Hump Ridge Track Day 1

18 km today from the Bluecliff’s Beach Carpark to Okaka Hut. Best of all besides the views and scenery was the weather – it’s been sunny with blue skies and no wind all day – unheard of for Fiordland weather. What luck!

I was at the start of the track at 7:30am this morning to avoid the crowds being dumped off by the shuttle bus at 8:30am. The plan worked. I didn’t see another soul on the trail all day! I kept a steady pace, working around the beach track and then going through the bush and eventually up the ridgeline to the hut. Made it here in 6 hours, which is not too bad considering I had a 1000 m (3000 foot) climb. Felt like I wasn’t even wearing a pack since I didn’t have to carry a tent or a stove or fuel. I was the first person to arrive at the hut and chose a bed, then made a cup of tea and sat out on the veranda to enjoy the view and silence before the masses came. I think there are 26 booked in this 40-person hut for tonight so I guess it’s not that bad. Still I’d prefer to be in my tent somewhere but I can handle this for one night. This is definitely a yuppie walk, complete with helicopter pack and people services. I don’t know how many trampers helied their packs up today but I think it was more than a few.

Just a 1 km walk up from the hut there are these really cool sandstone outcrops and the views from up there are unbelievable – to one side is the sea and Stewart Island and around the other are all the mountains of Fiordland National Park. Definitely worth the climb to get to see that.

Tomorrow I have a long day in store since I’ll be trying to combine days 2 and 3 into one day, making it a total of 35 km or 22 miles. It’s more just to save the money that they’re charging for these huts – at $40/night it ain’t cheap. The weather is supposed to be good like today and if I get an early start I’ll have a good 14+ hours of daylight so I’ll just plan to take my time and enjoy it. The first 18 km should be more challenging and the last 17 km is easy and flat so we’ll just see how it goes.

~ ~Maori legend has it that when one of the gods saw the beauty of the Southern Sounds she feared that humans would wish to live there forever. So, to remind them of their frailty and mortality, she liberated sandflies (namu), the mosquito and the flea, and commanded them to go into the Sounds. The sandflies have been doing their job particularly well ever since.~ ~

Heading up the Hump Ridge

Views from the top

Looking down into Fiordland National Park

Add comment January 7th, 2003