(This picture was taken by Ben last winter - we were in such a hurry this weekend that we couldn't stop to take one. And it was dark anyway.)We spent the night at a DOC (Department of Conservation) field station where Lara's friends Danilo and Lisa are working and they generously let us crash in the bunk room. Danilo stayed behind and watched their little 2-year old, Naomi, while Lisa joined us for a wilderness trek. We headed further down the road toward Milford Sound though the Homer Tunnel,
..and took off on the Gulliver/Esperance track. Here is a Google image with the Milford Sound Hwy marked in yellow, the track from the road to the camp site marked in red, the hike to the ridge in blue and the rest of the original mail route marked in green:
The track is not very well maintained any more but used to be the main mail delivery route to Milford Sound before the Homer Tunnel was built (entrance and exit also marked in the image). The steepest portions of the track were protected by wire ropes back then but I am still amazed that they delivered the mail over that pass. The next is an image taking at the tunnel entrance looking up into the valley along the path of the green track:
We only did the red and blue portion of the track (not the green one). The lower portion of the trail was lots of bushwhacking (we even lost the trail a few times):
..with the occasional glimpse through the trees:
The vegetation got progressively sparser:
...until there wasn't any left. We made it to the tent site just before dark. The only flat spot to be found was right above De Lambert Falls in the gravel. And luckily there were a few boulders to hide from the wind during dinner:
And while I was rewarded with spectacular views from the tent the next morning:
and a beautiful sunrise:
... my friends took off at 4:30AM to climb to the top of the ridge (marked in blue). And this is what they got to see from there:
After a short breakfast we started on the trek down.
To avoid some of the bushwhacking we took a slightly different route down a dry creek bed:
...and joined the main track further downstream. We got back to the car just slightly late (Lisa had promised Danilo to be back for babysitting duties so that he can go to work.) Driving back we stopped on the other side of the ridge and tried to figure out where they had gone:
Ah, there it is!
Oh yeah, the arm. Well, it's not really were it should be. I was the only 3-legged member of my party. And therefore wasn't allowed to scramble up to the ridge in the dark :( But it looks like the mobility is good enough for biking now. Will give that a shot as soon as my legs have recovered to the point where I can swing them over the top bar of my bike :)
Posts
1 comment:
Beautiful! Looks like a fun trip. Take care of that arm, Heike!!
Post a Comment