Worsley-Terminus Ck-Barrier Pk-Dark-Sutherland Sound-Light, 24 December 2020 - 02 January 2021

A Christmas trip to the great Fiordland wilderness that lies west of the Milford Track, partly tracing the steps of legendary Grave, Hunter, Greenfell and Smith, who in 1904 became the first Europeans to cross from the Worsley to Sutherland Sound via the fearsome Hunter Pass and the isolated Dark valley. Our trip involved a previously unexplored route out of the head of Terminus Creek and a traverse of Barrier Peak into the Dark in lieu of Hunter Pass, enabled by packrafts to cross the bluff-ringed lake at the head of Terminus Creek. From Sutherland Sound, we travelled up the Light and crossed into Staircase Creek via Lake Dale, then followed the Milford Track to Milford Sound.
This trip offered a great sense of remoteness and tranquillity and when we had views, the scenery was spectacular and dramatic. A quote from Mark Pickering's 'A Tramper's Journey' sums up the the other side of the coin nicely: 'Typical of Fiordland, there are few places to camp, and no rest from the sandflies when you do. The area demands extreme bush bashing, with almost every ounce of pleasure squeezed out of the experience.'