Progress on track

Trampers will once again be able to complete the full Rees-Dart walking circuit this summer, nearly two years after river erosion washed away a section of track in the Dart Valley.

A Department of Conservation (Doc) team has been working through the winter on a new track between Bedford Bridge and Dredge Flat.

Doc Wakatipu operations manager Geoff Owen said hand-cutting and marking of the 4.4km section — about two hours’ walk from the Paradise road end — was nearly complete.

However, work would begin next month on the most challenging section — 400m  through a complex bluff system that was "the key to reopening the Dart Track".

It would be the most "variable and volatile" section to deal with, and the team would have to negotiate a way through by blasting rock and building grab-rails and two short staircases, Mr Owen said.

It was also the most hazardous section for Doc staff and trampers, because of the unstable terrain and sheer drops, and would use up the majority of the project’s time and make up the bulk of the cost.

Depending on the weather, the work was expected to be finished in late November.

The erosion is a consequence of a massive landslip in the Dart Valley in January 2014 that caused a 3km-long lake to form further up the valley.

A temporary bypass track was claimed by  erosion a year later, forcing Doc to close the Dart Valley track between Daleys Flat Hut and Bedford Steam.

The Rees-Dart track is a four-to-five day circuit in Mt Aspiring National Park. Both valleys can be accessed from near Glenorchy, or via the more challenging Matukituki Valley-Cascade Saddle route.

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