Wednesday 27 May 2015

Te Araroa chapter 4 - Rivers and Valleys... Harper Pass + Deception Mingha track


Tak jsme se pěkně občerstvili v Hanmer Springs a po řádné koupeli v horkých pramenech jsme další den ráno vykročili vstříc dalším dobrodružstvím :)
Well, it was a really nice time in Hanmer and after a proper soak in the thermal spa we were ready for another adventure :) !

 There was supposed to be a short "next-to-road" section called The Tui Track from Boyle Village to the begining of Harper Pass Track. But first things first. We had to hitch a ride from Hanmer back to Boyle village where we stopped. It was a bit challenging part, but after an hour a nice mr. geologist pulled over and we were back on the track.
It is quite unbelievable now, writing it later and even thinking about the trail later, but it was so HOT!
Hot in the wild today

Hot on the Tiu Track...that leads along the deer fence for instance :)
We started our walk with backpacks full of new supplies and more chocolate. I convinced Roman it might be a good idea as we were dreaming about more chocolate after eating our daily 4 square each - what a torture! And it was a really good idea as you'll find out later. But first things first ;)
To make a long story short, Tui Track was absolute torture...it started as a river bed and through the gorse and swamp but then after we finally escaped the heat in manuka forest, there was much MORE swamp. Now when I look back it's really funny, but Roman looked more and more like he was going to kill the whole world around him. We kept loosing the track in the swamp, sliding down the mud, finding the track again and loosing it again. We normally have no problem with marking (or no marking) but this was kind of funny as it was visible only from the opposite side :) Well anyway, it was nice 10 or so km of hot sweaty muddy swamp and we were really happy to get back on the (real :P) track. It was also the only place we were (significantly) slower than the estimated time. I think my expression tells it all ;)

Tui trek...hek!

Once we entered the valley the kilometres us flew by and in no time we were making hot chocolate by the fire outside the Hope Shelter. What an evening!

Entering the valleys again / zpět v údolích


Hot Choc time!

Hope Shelter. Everything looked more hopeful :)

Day 25 was full of mushroom!!! And mice!!! Mice dead. Mice no more.
Next day was absolutelly stunning! Beautiful morning and of course, after spending a night in Hope Shelter we were really hopeful about the future :) The day started with beautiful meadow walking with extra bonus - heaps of portobello mushrooms! So we picked them and carried them all day. We simply couldn't leave those beauties behind. When crossing the Hope river on a swing bringe, we also saw a giant trout. He looked so beautiful in the pristine waters. 
We had a snack on Hope Kiwi Lodge. We hoped to see some kiwis around, but we only noticed some people in the hut. Well, actually we noticed there was somebody, but they were trying to hide and pretend they weren't there and only started to make sounds when they thought we were gone. When they realised we weren't they stopped. Somebody was probably trying to hide from the ranger ;) Or they were giant mice as this was really good year for them. Cold shoulder mice. Or mass murderer hiding the bodies. Well, who knows, anyway we shouted "Have a good day!" on our departure and went off. 
Later we entered the forest and kept walking in the forest for a long time. I did something not nice to my knee and it went on strike, so I spent the rest of the day in pain. After the forest there was the lake. Beautiful Lake Sumner surrounded by mountains on a sunny day gave us a good reason to stop and look around. Unbelievably (for us) there was a pair of cheeky keas on the forest. What a bonus! thay had a quick chat with us and flew away to discover some more. We could her them for another 30 minutes keeeeeeeaing in the tree tops :)
After the long forest and lake views, we walked on the meadows again and some cows came to visit as well. The last bit was on the swing bridge over the Hurunui River to No.3 Hurunui Hut where we found other 4 tenants but it wouldn't work out between us, so we killed them. Later, another one came, but he was a human so we let him live. US vs. MICE = 4:0.
Meadow harmony :)

Hope Kiwi Lodge. Including the people who weren't there :)

Lake Sumner

Find the cheeky kea :)


Lake Sumner was...

... thiiiiiis big!


The cow inspection :)

Mushroom time! :)
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Great time @ nature spa and my emotional expressions
This day was long but great because it included an hour soaking in natural hot pool :) We heard rumors it was difficult to find, so we were very careful, but it was really something you wouldn't miss. Suplhury smell was clearly a great navigation point. So we walked, soaked and then walked again. It was good we didn't know there was another 7,5 hours walking after the soak :D So we walked on the meadows and through the forest, along the river up to the Harper Pass full of exotic trees and other flora. It was really different from the plants in the valley and there was significant influence of the West Coast. Probably a lot of seeds travel this way :)
We met some nice interesting huts that day, but the plan was to stop on the fourth we'd see on that day. So we walked. And the day was great. And by the way three wire bridge (fun!)

