I can’t remember where I first heard about the Dusky Track in Southern Fiordland. Over the years I’ve read about it on blogs, magazines and even in a bookshop in Belgium. Yet I had never quite managed to make it, thwarted by bad weather, tight time frames and flakey party members. However I can now say that the OUTC email list will be pleased to know I will no longer be sending any emails about the Dusky Track. By mid-November 2020 a weather window appeared to be opening, long enough to get past the critical choke points of the track. Our crack team consisted of Jakob with whom I have had many ‘memorable’ tramping experiences with in the past and Mathew, a totally unknown quantity. What’s the worst that could happen? (#FivePasses2019). In order to avoid the $300 boat costs to each end of the track we devised a route that would take us in a loop from the Borland road. As always Danilo’s blog provided inspiration and soon we had penciled a route on CE06 based on what Danilo had done 17 years prior. We would cross the Grebe, continue up the Florence, climb a chain of lakes before dropping over the Merrie Range to Lake Roe. At the other end of the Dusky we would climb up to Percy saddle and bridge the gap with Borland Road using a bike carry route. Other money saving endeavors included foregoing pre-dehydrated food with the exception of peas and potato flakes. Our diet would devolve by the last days into an…
