The Milford Track

New Zealand is famous for its tracks. I was fortunate enough to get a spot on its most famous walk, the Milford Track.

I headed out to a town called Te Anau where I needed to sign in with the Department of Conservation to confirm my booking. After taking care of all of the paperwork the lovely woman behind the counter asked if I had read the weather report. Weather report, yeah right, you have better odds playing the lottery than predicting the weather in New Zealand. Let me guess partly sunny, chance of rain. It turns out that in addition to the partly sunny, chance of rain, they were also predicting snow in the mountains. Now I have avoided the fluffy white stuff for about a year now and in no ways was I expecting to see it here during the summertime. This is New Zealand though and anything can happen with the weather. So to prepare I ran to the shop and purchased a pair of gloves and another layer to throw on just in case they were correct.

Day 1:
The next morning a bus picked myself and a group of about 20 others that were walking the track up from the DOC office. The bus took us on a short drive down the road to Te Anau Downs which has a hostel and a dock. We headed for the dock and boarded the boat that would take us up Lake Te Anau to Glade Wharf where we would start our walk. The boat ride started with the sun shining as we cruised past the fiords, but in true Kiwi fashion by the time we reached the wharf it was raining. The walk the first day took us three miles up the track to the Clinton hut. This is where we would be spending the first night. It was still early in the afternoon so I convinced some of the other Yanks (actually they were Texans) to head down to the Clinton River to go swimming. We went down to "the swimming hole" where I dipped my feet in to the FREEZING cold water. I quickly was rethinking the whole swimming idea. After standing there contemplating whether going in was a good idea or not I decided to take the plunge. Now I wouldn't call it a swim, it was more of a dunk your entire body under the water and then go running out. To my surprise everyone eventually made it in accompanied by plenty of complaints and comments. After spending some time on the river we headed back to the fire of the hut to join everyone else. Back at the hut we enjoyed a feast of the various freeze dried meals that people decided to bring in. Some people brought actual food in as the rest of us sat there jealously drooling over their meals. Ranger Peter Jackson arrived to give us a nice lecture about the hut, the track and some of his own commentary. He was able to scare a few people into turning back with his talks of how menacing the track can be. It was lights out at 10 that night. I was able to drift in and out of sleep to the symphony of snoring going on. Next time bring the most essential item, ear plugs.

Day 2:
Everyone woke up early, excited to get the real portion of this walk under way. After a quick breakfast of granola bars, I headed out on the track. Even though thunder storms were predicted it was sunny outside and the weather was just fine. The track today followed the Clinton River all the way up to its source at the base of the mountains. We would be walking through the Clinton Valley. It was a beautiful walk through the lush reforests in the valley and we were flanked by high mountains on either side each with its own array of waterfalls pouring down their granite faces. It was some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen in my life. I have never seen water so clear, land so green or such plentiful waterfalls that surrounded me all day. I can only hope that the pictures can provide a partial sense of what I saw that day. After a wonderful day of walking, I made it to the Mintaro Hut at the base of Mt Balloon. The weather had turned slightly with clouds coming in and a slight rain. I was keen to get to the top of Mackinnon Pass that crossed over Mt Balloon that day to hopefully catch some clear views of the valley below. I talked with another American guy, Brady, about going and we decided we would climb today. Having to carry no packs with us, we made it to the top of the pass in about an hour and were duly rewarded. We had somewhat clear views of both the Clinton Valley which we had just walked up and the Arthur Valley which we were headed to. Along with the views, we were accompanied by a wacka walking around at the top of the mountain. This is one of New Zealand's funny looking flightless birds. After spending some time at the top it got a bit windy and some hail started to fall so we headed back to the hut at the base to join everyone else. Back at the hut, it was another night of freeze dried food, talks from Ranger Chris, followed by the orchestra snoring up a rendition of the 1812 Orchestra, complete with cannons.

