By Ruth
Distance: 16 km
Today was a gorgeous but tough day. Maybe the most beautiful day of the TA so far. We woke up early in the hut since someone had an alarm set to 5:15 am and a few people got going before 6:30. It was freezing cold in the hut so we had all our layers on for breakfast, but the sky was perfectly clear. Then we ventured out to the pass!
First we climbed up past Blue Lake and Lake Constance. Then we dropped down a bit to skirt the shore of Lake Constance. At that point the sun was starting to peek over the tops of the surrounding mountains which looked super cool. Then we headed up the valley a bit more before beginning the steep climb up a scree slope to Waiau Pass.
I was a bit nervous about the climb up as the rocks were a bit loose and the slope was incredibly steep. Unfortunately this impeded my enjoyment a bit, because usually I kind of love climbs like that where it feels like the whole world drops away underneath you.
Eventually we reached the top and a whole new valley came into view on the other side of the pass. It had a completely different look: much more green, with rivers and waterfalls. We stopped at the top for a snack and to bask in the sunshine and beautiful views.
This section of mountains has been quite different from the Richmonds. There, we were mostly walking along ridges, which means you have one beautiful view all day that slowly changes as you walk. Here, on the other hand, we are mostly walking through valleys. Then, when we need to get to a different valley, we go steeply up and down over a pass. It means the views change dramatically over the course of the day. Very cool that we get to experience both ways of travelling through mountains!
Anyway, after our break at the top of the pass we started down the steep descent. It was slow going because the terrain was boulder-y and we had to use our hands a lot. We eventually reached a beautiful stream flowing down the hillside with some deeper pools here and there. It being about noon at this point, we decided to stop for lunch and a swim. The water was perfectly cold and refreshing, and there were some comfy flat rocks to perch on for our picnic afterwards. And needless to say the views were stunning. I think this was our best lunch break on TA so far. The sun even dried out our shoes and socks so after lunch I had dry feet for the first time in this section!
Post-lunch, the walking got gradually less steep as we descended down to the valley floor. The trail became very nice and flat, except where we had to keep crossing streams. At one of the first streams, I was still hoping to keep my feet dry, so I attempted a dodgy rock-hop to get across. On the last hop, I slipped and fell into the water. Luckily it wasn’t too deep, and I just got a little wet and a tad bruised. I felt like an idiot though, and resolved not to try that kind of thing again. Dry feet are nice, but not worth getting injured for!
It felt like a pretty long walk after that, but we got to the hut fairly early, around 4:30. To our surprise there were no other TAs here, only a mom and her two young kids. So nice to see kids out enjoying the mountains, but boy did these two have a lot of energy!
Since there was time again this evening we headed down to the river for a quick wash, which felt great as always. I almost didn’t go because I felt pretty drained, but of course I was very glad I did in the end. Then dinner and early bedtime, and the end of another day in the mountains.
