{Hell's Gate}

Descargada 44 veces

 -45.0670569, 168.53654587

Si
1804 m	1718 m
1807 m	361 m

			Total
	7.01 km	6.95 km	13.96 km
	3h 34min	2h 29min 22s	6h 3min 22s
	1.97 km/h	2.79 km/h	2.3 km/h

  Descargar track gps

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

The initial idea for this hike was to go up Mount Crichton as a traverse, starting at Mt. Crichton loop track parking (-45.066988, 168.536661) and ending at Avalanche Creek car park (-45.038136, 168.451903). When I got to the top of Hell's Gate, which is the entry to the top ridge, I found it too dangerous to continue and I decided to go back the same way as I came up. I had Mount Crichton's summit right in front of me, just one kilometre further on the ridge, but I could not see an easy path through the ridge. Still this is a worthwhile hike, the views from up there are astonishing.

As I said, this hike starts at Mt. Crichton loop track parking (-45.066988, 168.536661). This is quite a big car park, although it can get busy since it's the start for the popular Mount Crichton Loop Track and some other tracks. A toilet is located at the start of the track just in case you need it.

A few hundred meters from the start you will cross the road and a few meters further you will cross a bridge. After crossing the bridge you go to the right and follow the ample track. Some minutes later you have to do a pretty easy river crossing because as the DOC website states there is an alert for the "Bridge destroyed at Māori Gully crossing". This is a long-time alert so it may take some time until the repair the bridge.

For the first two kilometres or so you are on the Mount Crichton Loop Track and then you need to take a left turn to go out of the track. I placed a waypoint on the GPS track named "Leave Mt Crichton loop track". From this point onwards is not an official DOC track anymore, although it seems that people follow this track regularly since there is a clearly visible track on the ground. Don't expect to find DOC orange markers indicating the way though.

As soon as you leave Mount Crichton Loop Track things get a lot steeper.

After a couple of kilometres of being off track you get to Mount Clear (1041 m) where you get a short releave from the steepness and some nice views.

Once you catch your breath and after a short descent you go for another steep 1.2 kilometres until reaching the top of Mount Observer (1432 m). The views from here are already quite mesmerizing. Mount Shadow (1437 m) is barely 200 metres from this point and further on the ridge you can see the highest point we will reach today, Hell's Gate (1723 m).

Getting to Mount Shadow is pretty easy and it takes only a few minutes. After that you go down for about half a kilometre and then you begin the final ascent which is again quite steep and about 1 kilometer long.

Once at the top take your time to enjoy the marvellous views 360 degrees. To the North you have Mount Crichton, Mount Crichton North and you can also see a bit of Lake Isobel.
To the East you have Lake Wakatipu and Thomson Mountains and Livingstone Mountains on the other side of the lake.
South and East you get more of Lake Wakatipu.
While you are ascending you can also see some of Queenstown and Ben Lomond far in the distance.

To go down we just follow the same path that we took to come up.

In summary, nice walk, quite steep to test your endurance and great views to reward you for the effort. A bit deceiving for me that I could not find an easy way to get to Mount Crichton, and perhaps even to Mount Crichton North summits.