It wasn’t bad when we went two years ago. It was peak season – Christmas Break (their summer), and we had to type fast, at 8:00 am New Zealand time, a particular day months in advance, to get the dates we wanted. We met other families who hadn’t typed fast enough.
There are limited beds in each hut and limited numbers on the private trips (their huts are off the trail). Everyone is going in the same direction, so you don’t have the opposing foot traffic that you do in GCNP and YNP on their iconic hikes (down to the Colorado, up Half Dome, etc). And the permitted numbers are much lower, per day.
We found everyone to be friendly and most people to be interesting. There was some separation between the public hut backpackers (who carry backpacks with food and clothes but sleeping pads, a roof, stoves, and pots are provided at the public huts) and the people on private trips (who only had day packs because linens, meals, etc are provided to them each night. No antagonism, just that you get to know the people you cooked and ate alongside the previous nights.
And it wasn’t all that different than when we went 20 years ago. I guess the private trips are a new thing, but the public huts didn’t seem bigger than before (we did Milford Sound this time, another in the area last time, and both times we did a trip in the coastal Abel Tasman NP). I can imagine someone who hiked there 30-40 years might be disappointed by the “crowds”, but I wasn’t. We didn’t see toilet paper or waste along any of the trails. There are with New Zealanders and other like-minded people whining through there who (1) don’t, for the most part, litter and (2) would pick up after other people.
They are “Great Walks” for good reason. You know how many waterfalls there are in Yosemite? Most bends in the Milford Sound trail show you that many more every few kilometers. Been watching the trail for 5 minutes? Look up, there are several more waterfalls to look at! We appreciated the nature talks given at each hut. The infrastructure is thoughtful and well-developed. Water taxis ferry you to the start and from the end; reserved public buses complete the return trip. It would be fabulous if USA parks were are easy to thru-hike (you know, not requiring two private vehicles and an extra driver).
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