Mountain Treking, Stargazing & Mueller Hut!!

---

24th March 2009 - TREK UP TO MUELLER HUT - TOUGH BUT WORTH IT!!!

I woke up at around 6.30am and was not impressed to find that I was still in bed. I had just had a dream that had got up, showered and prepared myself for the day and now I had to do it all again! Not fair! It was pitch black outside and so I was pleased that I had organised myself the night before and laid all my clothes out. Very Monica Gellar like! I warmed up in a hot shower before going for breakfast where Nat came to join me. Following breakfast we made our tuna sandwiches to take with us for lunch. It had got bad....no butter, no salad cream or mayo.....just dry tuna and bread! Such suffering going on here!


Once we were sorted for the day we headed out to queue up at the DOC (Department of Conservation) office to put our names down to stay in Mueller Hut for the night. There was a queue and it was a good job we got there early for when it opened. $35 for the night too...talk about extortion but as we really wanted to do it we had no choice in the matter. I did think about asking ‘how much for cash’ but don’t think the lady behind the counter would have cracked a smile or had a clue what I was talking about! Once paid, we headed across to Alpine Guides to hire a backpack for the day as my 10 year old string bag just wasn’t going to cut it this time. Once the bags were hired and on our backs we were ready for the off.....Mueller Hut here we come!


We set off along the first part of the walk along the Kea Point track. It was relatively flat for 30 minutes or so but even on the flat part there were still a few rocks to scramble over. A sign of things to come perhaps!! The air rift trainers were not made for rock climbing or doing exercise of any nature for that matter but even so I had faith in them.....they hadn’t let me down so far on this trip!! At the end of Kea Point track we headed onto the Sealy Tarns Track which went up, up and up! It was all pretty steep and despite it supposedly being a track it could be called anything but. Underfoot was very rocky and in parts quite unstable. There were also parts of the ‘path’ that were just sheer rock face and we had to climb up them to get onto the next section. It was very very steep and tough on the legs though the views were amazing the higher we climbed. Mount Cook looked very impressive and the rest of the Southern Alps surrounding us made it a perfect view. As we walked higher we could see right down into the valley and could appreciate how high we had climbed. The views were definitely worth the pain in the legs though I had a feeling that a deep burn was coming as we continued climbing higher and higher.


After walking, or should I say climbing for a good 2 hours, we made it to the Mueller Hut track. (Don’t worry if you keep calling it Muller Hut......thats what I called it many times before I realised what it actually said!) The track was not a track at all. Basically there were orange poles hammered into the ground at regular intervals and we had to make our way from pole to pole in whatever way we could. It felt like proper rock climbing with no path to follow. We had to scramble over rocks, climb up rocks and grip with our hands. At one steep point the stones were all small and loose underfoot and I kept slipping. Pretty dangerous and so I got low to the ground and used my hands and feet to scrabble up. I may as well have got flat on my belly and snaked up I was that low. The whole Mueller Hut track was almost vertical like Sealy tarns but not as tough on the legs as we weren’t going up as quickly and the terrain was very different. My trainers, as mentioned previously are not made for such activities and knowing how clumsy I have been on this trip and how many times I have stumbled on flat ground I took extra care and watched my footing. Nat seemed to get up a lot quicker but I am sure if I had gone at the same pace I would have been on the news as ‘the English Girl who fell from a mountain whilst wearing inappropriate shoes.’ Better safe than sorry!!


At last we made it to the top. Woo Hoo!! It had taken a while and had been a tough climb but we had climbed as high as we could go and only had the final walk to the hut to go. A french guy made it to the top at a similar time to us. We spoke to him for a while and took in the views around us which were amazing!! Such a sunny day yet surrounded by snow capped mountains. Not something you see every day and I wanted to remember every second. We could see the hut in the distance and I felt pretty excited. I couldn’t wait to get there and stop walking for a while.


It took another 20 minutes of walking over and between rocks before we eventually made it to the hut. The whole walk had been worth it for that moment. Such a surreal setting being in a big hut on the top of a mountain surrounded by the Southern Alps. Once in a lifetime! I sat on a bench outside the hut in the sun and took in my surroundings. Funny to look out and see a red tin/wood building containing toilets at the forefront of what was a postcard view. Awesome!!


