Mueller Hut and Dinner!

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The route to Mueller Hut is the only full day hike here in Mount Cook which people can undertake here without a guide and full ice climbing gear. At 1800m the hut is just above the snow line and a great day walk.

After little sleep the three of us (that’s right, Dick included) head off bright and early to start the route. The route consist of two main sections – the 2010 steps up the mountain side to ‘Sealy Tarns’ and from there, follow the unmade but marked track up the hillside – overcoming large boulders, grassy slopes and a scree slope to the hut.

We made it through the steps to Sealy tarns quickly, all going at our own rate but reconvening every now and again. IT was quite handy the steps up the mountain side, as it was so steep I could see Ana and Dick separately below so I knew they were ok. After setting off at 8.30am we were planning to get there by lunch time, but we actually arrived early, just after 11am. Upon arriving I walked through the small area of snow by the hut and then climbed to the top of the large boulder/rock as it provided a perfect photo spot. This seemed to set a trend, as, when I returned from my scrambling mission up Mount Olliver behind, everybody was having photos at the top of the rock!

I re-joined Ana and Dick who were now tucking into their lunch by the hut, absorbing the views of Mount Cook, Mount Sefton and the other smaller peaks in view. Through out our walk to Muller hut we have been hearing large creaking and cracking noises of avalanches occurring on Mount Sefton, and whilst eating out lunch, I was actually privileged enough to see an avalanche occurring opposite on Mount Sefton. The phenomenal noise was accompanied by a large amount of snow falling and massive clouds of snow dust being thrown into the air and encompassing the area.

After chatting to a lot of people at the top and on the way down, we were down the mountain and back in the village by 3pm, so in total a 6.5hr hour day on walking, not bad considering the guide estimates 8hours! After a shower and bit of chill time Dick decided he wanted to celebrate making it to Mueller hut and back successfully by insisting he take us to dinner at The Hermitage. The restaurant was amazing, I felt slightly out of place as a so called backpacker, but luckily I had managed to scramble together something resembling a smart outfit for the occasion. The food was beautiful, I had salmon which was delicious with fabulous combinations that I never would have put together including brown lentils, leek and smoked aubergine. After dinner we headed back to the hostel and re-joined the ‘real’ backpacker world.

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