New
Zealand - Dragons Teeth
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These notes are not as comprehensive as our guidebooks, they are free
and designed for walkers from
Australia to assist with planning a trip
along the route. If you wish to make a donation for the information
then use the Paypal button at the bottom of this page.
What is the Dragons Teeth
This is a traverse of the Douglas Range in the Kahurangi Nation Park in
the northern part of the south island of New Zealand. The High Route
has some similarities to the Western Arthur Range in South West
Tasmania. It is a very rough route that requires great care as it
crosses some very steep slabs and buttresses as it sidles around the
Dragons Teeth. These are a series of fang like buttresses that crown
the range. Unlike the Western Arthur Range, the High Route can be
avoided by following the Low Route (from Adelaide Tarn, descend into
the Anotoki Valley, follow the scrubby valley for half a day then climb
to the Drunken Sailor)..
Access
The Douglas Ranbge is located about 80km west of the city of Nelson.
Nelson can be accessed by local aeroplane from New Zealands major
airports. The traverse of this range requires pre-arranged transport as
it is a through walk. The specialist provider for trampers is Nelson
Lakes Shuttles. It is run by a tramper and he will suggest pickup
times. On the first day we were picked up before dawn so that we could
could start walking by 8AM as its a long day to Boulder Lake.
Water
There is water at each campsite but little water between them so carry
all your needs for each day. In general water does not need any
treatment.
Maps
All New Zealand maps can be downloaded for free from Land
Information New Zealand. Select the 1:50,00 for walking. The
1:250,00 are useful for an overview. They are large files,
you will need 1:50,000
maps
BN23, BR24, BP23, BP24
The maps come as PDFs. With Acrobat we then export the map as
a
TIFF Image (you could also use JPEG but the output is not as good
particularly if you are cutting them up later). Then using
any image editing program, we then cropped each map into 7 x 5km
rectangles (saved each one as a new file) and then printed each piece
on an A4 colour printer. That gave us good detailed maps at around
1:25,000.
We printed the maps as double
sided, to cut paper down.
Emergency Contact
Options are to carry a SatPhone, Satellite messenger (SPOT, InReach),
an EPIRB (aka PLB) or use the Mountain Radio
system which is used in New Zealand. We have hired and used a mountain
radio on a number of New Zealand trips. They have a nightly schedule
where they provide the weather report foe each of the mountain areas
plus you can call out . Nelson Lakes Shuttles can help with booking a
Mountain Radio, last time we booked one, cost was around $60 per week,
calls are free. Currently we use a SatPhone but the small size of the
newer satellite messenging units would be our choice if buying one
today.
Hut tickets,
these are required to camp near or use the huts. For Dragons Teeth, 5
tickets are required. An alternative is to buy a hut pass which covers
all huts and campsites in New Zealand
parks except Great Walks or special booked huts like Lake Angelus.
Other Information.
The
Department of Conservation (DOC) provides
free
notes for for the 'Douglas
Range'. The DOC notes describe only the Low Route. They do not provide
any
detail for the High Route.
High Route - track notes
These notes are provided to help trampers
follow the high route. They
have been written from my notes but have not been field checked or
proof read for ambiguities or errors (they are free). I know some will
want GPS coordinates, in reality the terrain is so steep that such
readings are not very helpful as being 10m away can mean 100m in
elevation with no possibility of getting to the correct location. Eyes
are much better than technology on routes like this..
Access
The northern
end starts near the Heaphy Track. Follow roads from Nelson to
Collingwood. Continue for 18km then turn left at Bainham Store and
cross the bridge over the Aorere River. Follow the road to its end iin
farmland. The southern end is at the western end of Cobb Reservoir.
From Nelson follow roads north to Upper Takaka, turn left and follow a
winding road to the reservoir. Near the reservoir, turn left to
Trilobite Hut.
Day 1 - Aorere
River to Beathams
Clearing, around 5 hours
Originally
this day started 2.5km further west in farmland. The old track
has
been closed and the new track starts 200m past the Aorere River bridge.
This track adds 5km to the walk making it a very long day to Boulder
Lake. Most groups will now take 2 days to reach Boulder Lake
Hut.
The suggested itinerary has been changed to reflect this.
