Days 15 to 19 - The Milford Track (part 1 of 2)

So we just arrived in Sydney today after a great week in the Melbourne.  But before we get to that, I need to give everyone the run down on our hike of the Milford Track, commonly referred to as "The Finest Walk in the World."  The hike is 33.8 miles and takes 3 full days to walk.  There are two ways you can do the hike, the hardcore way or the pampered way.  The hardcore way involves packing all your gear and food, sleeping in a bunk room with 21 other people, and taking freezing cold showers for three days.  This is what we wanted to do, but unfortunately the waiting list for this is a year and a half long...so we had to do it the pampered way...poor us.  Here is how it went:

Day 1

So on Tuesday we got up and headed over to the Ultimate Hikes office to meet up with the 47 other brave souls who were going to join us for the hike, plus our four guides.  We boarded a coach and drove for a few hours to Lake Te Anau where we all boarded a boat and made the hour plus ride to the start of the hike.

On Lake Te Anau, making our way to the start of the hike.

Sharon and me at the start of the Milford Track.

Once on the ferry, we had only a brief taste of the Milford Track as we had to hike only about a mile to get to our lodge for the night.  After settling in at the lodge, we all went for a quick nature walk of the surrounding area, and then headed back for a nice three course dinner at the lodge.

Arriving at Glade House, our accommodations for the night.

Our main course...venison stew with mashed potatoes and vegges...not too shabby.

The dinners during the hike were pretty damn good considering that all the supplies are brought in by boat or helicopter.  Dinners included venison stew, spaghetti bolognese, rib-eye steak, and rack of lamb.  It's a tough life when you're roughing it on the trail...

We all stood up and made our introductions after dinner.  Our group had a good share of Australians, Kiwis, Germans, Japanese and Brits, with a handful of Americans and me, the sole Canadian in the group.  Ages ranged from 18 all the way to 72.  It was a very diverse group, but Sharon and I both had a great time getting to know everyone.  I think Sharon is going to post more about the group so I won't go into any more details here.

Day 2

At night the generators turn off at 10pm, so Sharon and I were pretty well rested when they were turned back on at 7am on Wednesday morning.  We showered and then headed to the dining room to make and pack our sandwiches for lunch, and the eat a breakfast of porridge, cereal, poached eggs, bacon, and hash browns.  After breakfast, we packed up and headed off on our first full day of hiking on the track.  Day 2 consisted of 10 miles of generally flat trails through the rainforest.

Sharon crossing the Clifton river at the start of Day 2.

After an hour and half we came to the first rest stop of the day which happened to be the hut where the hardcore hikers stay on their first night.  Here's a comparison of our bunks versus theirs:

Also keep in mind that Sharon and I had the room on the left to ourselves, while the hut on the right would almost always be full with the lovely sleeping sounds of 22 other hikers.  While at the hut Sharon also wowed our fellow hikers with her amazing giant hula hooping skills seen below...

Go Sharon, Go Sharon Go!!!

The weather started out fine with only overcast skies, but it soon started raining lightly.  As the day wore on, the rain slowly got worse.  By the time we made it to our lodge for the night, it really started to come down.

Six hours later...arriving at Pompolona Lodge.

Relaxing and having drinks after a hard day's hike.

Now you'd think that rain on the trail is a bad thing, but on the Milford Track that is not the case.  On the first full day of hiking, there are only two permanent waterfalls, but if it has been raining the number of waterfalls grows into the hundreds.  I stepped outside of the lodge near dark and was amazed by what I saw.  There were waterfalls all around us.  The picture below doesn't give what I saw much justice, but it should give you a bit of an idea what is what like.

"Don't go chasing waterfalls..."

Day 3

Day 3 is by far the hardest day of the trek as you have to climb to the top of Mackinnon Pass, a steep climb of over 800 meters, followed by a nearly thousand meter descent.  Day 3 is also the most critical day for the weather as you really want a clear, sunny day so you can experience the amazing views at the top of the pass.  Lucky for us this is the view we woke up to on Thursday morning...

After packing lunch, and enjoying a big breakfast we headed out at around 7:30 and hiked close to two hours before reaching the base of the steep climb.  From there we slowly zigzagged our way up the side of the mountain.

Sharon: "This is too easy."

After nearly two hours of climbing, we finally made it to the top, and we were well awarded for our effort.  Check out these pics:

In front of Mackinnon memorial.

In our cold weather gear at the edge of the "12 second drop".

The view from the highest point of the pass down on to the memorial and the valley ahead.

The view of the valley behind us.

After reaching the top of the pass, our guide Kelly told us a story about a previous group he had been with where they had made it to the top of the pass on a very foggy day, with very little visibility.  A woman was walking towards the edge of a sheer cliff thinking it was the start of the path down the mountain when he looked up and saw her and screamed at her to stop.  She stopped only a step short of the drop.  A few minutes later when some of the fog blew past, he showed her the view of the drop to the valley below her knees buckled when she realized how close she had come to death's door.

It is getting late her now and this post is getting pretty long so I'm going to cut it off here for now.  Hopefully I'll have time for part 2 tomorrow.