Once settled at the hut, I cracked open my snadwiches. I was pretty hungry but the sry tuna still tasted bad. I longed for a bit of salad and some salad cream to make the food I had into a real sandwich. Simple things eh?!! There were a few people at the hut and we all pretty much sat there in silence looking out and taking everything in. Beautiful!! I was pretty content at that point and as the day walkers began to pack up and head off back down the mountain I settled myself onto a bench and listened to my ipod for the best part of 2 hours. Nat went off with the hut guide and 2 french guys to walk up another small mountain behind the hut...Mount Olivier. I stayed at the hut and completely chilled out. I did a lot of thinking too which was nice and eventually fell asleep on the bench in the sun. When I woke 15 minutes later, Nat and the others had just arrived back at the hut. What an amazing place to be!!


We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sun outside the hut. There wasn’t much else to do but that was a good thing as it was just nice to enjoy being where we were without any distractions. Nat did a spot of drawinga dn I wrote some postcards and my journal. Time passed quickly and I never tired of looking around me and seeing the snow glistening in the sun and listening to the sounds of mini avalanches as the snow and ice began to melt. It was hard to tell where they were coing froma s teher were so many mountains around us but I did manage to spot a couple and they just looked like white waterfalls. Pretty impressive!


At around 6ish we had a hut meeting where Greg, our hut guide, spoke with us about Hut rules and safety whilst staying there. Everyone staying in the hut had arrived by this point and there were around 22 of us all together. Pretty cosy! After the meeting it was time to cook tea. We only had whatever food we brought with us and my tea was an Uncle Ben’s basil rice dish. It had been light to carry and was tasty but I needed at least 2 of them to fill me. The one portion I brought would not have filleda hamster let alone myself! Still...I could do with putting on a steak of lean after my indulgences in NZ. Nat has a similar sized Risotto and we washed our meals (loose term) down with a black tea. Milk is one luxury we didn’t carry in our bags...too heavy and it would have gone off in the hot sun!


At aroudn 7.30ish we went outside to watch the sunset. Mount Cook went a pinkish colour and at one point the whol sky went binkish blue. Ther were no clouds and so it was not as impressive as it could ahev been but I thought it still looked amazing! I went and sat on a big rock near the hut to watch the changes as they happened. Fantastic! The photos don’t do the mountains justice!


As the sun fell so did the temperature. It was bloody freezing!! I layered up and sat in the kitchen where people were cooking and it was bit warmer. There were candles out on the tables and there was a nice atmosphere going on with 22 people in there although most groups kept to themselves. Nat and I sat together with Greg and 3 others...a french guy, a Austrian girl and an Irish girl. It was nice and we had a few black teas to warm us through. I was careful not to drink too much though as I did not fancy treking out in the cold night over the rocks to the toilet hut on my own! After sitting inside for a while we layered up even more and a few of us went outside at around 10pm to stargaze!


The sky was so clear and I have never in my life seen so many stars shine so bright! It was like being ina domes room where the ceiling is painted to look like a night sky. The stars were so bright and there were so many that they did not look real. Greg showed us to some constellations and pointed out other stuff too. We saw Orion’s Belt, the Southern Cross and another that I can’t quite remember the name of. The milky way was pretty clear too and I was amazed at that! I saw a few satallites and a couple of shooting starts whilst I was out there too. Yes I did make wishes and no...I won’t share else they won’t come true!! I could ahev stayed there and stargazed all night had I not lost all feeling in my body from the cold. Someone once told me that you don’t feel cold if you relax...she was wrong!! I took the numbness as a hint to go back into the hut and try to get warm!! I felt very luck to be experiencing this!!


