The following day was supposed to be the start of a rafting trip but that was canceled last minute. So I re-packed my stuff into a backpack and decided to go on a short overnight solo trip into the Rock and Pillar Range. First I made it to Middlemarch and found out that they really did name it after the novel. I drove a bit further north and took some unmarked driveway not being quite sure if I was in the right place - until I saw one of the infamous DOC signs:
These things tend to show up in the most impossible places virtually in the middle of nowhere. So I parked the car and took off. But I didn't get very far until I saw another sign:
And then the gate:
And yet another sign:
And then I actually started my walk. The trail was quite nice and the scenery pretty stunning:
I still had 4 hours of daylight left and decided to make to the closer of the two huts. It was one of the most basic DOC huts without any amenities but did provide good shelter from the wind.
And there was a newspaper from 23 Nov, 1966 on the table. Seems like they had important problems back then - just like today:
Beautiful early morning sky:
I woke up to a beautiful sunrise
and hiked to the top of the ridge and on to a kind of summit with a huge rock formation:
The wind had picked up considerably by that time (I actually had to lean 45 deg into the wind and my feet were moved off the ground a few times), so I decided to take a different route back and get off of the ridge as fast as possible. And found the Big Hut:
Made it back down to the small hut, packed up my stuff and headed to Middlemarch for a flat white :)
These things tend to show up in the most impossible places virtually in the middle of nowhere. So I parked the car and took off. But I didn't get very far until I saw another sign:
And then the gate:
And yet another sign:
And then I actually started my walk. The trail was quite nice and the scenery pretty stunning:
I still had 4 hours of daylight left and decided to make to the closer of the two huts. It was one of the most basic DOC huts without any amenities but did provide good shelter from the wind.
And there was a newspaper from 23 Nov, 1966 on the table. Seems like they had important problems back then - just like today:
Beautiful early morning sky:
I woke up to a beautiful sunrise
and hiked to the top of the ridge and on to a kind of summit with a huge rock formation:
The wind had picked up considerably by that time (I actually had to lean 45 deg into the wind and my feet were moved off the ground a few times), so I decided to take a different route back and get off of the ridge as fast as possible. And found the Big Hut:
Made it back down to the small hut, packed up my stuff and headed to Middlemarch for a flat white :)
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