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The start of the hike
Amazing view to start with24/3/09 = An absolutely brilliant day up Mt Cook
Woke up to darkness and sound of 7:15 alarm. Scuttled off for breakfast and made most awful sandwiches ever. Tuna, with no mix, just dry tuna...and no butter for bread. So = drz bread and dry tuna. Not looking forward to those. Got dressed and ready for 8:15 set off. Had to store all other belongings in a locker, then trundled off to Doc office to try and get a spot in Mueller hut. Closed when we got there, but already people waiting. Got straight in when they opened doors and paid our $35. Place secured. Went off to posh hotel then (Hermitage) = also place where rental shop was. Everything inside that hotel. Managed to dodge paying for sleeping bag because lovely lady from hostel gave us some thick blankets to take; all needed was a backback. Shoulder 'I love Byron Bay' beach bag = not quite right for a mountain trek. V.disappointed to find that had run out of small $12 rucksacks, so had to pay $20 for giant bags that didn't even need...they were basically as big as our normal backpacks. What a waste! Re-packed, bought a
few postcards to write up there and off we went...
Walked out of town and towards the Kea Track, Mt Cook massive in the background all the way. Was a flat path at first, across constructed paths and footbridges, then had to cut off Kea Point and join track to Sealy Tarns. That’s where hard work began. No longer a walk and no longer a path, was no a climb across a track. Ascent started with really steep and not all that helpful steps. Really hard work on the poor thighs and they were still in shock from ride yesterday. Realised within minutes that had definitely underestimated how tough this walk was going to be. People had said to us that they weren’t “fit enough” to do it, but thought they were just exaggerating. Even when spoke to people who said they “had to turn back half way”, still didn’t take note. Taking note now alright! Track did not flatten off and the awful, unhelpful steps never ended. Only made it worse that it was a beautiful, sunny day = us dripping with sweat.
30mins into climb up Sealy Tarn, had an amazing view of mountains,
ground below and town to right. Brilliant. Had regular breaks to look out…and to regain some oxygen…and to let legs rest. Then track changed. Steps disappeared, which though could only be a good thing…right? Wrong. Now had giant rocks and boulders to scrabble over, some of which actually required crawling on all 4s. This is not a walk…this is a climb!A really hard, steep climb. Absence of steps only made things harder. Had to be really vigilant of floor = loose rocks and gravel. The views were amazing though.
When Sealy Tarns ended, got into a great spot where could stop and have lunch. Was a mini lake half way up mountain. Looked beautiful. Shame that neither of us hungry, just wanted to carry on and get there. Now, there was no path and not even a track, just orange markers pointing out the general direction to walk - I mean climb -in. How you got to markers was your choice. Would rather not have a choice. All ground = patches of grass, rocks and boulders. Involved more puffing and panting, more burning in thighs and definitely more sweating to get up this part of mountain. Not a
could in the sky…how typical. Fought way up most of it, but as got nearer to top, both finding it hard, especially Deb. She was getting worried about how much further it was, but we ploughed ahead anyway. Ground got v.loose. Boulders turned to stones and stones turned to tiny bits of gravel, so that it was slippy and quite dangerous. Had to be really careful on this bit; lost footing a few times and this high up = definitely not a place want to fall from.
Didn’t stop to look at view as much because climb was quite vertical at this stage and beginning to feel uncomfortable with height. Head down and ploughed on. Deb dropped behind a little and after 5mins, turned around to see her sitting on a rock, upset and crying. Didn’t know what was wrong and she didn’t want to say. Difficult situation really, because ¾ way up a mountain and dangling off edge = not exactly a place I wanted to stop. Waited until she got up, then both carried on v.slowly to top. I kept facing forwards and looking down; was only thing I could do.
