I woke early excited to start the Milford Track, labeled as one of the  “finest walks in the world”.  The area is a rainforest that had been carved by glaciers, leaving a 600 feet plus deep Lake Te Anau.

We started with a couple of Millers bacon and egg pies for breakfast and headed to Te Anau Downs. It is basically a wharf where we caught the boat that took us 90 minutes to the end of Lake Te Anau and Glade Wharf to start the 4 day, 3 night 53km hike.  As we took the boat ride we crossed over the 45th parallel, that is, half way between the equator and the South Pole.  The ascent over the first two and half days is 2,500 feet to Mackinnon Pass then down 3,500 feet to Milford Sound.

The first day hike to Clinton Hut was a short 5k along the Clinton river through very green, mossy beech forest. Another beautiful crystal clear, cold New Zealand stream!  Along the way we saw a couple of beautiful whio/blue duck which are rare in New Zealand with the Milford Track being one of the few places to find them.

Being day one we packed in some cheese and chicken sandwiches.  The rest of the meals will be the freeze dried variety.  Tonight, Chicken Tikka Masala…(dreaming about Chutney’s in Sarasota Florida)!

We arrived at the Clinton Hut just around 1 pm, beating the rain.  The forecast was for heavy rain through mid morning tomorrow.  Hopefully clearing the next day as we start a 6 hour 16.5k steady climb to Lake Mintaro and Mintaro Hut where we will get our first view of Mackinnon Pass.

We enjoyed eating our freeze dried chicken tikka with our new cabin mates.  A new kiwi friend Karen, a couple young ladies from Belgium who are nurses traveling the globe and a Canadian couple living in Denver.  We covered a lot of international cultural topics and solved many world problems.  Solution – just go drink beer in Belgium!

The rain came down very steady as we turned into our bunks at 8:30 pm.  The hut ranger debriefed us on the hike for the next day, which includes crossing the Marlene River.  There is no bridge over the river as it was destroyed by a rock fall.  If the river is too high when we reach it, we may need to wait until it recedes.  Looking forward to hopefully a dry long ascent tomorrow after an early breakfast.

Milford Track Day 2

We woke to a steady hard rain.  It drowned out the few snorers we had this morning.  It must have drowned out an earthquake that one of the guests felt around 1 am (apparently there was a 4.7 magnitude 40 km southwest of Milford Sound…about where we were!)  We were surprised to see so few up by 6:30 given everyone was in bed by 9 pm!  We had our bagel, peanut butter, Apple and cheese for breakfast along with our instant coffee and tea.  Then off for the day’s 16.5k hike estimated for six hours.

Most of the morning was light rain just enough so we had to wear our rain pants and jacket.  This made for a warm walk even though the temps were probably in the 60s.  The Gore-tex material did not breathe that well!

Most of the hike followed the pristine Clinton river and lush, green, moss covered forest.  About two thirds along the way we entered a valley in which we were surrounded by tall sheer cliffs and dozens of long waterfalls that flow into Lake Mintaro and the Clinton River.  We stopped at a shelter along the way about 12:30 pm and ate our “lunch”…a couple protein bars.  Some of our mates had tortilla with vegemite… I will stick with the protein bar :).

The Marlene River was not too full with water, so we were able to cross without any trouble other then crossing the many large rocks and boulders that make up the enormous river bed.  We were able to see the old bridge that must have been crushed in some raging water this season.  This is also the spot were a lady drowned last winter when she was advised not to cross.  She was swept away and found weeks later drowned downstream.

We arrived at the hut at 2 pm as predicted after a final steep rocky ascent. We then enjoyed a snack, a cup of soup, and the last of the cheese and crackers.  The rest of the afternoon we spent by the wood stove talking to some new kiwi friends, two bothers, a sister and their mother doing the hike.  My guess is the mum was in her 70s outhiking both of us!  We chatted a bit more with the Belgian young ladies and a new 23 year old Thai man that is interested in going to business school.  It was fun talking about the culture of his country and the possibilities he is considering around the world!

