Routeburn, Day 3

This is our last view of Peter, who had an 11:00 AM bus to catch but decided to walk as far as he could with us on our 1:20 PM bus-catching schedule. About 10:10, he conceded and RAN down the rest of the mountain. And made his bus. (There's a hut about an hour before the end of the hike, and someone there mentioned that he'd seen "that tall Danish guy" running by - we're pretty sure he ran the remaining 7 km or so, with his pack, up and down mountainside paths!)

Finished! Not that I didn't have a great time, but I think you can tell I'm ready for a shower and a real bed ... We took fewer pictures this day, because we were on something of a schedule - and because nothing could beat the scenery of the day before. But we DID learn that, with our cameras securely stored in our pockets, we actually beat the DOC estimates with ease!

Routeburn, Day 2

Dawn of day two - beautiful, clear, and cold, which was EXACTLY what we'd been hoping for.

Today's trailhead - yes, the trail is, at the beginning, rock. Which is especially exciting when said rock is covered in ice!

An outside view of the DOC hut we stayed in the night before. Decent accommodation, including gas burners and flush toilets. And, in theory, lights until 10 PM, although it seems someone forgot that the weekend before was daylight savings ...

Peter taking a nap before we head off ... we got a later start than we anticipated.

These are the emergency shelters at Harris Saddle. Because most of day 2 is above the treeline, these shelters are set up for dangerous weather that prevents trampers from continuing. It's also the start point for a side trip up Conical Peak, a very snowy peak that we nevertheless decided to climb because the DOC sign said that it was a one-hour return trip. We apparently hadn't figured out that those estimates rarely apply to us ... Nonetheless, 90 minutes later, we made it to the top - and the views were SPECTACULAR!

Apparently, there's not a lot of snow in Cape Town, so Tim insisted on building a snowman before we headed back down.

Back on the main trail TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, we stopped for a quick lunch and then carried on. The path was mainly clear, level and windy, and of course the views still amazing.

And not ALL of the ice had melted, even by 2:30 in the afternoon.

This is pretty representative of the path for a good hour or so. As Jamie said, "I don't think an obese person could make this hike. They might fall right of the mountain!"

This is the first view of our hut for the night, nestled at the upper right corner of Lake McKenzie. Of course, it was another hour before we made it down there ...

Finished another day! All a bit sunburned, but happy to be next to the fire and done for a few hours ...

Routeburn, Day 1

This is Lydia and myself at the start of the trail. We were standing in a steady drizzle, that lasted for a good two more hours, but the hoods soon came off (as did some extra layers) - it turns out that hiking with a 12kg pack on warms you up!!

This is the first of many scenic moments that were labeled, at the time, "the highlight of the trip" ...

Above is Lydia with Tim, a South African man who was traveling between jobs in Sydney, Australia.

Our other two hiking companions, Jamie and Peter. Jamie is an American girl who just graduated from college and decided that traveling would be a better use of her time than a job hunt. Peter is Danish, the youngest of our group - he just left the Danish army and cheerfully describes himself as "homeless and unemployed".

The valley outside of the Routeburn Flats Hut, a Department of Conservation hut that we did NOT stay in. However, we decided to stop for lunch at a strategically placed picnic table and enjoy the lovely view.

Same valley, different (much HIGHER) perspective. This is about when I decided that I should have spent a bit of time at the gym before this hike ... turns out that you have to go UP a lot when hiking through mountains!

About an hour after we arrived at our DOC hut for the night, it started snowing. This is the view from the terrace.