So happy when
we did get to top…so v.v.vhappy. Could finally look down because were now standing on flat ground and not dangling over an edge. Wow…amazing view. Looking around when noticed a French guy (Ollivier) who had also just made it to top. Chatted to him for a while, me and Deb both needing some quiet time I think. All made our way across to Mueller Hut. Still around 20mins walking before got to hut. Brilliant place to be walking though…we were now trekking amongst mountain peaks, cushioned in a high valley. Snowy mountain tops on all sides; amazing. Seeing Mueller Hut for first time made it all worthwhile. There it was, a red, metal building, built on rubble, plonked in this high valley, surrounded by peaks of snow. So cool. Had to scramble through some more boulders, then 20mins later, arrived at final destination.
What a cool place, it really was, and totally surreal to see a house in such a place. Mt Cook and Southern Alps all around us…amazing. Sat down in boiling hot sunshine = another weird thing when can see so much snow, and ate awful tuna sandwiches. They were awful…so dry throat nearly closed up
in rejection of them. Forced food in and chatted to Ollivier; Deb laid quietly on bench and listened to music. Needed some time. Decided while chatting to do extra climb up Mt Ollivier (yes, same name as French guy) = another peak right behind hut. Don’t know why, must have been on some kind of adrenaline high; just wanted to keep going. Like that feeling of pushing body to limit and it definitely must be near limit. Asked warden = Greg about it and he was going up too, so we (me, Ollivier and an Israeli guy whose name I didn’t get) set off for next climb.
Mt Ollivier = nothing like the image you will have conjured, because didn’t at all look like a mountain to me. It was basically a giant pile of rubble, like the leftovers of a landslide all scooped together to form a mound. Not what I had imagined. This was even more of a climb than first one. Had to scramble using hands and feet all way up. Was good, but was parts of this that got really scared…properly scared. Were getting higher and higher off ground and climbing way
too close to edge for me. Couldn’t crawl over these boulders, had to crawl around them, sometimes on tip toes because exposed ledge was so thin…and was nothing but thousands of feet to fall back to earth if so much as placed toe wrong. Didn’t like it….didn’t like it at all. Had to keep looking forward and talking so didn’t think about the sheer drop behind me. Deep breaths…deep breaths. Good thing was that it only took 30mins. No stopping, straight up and 30mins later we were at an altitude of 1933ms. Couldn’t have been more happy when arrived on that flat peak. Done it…have now climbed to a proper mountain peak…right to the top. One life goal achieved. Was worth the heart racing climb.
View from Mt Ollivier was even better than earlier views. Now higher than lots of other mountain peaks and not only looking down at the town and valley below, but also looking down on snowy peaks and valleys. Awesome. Took our victory photos, then started the scramble back down, which was worse than the climb up because could see everything below. Funny really, if it hadn’t been for physical challenge and sense of
achievement, would probably have been more scared now than when did bungy. At least when did bungy had a harness to save me…now all had to rely on was grip of hands and battered trainers…but neither have failed me yet! Had to use our hands, feet and bums top get down, sliding off boulders in parts. Greg was really good though and made sure we were all o.k. He also kept talking and telling us loads about area, which was interesting and calmed me down. Not surprised he was so friendly though. Being a warden = a voluntary job and have to live in hut for a week, relying on visitors like us as only company for him. Pretty cool experience, but not sure I could stay there for a week…would need some kind of T.V. at least.
Went back to hut then and glad to see Deb was awake and up. Chatted to French and Israeli guys for a while before they started climb back down - they weren’t staying night - then they set off and I finished lovely tuna sandwiches. Took 2 sittings to force them in. Such a brilliant day so far. One of
best days ever had. Sat eating and watching/listening to avalanches. Never seen an avalanche before, but happen all time up here, just little ones. Hear sound like thunder across valley, then see rain of snow as it scatters like a snow waterfall. Awesome. So many things = such a unique experience up here for me. That includes outdoor toilet. Tried to hold off using it, but couldn’t last 24hrs. This toilet = a metal building suspended on a metal frame to allow for the long drop. Hate long drops…even the name of them is bad. The smell = lot worse than the name though…lot worse. Wish could have got a copy of the poster illustrating how to use the toilet, because that was a keeper. It basically outlined that you had to change your position on toilet depending on what you went there to do. Certain things had to fall down front of toilet and certain things had to fall down back. It was sectioned. As can imagine, the poster illustrating this was quite entertaining as it had to be totally pictorial to account for all different nationalities of people visiting hut. Poster = priceless…and it was hand-drawn!