Back in the hut I finished writing about my day in my journal and had another cup of black tea before hitting the bed. The beds were basic...basically 2 giant bunk beds (1 in each room) and each bunk had about 8 plastic matresses on. 1 person per plastic matress and plastic pillow! I got my spot next to the wall and Nat. I layered up for bed in 2 jumpers, socks, long pyjamas and a t-shirt as well as getting myself tucked into the blankets that the YHA hostel had lent to us. I hoped they would do the trick and keep me warm...or at least stop me from getting frost bite! I wish the hug in a mug (of soup...see the advert) bear had been there to keep me warm!! I was tireda nd knew I would sleep well if the cold didn’t get to me!


Such an amazing day and one of my best so far!!


25th March 2009 - BACK DOWN TO THE VILLAGE!!

I slept ok considering the cold and the feel of plastic underneath my head from the pillow! I don’t think my feet ever warmed up and I did struggle to get comfy considering that I tried to stay curled in a ball all night but I definitely slept in parts. Not such a bad effort bearing in mind that it was about minus 15 outside the wooden hut and the hut was drafty without any heating! $35 well spent don’t you think?!! I woke up properly at around 6am and did not want to get out of my warm coocoon and step into the cold air!


At 7ish I made myself move as did most people in the hut. We all headed out to sit on the rocks and watch the sunrise. I put everything I owned on as it was so so cold outide and very windy too!! I had on 2 vests, a t-shirt, 3 jumpers, my mac, pj bottoms, trousers and 3 pairs of socks. I even took a blanket out too and Nat kept calling me Yoda!! Whatever keeps me warm...doesn’t matter what I looked like! The wind was so strong we took shelter behind a big rock. Not the best sunrise but the whole package was good as you don’t get to see a sunrise from a mountain top every day! We did get a bit of read colour going on in the sky and the snow topped mountain around us only made it better. A damn good way to wake up!!


Back in the hut we made breakfast - porridge made with water - diagusting!! Nothing else to say on the matter really excapt that I could not wait to get back down to the village for something tasty! The porridge was washed down with more black tea and the group of us from the previous night sat around chatting for a good while. Talked about everything from breakfast to Oz to cheese and hostels. Very random but I enjoyed the chat.....it prolonged the start to going back down the mountain anyway!!


We eventually got ready, packed up and headed off on the 3 hour walk back down!! It was around 10am when we set off so it had got a little warmer and I didn’t look quite so much like a mitchellin man with all the layers. Going down was not good especially near the top on the gravely part. I kept slipping and had to go down so slowly it was ridiculous. It would have been easier (though maybe not safer) to get a sledge and slide down. At one point I kind of used my hired bag as a sledge….laid on my back and I was off. Woooo!!! Hate those little stones though I didn’t fall…on that part anyway!!


After a while the rocks got bigger and the climb down became less dangerous and a bit easier. We had to scramble down the rocks again at first as there was no set path or track but after a while we eventually came to Sealy Tarns track. Not so bad in terms of muscular tiredness but the knees and hieny took some strain especially climbing down the steepest steps ever!! Even the BFG would have had trouble!! After going down for what seemed like for ever my legs began to shake and I fell a couple of times straight on my rear!! Pain!! After just over 2 hours we eventually made it to flat ground again and I was as pleased as punch!! Such a good trip and good views but ‘get me to a café for some nice tasting food’ was all I could think about!! We acted out our fantasy and headed straight to the nearest café! I didn’t order porridge that was for sure!


After filling our bellies we headed to the info centre to try and inquire about doing a walk to see the Tasman Glacier which is a big lump if ice in the middle of a lake. Turned out in was not walkable and the road wasn’t suitable for cycling! We were a little disappointed as it would have been good to see but I am sure my knees and bum were cheering that walking again was off the cards!


Back at the hostel we did some washing as all our clothes were filthy. We even got to hang them out on the line…pure luxury as they would smell fresh and breezy rather than damp! We then settled down in the hostel…used the net, watched a bit of tv and cooked tea and wrote our journals before going to sleep in a warm toasty room unlike the previous night. Pure bliss!!


Cycling on again tomorrow and I prayed for a nice ride. I had a feeling that the legs may be sore and a hard bike ride wasn’t what I ordered! Fingers crossed that the road would be steamrollered over night!!

---