i started out adding to the current thread on info around the routebutn, but i ended up straying off into a different topic so am posting it as a different thread. the other side of lake mackenzie lake on the routebun is a boulder field and the rangers can take a dim view because its not technically far enough from a great walk to allow camping. they are cracking down on illegal camping its a big problem, make sure you're 500m away from the track and its facilities and side tracks, and that is easier said than done in a lot of places around there. unfortunately illegal campers are giving other people a bad name, i've seen them leave all their rubbish behind, take advantage of walking the track for nothing and expect to be able to leave their rubbish behind, the rules are that everything has to be packed out, theres no rubbish bins at the huts or campsites. Europeans are more used to more facilities around, but from what i've heard theres also a lot of problems in europe on more popular routes with people just doing their toilet out in the open and not covering it up afterwards or randomly dumping rubbish... the rangers are over worked as it is, they dont want to play policeman but they are made to with their job. the popularity of the great walks will be their undoing.
the rules around the great walks are strange, if you're not paying for a campsite or hut , you can still walk on the track if you have to overnight, as long as you get 500m away from the track, so that rule discourages a lot of people, it can be pretty rough country off track in places on great walks and they often arent into walking off track, and dont want to have to walk 500m through steep terrain thats rough underfoot or through thick forest, where it can be hard to find a campsite in places, especially on the milford where most of the terrain near the track is near vertical, so it minimises the no of people who overnight for free.. so people try and camp wherever they can, and dont care that its within 500m of the track, if its out of sight, or if they dont think theres a ranger around they will camp in sight of the track, and in places the bush is so thick in places you could camp out of sight of the track within 100m of the track, so the 500m rule becomes an honesty system which gets abused a lot. so the rule doesnt work, but its still a rule that is expected to be followed, the govt are looking at giving rangers more power to issue fines on people, it wouldnt surprise me if they get the power to expel people from parks as they do overseas, because at present people arent that worried about breaking the rules, they probably dont think anything serious will come of it if they get caught, but they are going to ruin it for other people in the end and it will be more like america where rangers are more like policemen in the parks.
the 500m rule seems like a rule that is there to discourage people wanting to walk the tracks without paying, but it doesnt stop it happening and doesnt outright say you can't do that. the rules may get tighter, a fortune is spent on the great walks and the govt want their value for money from them and are looking at them more like a cash cow, they have increased hut fees and are talking about charging more for overseas visitors, which will just increase the amount of people looking to camp for free on the tracks since a lot of poor backpackers walk the tracks.. its up to $70 a night at some of the great walk huts now, day walkers can stop at huts for nothing, they arent supposed to use the gas but I've repeatedly seem them do it half the time i talk to someone using th stove in the middle of the day, they are day walkers, so overnight walkers are subsidising everything for overseas day walkers.
those old enough to remember will recall that the milford track used to be only for people willing to pay for fully serviced huts and it cost a great deal more to work than using current DOC huts.... fully serviced huts have been expanding on the routeburn, even though the park plan bans it.... but we seem to be edging back towards a model of more exclusive access, the govt are using the Dept of conservation more and more like an eco tourism organisation and privatising as much as they can.... the reality is some walks like the routeburn are so popular they could still fill up the huts if they kept ratcheting up the fees and the govt are aware of that, and thats what they are slowly doing, it wasnt that long ago that the routeburn huts were half the price of what they are today. the track is turned more into a footpath and road every year, mission creep.... most NZ trampers generally avoid the great walks and there isnt the political interst from them to effectively stop what the govt are doing, in a way those walks are seen as sacrificial lambs, let the masses inundate those tracks so they can have peace and quiet on tracks elsewhere