Starting
from the bridge follow the new track through forest across the shoulder
of Mt Treblow and over Lookout Knob for 10km (about 3 hours) to join
with the original track at The Catsles, an area of limestone karst
(beware there are some deep sink holes in the track!) Continue climbing
steadily through
beech and manuka forest to Beathams Clearing, a small open area for
aorund 6 tents. Water is often available in small pools but can be
empty after prolonged dry spells.
Day 2 - Beathams
Clearing to Boulder Lake Hut, around 5 hours
From Beathams Clearing, continue climbing up
Brown Cow Ridge passing east of The Pulpit to Cow Sadddle then climb
exposed slopes to Brown Cow (a mountain!). An exposed sidle around the
western
side above rock outcrops then a steep descent follows a grassy lead to
a campsite beside Boulder Lake. Follow the shore southward to the end
of the lake then cross open tussocks to the cosy 8 bunk Boulder Lake
Hut. Near the hut close to the waterfall are the remains of the
original 4 bunk hut.
Day 3 - Boulder Lake to Adelaide Tarn, 6 hours
This is a medium day of off-track walking. Pads exist on part
of
the route, Adelaide
Tarn has a tiny 2 bunk tin hut with some rough camping in the area.
From Boulder Lake Hut follow the untracked valley south-west across
thick tussocks to the spur between Crater and Arena Creeks. Cairns
start here marking the route up the spur to Green Saddle.. From the
saddle follow the ridge south for 300m then veer left following the
marked pad that sidles the eastern slopes of knoll 1450 to regain the
ridge crest. Follow the ridge for a while then again sidle the eastern
slopes of knolls 1411 and 1488 to an unmarked pad junction in a narrow
gully. Left leads to Yuletide Peak then a descent leads east into the
Anatoki
River. Turn right and climb the narrow gully into the pass called the
Needles Eye. Descend west veering right onto a grassy spur from
where there is a fine view of Adelaide Tarn. A marked track then heads
south-west following a terrace descending to Adelaide Tarn. Follow the
eastern shore to the tiny hut on a terrace above the tarn. Some rough
campsites are found near the hut. Some of the entries in the hut
logbook describe some harrowing trips along the high route.
The
hair-raising accounts should convince you to find and follow the route
rather than try to force a way through the cliffs of Anatoki Peak.
Day 4 - Adelaide tarn to
Anatoki Peak – high
route
Time :
we took 6.5 hours with a large very experienced group (10 people),
smaller
groups could take as low as 5 hours although some have reported back
they took 9 hours in total. Time will depend a lot on experience and
how often you lose the route. Note - expect to spend
between 30 minutes and
1
hour scouting
for cairns as in the open areas the continuation is not always obvious
or
easily found.
The route
does not actually follow the top of the ridge line which would be
impossible for trampers,
it sidles the eastern face and attempts to stay as high as possible and
alternates between bush and grass slopes. The track is marked
throughout by
cairns (there are some misleading ones as well) and also by old tin can
lids
plus orange patches nailed to trees. If cairns seem odd then find an
orange marker or
tin can lid before continuing too far with packs. Generally when the
route
seems to vanish in tussock, it will climb or sidle south a bit to pass
slabs
then before the next rock face descend steeply, often you expect that
it should
go up but instead it heads a long way down to get across the toe of
those very
long buttresses that run off the Dragons Teeth.
From
Adelaide Tarn head south up into saddle on ridge above – cairn in
saddle.
Ignore a line of cairns to the west along the ridge – while that line
will get
you onto the high route via a steep descent there is a much easier way.
Continue south for 80m towards the Anatoki River. Just past a narrow
gully the
cairns divide – turn right and climb north-west passing through a
narrow bush
band (the steeper route from the saddle merges here) then follow the
bushline
to the crest of the ridge connecting Mt Douglas to Dragons Teeth. The
track is
then obvious for a while following the ridge south – it is a delightful
series
of openings and open forest floor. It soon becomes rougher, start
sidling to an
open snow grass section, climb up, sidle then descend into bush. Soon
cross a
dry stream into forest (ignore old false cairns to the right – they
lead to a
summit but not the through route) and continue descending following the
base of a
rock face
to pass a coil of wire beside an orange marker (this is usuaily missed
as its hidden on your left side). This is some of the old
wire
that was removed from the route in the 1994 hence the alternative name
of the 'Wireless Route'. Sidle a narrow ledge above high
cliffs, some awkward step ups follow then climb steeply through bush
and openings
and across slabs then up a steep open gully to a wide grass covered
slope below Anatoki Peak.