All climbs done, lunch eaten and was only 3:45. Decided to sit down and do some sketching. Been along time and is rare that have time to just sit somewhere so beautiful. Sat and drew part of Southern Alps + toilet. Toilet might seem like a strange choice, but is was such a feature up there in a snowy mountain valley with nothing else around. Did that for 2 hrs, then was time for hut meeting at 6pm. Still boiling hot outside. Greg went over basic rules of hut, then we made dinner. Dinner = dehydrated food, same as everyone else had. Both bought a ‘just add water’ rice meal. Only thing could have. Mueller hut = only a hut. Had a few gas burners and that was it. You even had to take own plates, cutlery and cooking utensils up. We didn’t, managed to find some odd bits, but you were supposed to. No washing up facilities either. Just collected rain water and hands. V.much back to basics. Food was o.k. though. Definitely, definitely not best ever eaten, but not worst either and at least filled a hole.
Started to get cold just before 7pm - amazing
how quickly temperature dropped. Went from a single T-shirt to 2 T-shirts and 2 jumpers. Chatted to Greg for a while - he was v.happy to meet some people who spoke good English…well…English - and drunk black tea to warm through. This is the life. At 8pm, was time for sunset. All congregated out on balcony like the Walton family and watched as sun dipped below mountain tops and fell behind them into valley. Not a cloud in sky, so wasn’t as beautiful as it could have been if turned clouds red, but Mt Cook still changed colour and it was beautiful to watch. Just a brilliant experience more than anything. Got colder still after that, so made another delicious black tea and read book by candlelight. Do have lights in hut despite lack of electricity, but v.low impact lights and weren’t allowed them on for long.
By 9:30 it was pitch black, so could finally go out and look at stars. This part of NZ supposed to be one of best places in world to view stars and all way up here should be even better. Really excited and Greg said he would point some of constellations
out to us too; never even seen a constellation before. V.excited. As soon as stepped out of door, was amazing. Never, ever seen stars like it in my 25yrs of life. (Am aware have said that a lot in this blog, but it’s just so often true). Sky was littered with literally millions of stars. It was like a dimmer switch had been turned up and stars were brighter here. They even looked closer too. AMAZING. Greg pointed out Milky Way -which never seen before, but could see really clearly now -, Southern Cross and Orion’s Belt. Saw a shooting star and even saw a satellite. No-one else was really impressed by satellites, but I’d never seen one before, so I thought it was amazing. I thought it was all amazing. We were standing in front of hut at this point, but Greg led us further away from it to get away from lights, so that stars would look even brighter. Used torches (and in my case my phone) to navigate across rocks into a sufficiently dark spot. All looked up again; all silenced. Saw another shooting star and another satellite. Loved it. Could have stayed there all night had
it not been for the cold. Wearing all the clothing items I had brought and still freezing; not looking forward to trying to sleep.
Used toilet for hopefully last time - didn’t fancy a trek out to that in dark - then headed back to hut. Freezing cold inside hut, let alone outside. Really should invest in some kind of heating up there. Chatted for a while, then headed to bed, mainly to try and get warm. Bedroom = v.funny. It consisted of 2 long shelves, which you then put a thin plastic mattress down on, so that you were all sleeping in lines; one line below and one line above. We were v.lucky to get there early enough that day to reserve a plastic pillow too….ooooo…lucky. Some people already in bed, so climbed on our plastic mattress and tried to make a warm bed using hostel blankets. So glad had hostel blankets. Used them and a not so good looking wire-wool blanket found in hut to make a bed. Put on pyjamas, 2 pairs of socks, 2 jumpers and tucked myself right in…just like your Grandma used to tuck you in. Still cold…especially feet; they were like
ice blocks. Tucked in and closed eyes trying to pretend I was warm. Didn’t work for a while and being right next to window didn’t help either, because all could do was look out at amazing stars, but eventually did get off to sleep. Few snorers here and there, as always, but nothing major and had stars to take my mind off it.
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