The weather wasn't looking brill but we decided to make the most of the Easter break and head out to walk the Gillespie Pass track, an excellent 58km, three day round trip through river valleys, native forests and spectacular mountain scenery. There are numerous huts to stay at along the way such as Young and Siberia Huts but, even with the iffy weather, we decided to camp out.

We left Makarora mid morning, leaving the car in the 'Trampers Car Park' opposite the visitor centre. It took us 1 hour from the visitor centre to reach the start of the track after crossing the Makarora River. The walk up the Young valley is well trodden with a few steep sections, after 5 hours we reached the Young hut, a quick water stop we carried on for another hour to reach our camping spot at the head of the Young Valley, a stunning basin surrounded by towering rock faces.

After a wet night we awoke to waterfalls plummeting down from the tops of the basin, a great backdrop as we ate breakfast. We climbed the steep pass eventually reaching the saddle, unfortunately we were not rewarded with spectacular view as far as the eye could see but rather dramatic misty mountain top. We continued down the other side to reach the pleasant flats of the Siberia Valley and eventually Siberia hut 5 hours after leaving camp.

By this point we had decided to walk out rather than spend another night in the incoming bad weather, we knew we were in for a long day the walk out down the Wilkin River took 5 hours from Siberia Hut, thankfully we skipped alot of the rough track through the lower valley forest by walking along the river bed.

By the time we reached the Makarora river the light was fading but we managed to cross in the nick of time. Emma stayed put while I took the 4.5km jog in the dark with soggy boots to the car. Lee & Emma. 30th-31st March 2013.

Wilkin Valley. This is the Jet boat drop off/Pick up point

End of a long day. We could hardly walk once we got home