After our spicy Thai Curry Chicken, a  KitKat bar for dessert and a debrief by the young lady hut ranger, it was another earlier night.  This was the hut ranger’s seventh year working at the hut in this remote area!  Looking forward to a “fine” day tomorrow, which was the extent of the forecast delivered by the hut ranger.  She did not elaborate joking “you know as much as I do now”.  This could mean sun!  She warned us to hang anything up tonight that was out on the porch floor to avoid any carnage from the mischievous Alpine Parrot, the infamous Kea.  A steep climb up to Mackinnon Pass awaits us tomorrow before a steep decent!

Milford Track Day 3

Wow what a day of contrasts!  We were the first to leave the Mintaro hut for a 2:15 minute hike up to McKinnon Pass.  It was a steady ascent up for 700m+ (over 2,500 feet).  Most all of it was rain free and wind free until we turned a rocky corner. The wind came and we were enveloped in clouds and strong winds…my guess, 100k or 60 mph.  We knew then we had reached Mackinnon Pass!  I estimate the wind chill was at or below freezing.  It was quite cold!  I was running to the hut on top of mount Mackinnon.  This is a hut that had been blown off the mountain top before!  It has a gas burner and a cistern that collects rain water.  It felt like we were going to get blown off the mountain just trying to make it to this hut.

We had left the prior hut early, around 7:45 am.  So we were actually the second couple to make it to this hut.  Slowly other hikers made it to the hut, all of us waiting for the weather to clear.  We decided along with a young man from Israel that 1) the weather may not clear for hours or maybe even the whole day and 2) the hut was not going to get any warmer and walking would warm us up.  Thus the three of us set out.  After we started down the mountain for about ten minutes and turned a corner we were welcomed by some of the most incredible beauty I have seen…majestic towering mountains, incredible colors of green as a result of the rainforest and long waterfalls streaming down the sheer cliffs.  The weather was competing on the two sides of the mountains. The clouds, fog and cold air on one side and the clear skies on the other.  Clouds were billowing and pouring over the mountain top making for an incredible scene.

This was the start of a 1000m descent that has remarkable landscapes all the way down.  Dozens of waterfalls stream down vast mountainsides feeding fast moving streams and more waterfalls.  After descending down to the tree line the lush greenery of trees, ferns and moss was outstanding.

At one point we were briefly joined by a curious Weka, a flightless large brown bird with a plump body.  The bird seemed to want to even follow us down the trail a bit!

Off in the distance we could see Sutherland Falls streaming down a towering cliff.  These falls are one of the longest in New Zealand falling 580 metres (1,904 feet).  We would see these falls again as we would near Dumpling Hut our accommodations for the evening!  Spectacular!

Finally we made it to Dumpling Hut, secured our bunks and followed our new kiwi friend Karen down to the fridged stream and swimming hole for a quick plunge.  We were guessing the stream temperature was just above freezing.  Probably not that cold but not far from it!  The water was crystal clear and probably the purest and best water I have tasted.

We then settle into our end of the day routine of cup of soup and tea followed by our freeze dried dinner.  Tonight we enjoyed beef curry!

Off to bed early as we will start our hike tomorrow at 7 am in the dark to ensure we catch our boat ride out at 2 pm!

The day’s journey was a long one with rapidly changing weather and scenery.  The 14k or 9 miles with a steep ascent and descent makes for some sore legs, sore feet but a good nights sleep in a warm sleeping bag on a chilly Milford sound night.

Milford Track Day 4

The final day of the Milford Track is 18k or 11.5m down to Sandfly Point and Milford Sound.  We started out at 6:56 am to make sure we made the 2 pm boat to take us across the lake to catch the tracknet bus back to Te Anau.   We ended up finishing at 12:15pm. The thought of an eventual shower, burger and cold beer keep ya moving!  The early morning trek started in the dark.  Shortly after we started we were met by the Weka bird again.

It was a beautiful peaceful morning hike, mostly flat and dry with the river beside us much of the way.  Giants Gate and Mackay falls were two beauties along the way down.

And finally, the trek comes to an end…33.5 miles that they call a “walk” in New Zealand!

 

A remarkable view as we await our boat ride out of this wonderland!

And a few more pics from this Great Walk!