Mt. Cook

I only have a couple of days left in New Zealand, so with those days, I wanted to spend them climbing. I said goodbye to Lisa, Ryan, and the rest of our Stray Bus crew and headed for Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. (A sad moment saying goodbye)!

Unfortunately, the bus doesn’t go right to the Mt. Cook village, so I had to hitch in. No worries, I only had to wait 5 minutes!

When I arrived in the village, it was pouring rain. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn’t be able to hike. But I decided to give it a shot anyways (who knows when I'll be back at Mt. Cook!). I started with a flat walk in the Hooker Valley towards the base of Mt. Cook. Once I set out, the rain stopped, and the clouds parted for a few minutes, to give a good view of Mt. Cook. The end of the trail occured when I had to cross a glacier stream with no bridge. I felt the water and knew there was no way I could get across without getting hyperthermia!

(Large mountains with huge open valleys in the middle)

(Lots of suspension bridges crossing the glacier 'cold' rivers)

(Finally a good view of Mt. Cook)

MULLER HUT DAY HIKE
My main goal for heading to Mt. Cook was to do that Muller Hut hike. Normally, people do it in 2 days, but I thought I would giv’er in a day. This hike isn’t to be taken lightly as you head up into the high alpine, with little trails. This means there is some route finding with lots of scrambling.

I woke up early and headed for the park office to check the weather and see if the park staff thought it was an OK day. They gave it the thumbs up.

I headed out with all my warm clothes and anything rain proof. The start of the climb was straight forward, switch backing up the mountain until the scramble up a scree slope near the top. At the top of the screen slope, you reach a relatively flat ridge line which leads right to the hut.

(hhhmmm... where is the trail? Any why is there snow in the summer time?)

(About a 2/3rds of the way up)

(My hair looks crazy because the wind was blowning like crazy, giving the fro look)

The beginning of the climb was straight forwards with pure climbing and switchbacks. However, the higher I got, the heavier the wind became. Once on the final ridgeline to the top, the route is completely exposed (i.e. there's no coverage from wind or the elements). The winds hit like nothing I have ever seen before. I was actually getting blown over (picked up off my feet!). I had to hide behind rocks when the strong gussess started. I checked the weather report later that day, and they estimated the winds at 80km/h (plus or minus). The winds were so strong I couldn’t even hold my camera steady to take photos (my hand was getting blown around). My mp3 player earphones wouldn’t stay in my ears. Yes, I did get worried and think about turning around.

(the exposed ridgeline. Notice the glacier in the background)

There was a significant amount of snow too. I was jumping off rocks to avoid the large snow piles.

(waling through the snow)

Once I got into the Hut, I signed the guestbook to prove I made it, and enjoyed the view for a while.

(The hut with lots of snow around)

(I passed a guy on the way down, who took this photo of me, pretty close to the top. That's Mt. Cook in the background.)

(View near the top. I started a bit below the lake level)

So, for the day, I climbed over 1100 vertical meters (or just under 4000 vertical feet). The hut was at an altitude of 1810 meters. The day was suppose to take about 9 hours, but I dropped the hammer and it only took about 4.5 hours. Needless to say, I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. My legs were toast. However, I did enjoy a triple decker PB and J sandwich back at the hostel. That night I shared stories with some hikers from the Sweeden who had climbed in Nepal.

(The drive out from Mt. Cook)