5* spa :)
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I am Baratheon! I mean..Targaryen...Stark...ALL OF THEM!!!

3 wire bridge :)

Harper Pass Track architecture

This way please!

Cutest Shelter ever :)

Exotic flora

over the pass into the next valley / přes průsmyk do dalšího údolí


My knee just wouldn't stop yelling at me so I was a bit moody at the end of the day :) Almost there!

The next day we spent on Lock Stream hut as it was raining all night and day and we were supposed to cross Taramakau river many times , so we decided to call it a rest day and wait for the flow to calm. We weren't alone, the whole hut stayed in as well. And there were plenty of us, so it was a nice day spent in really nice company by the fire. And we got chocolate eggs! The day couldn't be better :) Later a group of young trampers stopped in the hut for a snack and they had a really great teacher who was really motivating and talked to the kids in really great way. Me and Roman were really impressed by this man. It was a day full of great company.

Locke Stream hut @ rainy day

Next morning we got up knowing this will be the first day we will start crossing the rivers "The Kiwi way" which means "can't be bothered taking of my shoes". Which is a good way, don't get me wrong. It was just that so far we never had this extensive experience. 
Well we went on with it and it was fun :) Now I can't be bothered taking of my shoes either! But seriously, when there's around 20 crossings on that day, you really can't be bothered :) And the next day it was around 365 times.
But this day we were supposed to walk to the end of Harper Pass track and camp somewhere close to Morrison footbridge where we'd connect to next part full of rivers - Deception Mingha Track.
This is how the day looked like :


When you think this was the last crossing / a když si myslíte, že to už bylo poslední brození


Tenting close to Morrison footbridge

When we got really close to the road we were supposed to take the flood track to connect to the Morrison footbridge, so we went on with it. But after 1 km on the flood track, which was gorse + sidling + more sidling on very steep forest/river bank we said (I quote) : "Mrdat!", we turned right, crossed the river and walked the last 2 or so km on the road. I'm sure our dear readers will excuse my language (and if you want translation, you can always google it :) But we simply didn't want to walk another Tui Track. When we walked to Morrison footbridge, we could see some artistic engravings on the estimated times sign. They didn't look impressed and we were really happy we walked on the road. Yes! Tent time tonight!

Laskavý čtenář promine, ale to nešlo napsat jinak :)

And so we started walking another section - Deception Mingha track. This track is quite short, only 25 or so km, but it basically climbs one valley through Deception River to the Goat Pass and descends through Mingha River. I don't think we had many photos as it was raining the whole time we walked up to the Goat Pass hut, but although it was raining, the track was wonderfull!!! River was a bit up, so for me it was quite deep at places, but we really enjoyed the climb. At places it was quite technical, climbing (crawling :) over the boulders, sliding to the small pools. Really enjoyable track. We only didn't see any advertised mountain tops really, clouds ate them all :) We definitely want to do this track again. 
getting skinnier

The Misty Mountains


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Deception Hut

The track. Please keep walking straigh on :)
The last bit of the climb to the saddle war really a bit "canyoning style" walking up the river throught the river. When we got to the very nice Goat Pass hut, it started to rain. And rained...and rained...and rained. in the morning it still rained, so we used the radio to call to Arthur's Pass to find out about the weather. "Stay put" was the answer (or as we heard it "Stay in bed" :) We weren't really in the mood for another rest day, in wasn't that far away we had a proper rest in Hanmer Springs not to mention the unplanned day on Locke Stream hut just 2 days ago. But what could we do. So we stayed in the hut and it rained. There was no fireplace (above bushline) and magazines about food so the torture mood wais quite perfect :)

MADNESS IN DA HUT!
Goat Pass. Where are the mountain tops ? :)


Our spirits were lowered by next morning. It was PISSING down and so was the whole last night. We  realized we were going to have ANOTHER rest day. Well, I'd call it a bit mental crazy day, when we ate all the remaining extra supplies we carried for extra days. Thank Gods we packed another bar of chocolate. Otherwise I'd probably die :)

The Gods were really good in the end and after 2 days and 3 nights we spent in Goat Pass hut, we ran down on the 3rd morning in mist and drizzle praying to see civilisation, which was so close but so far last couple of days. 

Goat Pass Hut. The Departure.

Down the Mingha River
We made it to Arthur's Pass, we collected our box, had a burger and walked to the next hut towards next adventure. Next time I'll tell you more about it :)


Still misty after 3 days

Never been happier to see...a road
Walking...




...to ANOTHER adventure :)