The wall
ahead onto Anatoki Peak looks daunting - particularly at the top. The
obvious
gully straight ahead looks inviting but the headwall is topped by
cliffs. The
high route ascends the far left hand of the wall and its obvious it
will take a
bit of descending to get to it. To get there, sidle across the
grass for around 200m onto the last spur before the wall just before
the deep
gully that runs along the base of the wall. Turn sharp left and follow
a line
of
cairns that descends east down the crest of the spur (scout around
without
packs to find them – there are false cairns around). The cairns soon
lead to orange markers – follow them to a creek
(reliable water) where there are several orange markers. The track
enters the
bush at the lowest marker. It then continues sidling and descending
along the
base of a line of bluffs. If you meet an open shale area under the
cliffs (good
site for a rest) then you are 5m past the track – the track turns sharp
left
at the
start of the shale and descends to the next gully. As you are expecting
the
track to head up here, many groups have lost the track here and
continued 20m
to the waterfall ahead and created rough tracks and very steep pads in
this
area. Without packs we explored the route up the waterfall and while
possible
it is much steeper and more dangerous than the marked route.
From the
shale, the track descends then sidles through bush to the next gully
which it
climbs. The last bit of the track was less used and faint (obvious a
number of groups
have lost it at the shale opening) but fairly well marked and OK to
follow.
When it follows rocky gullies, watch for orange markers exiting on the
left. It
climbs steeply as it sidles leftwards and a final very steep climb
leads to
easier slopes above. The last 100m is much easier and leads onto the
top of the
main spur on Anatoki Peak. [For those trying it in reverse - there are
no
obvious cairns or markers showing the start of the route here, it
starts 20m
before the spur drops very steeply into the Anatoki Valley.] Turn right
and follow the spur
south-west. There is one slot in the ridge crest which is easily passed
on the
left side. Rise to the tarns at the campsite on Anatoki Peak (on the
map the tarns
are at the top of the K on the word ‘Peak’) A great campsite – fairly
exposed
but partially protected by rocks from the south-west where the worst
storms generally come
from.
Day 5 - Anatoki Peak to
Lonely Lake
5 hours
with large group, probably 4 hours with a smaller group. Allow an extra
hour for route finding
This
section also spends all its time sidling the eastern slopes while
staying as
high as possible. With some exceptions, the cairns are generally easier
to find
and follow. Unlike the previous section, it remains above the bushline
the
entire way and is a much easier day..
From the
campsite, cairns head south-west rising across the shoulder of Anatoki
Peak.
There is a lot of sidling and descending up and down as it weaves its
way
through smaller sloping buttresses. Upon reaching a much larger rocky
rib, the track
heads across to the rib then turns left and descends along it towards
its base.
You then have two choices, follow the rocky top of the rib or continue
100m
further then sidle south along a narrow ledge onto the crest of the rib
where
the two choices meet – this is the most difficult bit for this day but
is easier than the previous day-
take
care on both routes. An easy descent leads onto grass, then climb
quickly towards a saddle on the main ridge. Less than 100m below the
saddle
cairns lead left climbing terraces and slopes (sometimes across steep
ground
but quite easy compared to what has already been done) and this leads
onto a
high point just under knoll 1564. An easy 5 minute sidetrip leads to
the twin
summit of the knoll – good views.
From
there the route becomes easier – it continues sidling the eastern side
of the crest, with shorter climbs and
descents and eventually meets a well defined track which descends a
rocky rib
into the saddle west of the Drunken Sailors – the track for the Low
Route
around the Dragons Teeth is met there. Turn right and follow the
cairned track
southwards along the valley to Lonely Lake Hut. There is sheltered
camping near
the 2 bunk hut or more exposed camping on terraces 80m north-west of
the hut.
