March 12, 2003
After going to bed about 1:00 am, my 7:00 alarm was not welcome. I laid in bed for awhile, then knew I had to get going.
I finished packing my pack. I decided not to carry my tent. Laurie says I am a martyr, so I decided to leave it back with some other things. To tell you the truth, I don't feel that much different. Of course I added a few things.
Last night we met two girls from England, Emma and Sharon. We found out they were also traveling for a year. They have been out five months. They gave us some suggestions. One was a name of a place to stay in Bangkok. I asked them about traveling around Europe. Laurie and I have been thinking about ditching our tents and doing B & Bs and hostels. It will make it much easier to travel.
I checked my email because there is such a time difference, I figured people might have received my messages that I sent last night. I had about 14. I love to get messages.
By the time I got to the DOC it was 9:45. The Kepler Track can start right there, so we started walking. The first part was flat, the middle, most of it was up, and the last part was mostly level. It was tiring and the sweat was pouring down my face. When I stopped though, I would get chilled, because it was cool out.
I decided that I needed to stop at least once and take off my boots and let them air out and rest.
I saw these large limestone (I know they are limestone because the book said so) bluffs. They were about 50 feet high. It said that originally these bluffs were formed 3040 billion years ago underwater and that about 10 million years ago it said that they were pushed up. It is amazing. I just can't fathom billions of years ago. I have trouble with just one year.
There was a time that I thought it was raining, but actually they were these tiny leaves like the size of rolled oats, fluttering down off the trees. I later found out they were beech tree leaves.
The other thing that was really neat looking were all of these trees had moss like stuff hanging down from the branches. It was like sea foam color. There was dew dripping off the trees and moss. It only needed the glowworms to make a New Zealand Christmas tree. The ranger told me it was actually lichen called Old Man's Beard.
Eventually I broke out above tree line. The sign told me the hut was only 45 minutes. It certainly put a spring in my step. The view was great. I was walking through meadow and had views of the mountains across from me, Lake Te Anau below me and farm land across the lake.
A good part of the trail that was above bush line had a narrow boardwalk. This is to protect the alpine flowers.
I arrived at the shelter and there were a lot of people here. This track is run a little different from the Milford. First of all, it is a loop and you can go either way. So we won't be traveling with all of the same people like the last hike.
The hut is similar to an AMC hut. The bunks are tight quarters. Most of the bunks were taken, but I was able to get one on top. Also, some bunks are set up like shelters, one big platform.
I met a couple from NYC and one from Seattle. We talked at great length to the ones from NYC about our trip. They retired young. I'd say in their 40's. They are spending 2 months in NZ, but are interested in traveling more and are also interested in doing the Wanderlund Trail in Mt. Rainer National Park.
There are some caves here so we went to check them out. They had stalactites. It was cool, as in temperature and as in keen. When we got back, the ranger was giving a nature walk and talk so we joined him. We snuck out early so we could go make dinner before they all came back. Oh, one neat thing he showed us was a stoat. It was preserved, didn't have much of a face, it's fur was tannish in color, and it's teeth looked sharp and mean.
In to bed early. It is 9:17. We did about 11 miles today. My muscles ache, but my friend told me I couldn't whine and that I have to suck it up. So I will try not to whine. I decided I would gladly pay for a massage therapist to join me to massage my feet and legs. We have only been gone two weeks and it seems like forever.
March 13, 2003
I got up hoping to see the sunrise. The hut, which was called Luxmore Hut, was high and in an open area with mountains surrounding us. The weather wasn't cooperating for a sunrise.
Got on the trail about 9:00. The trail was up, to get us higher on the ridge line. Shortly after I left the hut, I heard a helicopter. It was making a delivery to the hut. The cargo was attached by cable or something. It looked like it was gas tanks that they were delivering. It was pretty neat to watch them land. There was a side trip to Luxmore Mountain. We took it and at the top we had a 360 degree view of fog.
We continued to get higher and higher. Eventually we were on the ridgeline. The trail reminded me a lot of Franconia Ridge, but the mountains were a lot different. There were so many of them and so close. We were above bush line quite aways. I really enjoyed being above treeline. You can see where you have come from and where you are going plus you have all these views--as long as the weather is good. Being on the ridgeline in bad weather is a totally different experience. One thing they have are emergency shelters in case of bad weather. We stopped at the last emergency shelter and had lunch. Met a girl from northern Spain. I asked if she had any suggestion for hikes up there, so she gave me a couple. After the hut, the trail goes down and eventually into the bush. Got down to the hut about 3:00. Sat down to take my boots off. You can't wear them in the hut. Which is a good idea, not dirt or mess. Anyway,
