November 30, 2022

November 30, 2022

Of course it poured all night again, but we slept like babies. We were startled awake at Pompolona Lodge in Fiordlands National Park with our bed lights coming on with the generator start at 6AM. We have the routine down with a first stop at the coffee station, then breakfast, lunch preparation, before heading back to the room to restow everything in our backpacks.

The Milford Track follows two cliff-lined glacier-carved river valleys connected by a high mountain pass. Today we have to cross the pass. This will be the most difficult 9.5 miles of the track. Besides the challenge of climbing the pass, the weather conditions at the top could be miserable with cold, rain and wind. We are praying. Also to have any chance of a view, we need some clear weather, but that might be really pushing our luck.

The trail started with a gentle slope with nice views, then it got steeper and entered the forest. It drizzled on and off. The uphill was relentless. I am glad we went to the gym and practiced on the stepper, but both of us are wondering why we spent a lot of money to do this. At the two-hour mark, we made it to the public hut for a rest stop. We then soldiered on eventually making it above the tree line. We are thousands of feet up with great views looking back down the valley we came from. It is a slog but the conditions are way better than the weatherman forecasted. The rain is not torrential and the temperature is well above freezing and the wind is surprisingly calm.

At the four-hour mark we arrived at the Memorial cairn to Mckinnon, discoverer of this pass. We are greeted by one of the guides with a cup of hot tea. I went to look over the cliff to the next valley but it is completely fogged in. The edge looks incredibly sheer. A little further along we made it to the warming shelter at the top of McKinnon Pass. It doubles as an emergency hideout in extreme weather. There we ate our sack lunch along with several cups of hot chocolate. The hut is heated by helicopter deliveries of gas/oil cylinders. Because of the climb, steam is pouring from our bodies.

After almost an hour of rest, we begin the long slog downhill. For Aimee, this is the worst part. Because of late season snow the normal trail is still in danger of avalanches. We have to veer off and take the shorter but much steeper emergency route down an extremely wet and rocky stream bed. It was treacherous. One misstep, a twisted ankle and it would be a very miserable twenty mile walk out of the wilderness. Aimee was a trooper. She very slowly but methodically took every step aided by two hiking poles and my hand support on the most dangerous drops. The downhill route was relentless and slippery. We thought it would never end. The upside was comfortable temperatures and only minimal rain. One section was climbing down the side of a waterfall cascade for hundreds of yards.

It took another 3.5 hours to reach Quintin Lodge. The sun popped out on arrival and our room view was the best so far. We are exhausted though. We had to skip the optional ninety-minute hike to see Sutherland Falls. At 1900 feet, it may be the highest in New Zealand. No problem. We have had no shortage of waterfalls on this hike.