Nolan and I spent the last 4 nights tramping from Lake Ohau to Lake Wanaka.
Our first day we hitched from twizel to Lake Ohau, where we started a 800m climb up to Ahuriri saddle. Around 500m up we broke free from the trees and got an unbelievable view of the beautiful blue Lake Ohau. Several small waterfalls cascaded past around us. We reached a fairly flat saddle, and looked up just in time to see a glider fly through a few straggling clouds. We then made our way down the rocky river to East Ahuriri hut, where a young German named Fabian caught up with us. We had met Fabian 40 days prior - we camped with him at Schoolhouse Bay, our first night of the TA on the Queen Charlotte Track!
The following day we walked the rest of the river down to the Ahuriri river, which normally is the largest river of the TA but was low enough for us to safely cross. On the other side we saw the most majestic elk we've ever seen. 17 points, and 20 meters away against a blue sky background. We couldn't believe our luck, until we walked another kilometer and realized it was an exotic antlered animal farm. All sorts of unusual creatures - one of them had pink webbed antlers. Legitimately. Continuing up the hill we passed a couple waterfalls and made it to Tin Hut, where we stayed with Fabian again. As wonderfully warm, light, and compressible as our sleeping quilts from Enlightened Equipment are, it is unfortunate that the adjustable hole at the bottom providing air flow can double as a mouse entrance (note - to be fair, I could have closed the hole all the way. But it was a warm night!). Mice ate my bowl in the night. Never underestimate a rodent.
The next morning we walked a short 12k over a gorgeous saddle to Top Timaru Hut, where we stayed because the forecast said rain and because Nolan got no sleep in tin hut (mice crawling around on him).
We got an early 8 o clock start the next morning and walked down the wooded river bed for a gorgeous 5k. One of my favorite sections of the TA, and it wasn't even on the trail! When the flow got too strong we hopped on the trail and climbed uphill to Stodys Hut, then walked along a Ridge until we got up to Breast Hill. An amazing view of Mt. Aspiring National Park and Lake Hawea greeted us at the summit, and sparce cloud cover allowed us to see for kilometers and kilometers. We made it down to Pakatuhi hut at 7. This was probably our hardest day yet - 26.5k, 11 hours, and over 1300m of elevation gain and 900m of elevation loss. Sore legs, but we're definitely in much much much better shape than the first time we saw fabian!
This morning fabian, Nolan and I descended the 1 000 meters to Lake Hawea, where Nolan and I hitched to Wanaka. We intend to stay here for a rest day tomorrow.
Note - I spent 3 hours last night uploading these 3 pictures. I am done with trying to put pictures on weebly for the moment. Check our Facebook page for photos.
Our first day we hitched from twizel to Lake Ohau, where we started a 800m climb up to Ahuriri saddle. Around 500m up we broke free from the trees and got an unbelievable view of the beautiful blue Lake Ohau. Several small waterfalls cascaded past around us. We reached a fairly flat saddle, and looked up just in time to see a glider fly through a few straggling clouds. We then made our way down the rocky river to East Ahuriri hut, where a young German named Fabian caught up with us. We had met Fabian 40 days prior - we camped with him at Schoolhouse Bay, our first night of the TA on the Queen Charlotte Track!
The following day we walked the rest of the river down to the Ahuriri river, which normally is the largest river of the TA but was low enough for us to safely cross. On the other side we saw the most majestic elk we've ever seen. 17 points, and 20 meters away against a blue sky background. We couldn't believe our luck, until we walked another kilometer and realized it was an exotic antlered animal farm. All sorts of unusual creatures - one of them had pink webbed antlers. Legitimately. Continuing up the hill we passed a couple waterfalls and made it to Tin Hut, where we stayed with Fabian again. As wonderfully warm, light, and compressible as our sleeping quilts from Enlightened Equipment are, it is unfortunate that the adjustable hole at the bottom providing air flow can double as a mouse entrance (note - to be fair, I could have closed the hole all the way. But it was a warm night!). Mice ate my bowl in the night. Never underestimate a rodent.
The next morning we walked a short 12k over a gorgeous saddle to Top Timaru Hut, where we stayed because the forecast said rain and because Nolan got no sleep in tin hut (mice crawling around on him).
We got an early 8 o clock start the next morning and walked down the wooded river bed for a gorgeous 5k. One of my favorite sections of the TA, and it wasn't even on the trail! When the flow got too strong we hopped on the trail and climbed uphill to Stodys Hut, then walked along a Ridge until we got up to Breast Hill. An amazing view of Mt. Aspiring National Park and Lake Hawea greeted us at the summit, and sparce cloud cover allowed us to see for kilometers and kilometers. We made it down to Pakatuhi hut at 7. This was probably our hardest day yet - 26.5k, 11 hours, and over 1300m of elevation gain and 900m of elevation loss. Sore legs, but we're definitely in much much much better shape than the first time we saw fabian!
This morning fabian, Nolan and I descended the 1 000 meters to Lake Hawea, where Nolan and I hitched to Wanaka. We intend to stay here for a rest day tomorrow.
Note - I spent 3 hours last night uploading these 3 pictures. I am done with trying to put pictures on weebly for the moment. Check our Facebook page for photos.