 metresDistance: 16:71 km
Day 3 - Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut
Moving Time: 3:45:11
Elevation Gain: 170 metresDistance: 13 km - this is the toughest day as it’s when you climb to the McKinnon Pass
Day 4 - Moturau Hut to Rainbow Reach
Moving Time: 1:25:06
Elevation Gain: 92 metres
Distance: 7:01 km
Shuttles can be arranged to and from Te Anau, alternatively, it’s only a couple of km extra walk. Patchy cell phone coverage in a few places. The track can be walked from either direction.
🌲🌳🏕🌲🌳 Sounds of nature🌲🌳🏕🌲🌳
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Hiking | Camping | Biking | Kayaking | Exploring | Outdoors | Bushcraft
Thanks for visiting my channel, my mission is to inspire and motivate others to spend time in nature and reconnect with the outdoors, wherever that might be and at whatever level they are comfortable with.
The best things in life happen when we're outside of our comfort zone and until we push our boundaries, we'll never know what we like or what we're capable of. Independent and self-supported travel is for all of us however sometimes knowing where to start, how to prepare or what to expect can be a little overwhelming. I'm here to help and encourage you on your way.
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Please share this channel with someone you think might benefit from it, so that they too will be inspired and encouraged to spend more time in nature.
See you on the trails, Sharon Evans 🚴 🥾 🛶 🥾⛈☔️🏔 🌲
Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

[@FreewheelingKiwi]

Thanks for watching my video 🥾⛈☔️🏔. To see more spectacular Fiordland Tracks, check out this awesome playlist here:
th-cam.com/play/PL_hPtX12oueQTgPymq9d1kLv3udS2J2wT.html

[@ESmith-ik8vu]

Always a treat when you upload a new one. Never knew how much NZ and Scandinavian landscapes are alike, at least in some places. Very, very beautiful to a northern eye.

[@FreewheelingKiwi]

Thanks E Smith, I appreciate you watching and commenting. This is a particularly good hike as you can literally walk from town making it very accessible. Families can walk just to the first hut, a great introduction for the children 😀

[@beyourself3711]

That Keplar track looks beautiful to hike. Scary ridge line with howling wind 😳 but I'm glad for the awesome views. You got great stamina. Well done again. 😃👏👍

[@FreewheelingKiwi]

Thanks for watching Be Yourself and for your encouragement. I’m glad you enjoyed it, the views are fantastic.
I’d actually delayed making this video as was unable to do hardly any filming on the ridge due to the wind. It was all I could do to stay on my feet. Just means I’ll have to go back and try again 😅

[@neilformpro]

That is a beautiful walk. It is on my list!

[@FreewheelingKiwi]

Mine too Neil, on a less breezy day 😅. I imagine every time would be different depending on the weather, but all equally beautiful 🤩

[@worldlinetravehistoryl8052]

Beautiful....❤

[@FreewheelingKiwi]

Thanks for watching 😃

[@bachdz5689]

Thank. You beautiful 😍

[@FreewheelingKiwi]

Thank you too! 😀