Day 3:
Waking up in the morning, there was quite a bit of commotion in the hut. I got up and walked to the out house to find that there was snow on the ground. The weathermen were right. I have never seen such big snow flakes, as quarter size flakes fell to the ground accumulating quickly. It was as if God was having a giant pillow fight up there in the sky and all the down was falling down. Ranger Chris asked us to stick around the hut until he got the weather report. I dressed quite warmly, layering on the clothes that I had thankfully bought in Te Anau. Ranger Chris came back to inform us that we would be leaving in 15 minutes and heading up the pass as a group. He would lead us to mark the track. I was anxious to climb in the snow, so leaving the hut I lined up directly behind the ranger. This might not have been the best choice. Following the ranger, we came across trees that had sagged by the weight of the snow. Ducking under the tree following Chris, he like to shake the snow off while I was underneath. I quickly caught on and let him lead and shake before I limboed the trees. The snow created an amazing sight, turning this green rainforest completely white. Climbing from the base, we already had 4 inches of snow, and it was accumulating quickly. It was slow going today, as we waited to make sure that everyone was faring well up the mountain. About half way up one of the guides from the guided group came running past, dressed in true Kiwi fashion with boots, raincoat and shorts. I talked with Ranger Chris and he let Brady and I go ahead with the guide because we had already climbed the pass. We followed the guides track up the mountain where the snow kept getting deeper and deeper. By the time we reached the tree line there was already a foot of snow on the ground. It was slow going from here on up as my feet sank blindly looking for solid ground under the snow cover. There were quite a few times that my foot just sank so low that my entire body would follow, falling into a blanket of snow. Reaching the top we were greeted by white out conditions which allotted us no views of either valley. We rested for a few minutes taking cover from the wind behind the monument. Judging by the bright red color of the guides legs, he was anxious to get moving to the shelter hut a mile further ahead along the ridge of the pass. This was the hardest walking yet, as we hit snow drifts that had snow coming up to my hips. Eventually we made it to the hut to get out of the elements and try and warm up. While there the ranger decided to close the pass due to the inclement weather. We were here though with no turning back. Most of the people eventually made it up, with only two having to turn back due to hypothermia. The entire group rested in the shelter for over an hour before another ranger arrived from the Arthur valley to inform us that we would be heading down the emergency route due to avalanche activity. The emergency route was a more direct route straight down the mountain the had some serious switchbacks down the steep face. We headed out as a group again, but this side of the mountain didn't seem to have as much snow and it was a much easier trek down. By the time we reached the tree line, the sun had come out and it was starting to warm. From there, it was a pleasant climb down to the valley with the melting snow exposing the green again and creating avalanches that echoed through the valley. It was pleasant for most of us, but unfortunately one woman had a serious fall, broke her arm and had to be helicoptered out. We headed down to the bottom of the valley where we dropped our packs off and walked the hour and a half to go see Sutherland Falls. This is the tallest waterfall in New Zealand and the fifth highest in the world. After a brief viewing of the falls we were thoroughly wet from the mist and headed back to grab our packs and walk the last two miles to the Dumpling Hut. Here everyone closely gathered by the fire to enjoy their last freeze dried dinner and listen to the seven foot tall ranger show off his bird call ability for over an hour. Everyone was tired and not too enthused at the whistling Sasquatch. I was even tired enough to sleep through the entire symphony.

Day 4:
Waking up on the last day, my feet were still a little sore from the day before. We all headed out early in order to make the boat that would be picking us up at the end of the track at 2 that day. It was quite an easy, pretty flat walk which disappointed me a bit because there was nothing too interesting about this day. The weather was overcast and drizzling which didn't make any fast rushing stream crossings or sun to show off the surroundings. The walk was still spectacular, but after being surrounded by such wonders for three days I had become accustomed the the surroundings. I was more focused on my aching feet and knees. The walk was nice though and I was sad when I reached Sandfly Point and was done. I wanted more. We hopped on a small boat that would be taking us from Sandfly Point into Milford Sound, getting some nice views of the fiord. I now understand why this is considered the greatest walk in the world.