Direction – for the High Route north to south
is the way
to go. Almost all of the steeper sections or awkward steps are climbs
and much
easier to do that way. In reverse, it is quite difficult finding
footholds on
the vertical sections and as a result is more dangerous. We
never used a rope (we carried one) and all members were able to get
through
without assistance. While it did not rain heavily, it was misty and
damp and the dirt
was very wet. In steep spots, each person did guide the one behind to
locate
holds but that was the only help given.
Day 5A - day trips from Lonely Lake
The Drunken Sailors is an easy climb from the
lake. While
it looks daunting, it can be readily climbed on both the north and
south sides.
Day 6 - Lonely Lake to Fenella Hut, 7 hours
This is a delightful ridge walk and while long
is much
easier than the previous 2 days on the high route. It follows a well
defined track the
entire way.
From Lonely Lake Hut, follow the track south climbing through forest to
the main ridge. Follow the open ridge southward. While exposed, in fine
weather, the ridge provides delightful scenic walking. Bypss the 1610
knoll on either side and the 1512 knoll on its western side. A steep
climb then leads onto an open knoll 500m north-west of Kakapo Peak.
Follow the ridge south-east for 250m then turn south and follow the
obvious narrow track across a steep wide scree slope to regain the main
ridge south of Kakapo Peak. From here a sidetrip to
the summit of Kakapo Peak follows easy scree slopes. Continue by
following the ridge crest
southward towards knoll 1550. When the bush starts, descend east
following a rough track then a well-defined track sidle the eastern
slopes of knoll 1550 and
Wangaro Peak to the saddle 500m south-south-west of Wangaro Peak.
Descend west into light forest then the track follows the valley
south-west to Fenella Hut. This is a comfortable 12 bunk hut.
Day 6A - day trips from Fenella Hut
From Fenella Hut, a track leads south-west to
some pretty
tarns. Some untracked walking then heads west up the mostly open slopes
of Xenicus Peak. Bypass the summit on its north side by following a
wide gully to the saddle west of the peak. The summit of Xenicus is a
fairly easy scramble from here. Easy walking west then leads onto the
summit of Mt Gibbs. Continue by following the ridge west then
south-west until easy slopes lead south-east to the outlet of Round
Tran. A faint track starts here, follow it south-east into the bush
where it becomes more obvious, this leads east down the valley to Lake
Cobb and a track junction just before Cobb Hut. Turn left to return to
Fenella Hut.
From Fenalla Hut, Mt Cobb is readily climbed from Round Lake. Another
possible day trip is to tarns on the Lockett Range, return up the track
to the saddle near Wangaro Peak then follow the open top of the range
south-east. The Lockett Range can also be used for an alternative
finish by following the range south-east past Diamond Lakes to Lake
Sylvester (12 bunk hut) from where a walking track leads to the dam
wall on Cobb Reservoir.
Day 7 - Fenella Hut to Trilobite Hut (and the
road), 5
hours
An easy walk following a well used track along
a river
valley to
the road.
From Fenella Hut follow the walking track south through forest patches
to a track junction just before the small Cobb Hut (4 bunks). Turn left
and follow the well-defined walking track south-east following the
valley of Cobb River. This passes the old abandoned Chaffeys Hut and
the historic site of Tent Camp. The open valley provides easy
flat walking to Trilobite Hut (12 bunks) which is located at the end of
the road.
Suggested Time to allow for this trip.
Like South West Tasmania, the weather is very
variable
and when its wet its really wet. We allowed 9 days, the first day was
moderately wet and we walked, on day 4 of above itinerary we crossed
the first day of the
high
route in mist and some drizzle. We had our first rest/exploration day
at Lonely Lake, then had 2 whole days at Fenella Hut. The first day at
Fenella was a beautiful day walk around Mt Gibbs and Round Lake, for
the
second day ay Fenella it poured all day and we had a rest day. I
strongly
recommend walking north to south. First, most of the difficult sections
are then climbs rather than descents. Also if you have fine weather
there are lots of extra walks to do on the southern end of the range, -
see Day 5A. The
northern end of the range does not have much in the way of extra
features to visit. Overall I suggest to allow 8 or 9 days for the
Dragons Teeth. While many allow just 6 days, more than half abandon
their plans due
to weather
and skip the High Route.
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Photographs and text are copyright © 2016-2021 John Chapman.
Last updated : September 26th 2021