Well, after Mt. Cook, we had to figure out what to do with ourselves for a while. I was itching to get back to Milford Sound and dad's never been there, so we made the long drive back to what's got to be one of the most beautiful and unique places on the planet.
The evening we showed up, we were greeted by this fantastic sunset:
On our first day, we went for a hike up this valley
This is my "vato loco" look from the mountains
I found this stool in the snow very amusing
Our hike took us here, to a saddle at the brush line with a surprise view of Milford below
Kea, mountain parrot. We stopped to rest and this guy found us within 10 minutes.
A little hide-and-seek
My idea for the next day was to climb Mitre Peak (the one on the left). It is only accessible by water, directly from the fiord, and there are no official or marked trails. Only about 20 people ever set foot on it each year. It's a 14-hour round trip or an overnight halfway up the ridge. We opted to travel light and go for the one-day push. So, early in the morning, we set off in a borrowed kayak (we stayed with the guides again), paddled out to the toe of the mountain, and dragged the kayak into the trees.
Dad got this sunrise shot from the base of Mitre right before we started our ascent
The first part of this climb is unlike anything either of us have ever done. It's basically a bushwhack through the jungle on a near-vertical slope. The trail is... well, it's not really a trail. It's a few stepped-on plants, just a very faint track. We actually started the walk about 4 times before we got it right. We'd walk into a hole in the bush, thinking it was the right way and then find that it just ended in impassibly thick ferns and vines. Ultimately, we found our way up the steep slope, hand over hand on roots and mossy rocks. Usually when I go hiking, I'm used to being able to see where I'm going and where I've been , but in this case, all we could see was the dense foliage around us.
At one point, we came to a rare clearing with a view back down to Milford Sound. That's the airstrip down there, next door to where we were staying with the kayak crew.
There were a few trail markers along the way like this. Someone with a good sense of humor used a bunch of "Danger Keep Out" tape!
Here's a straight on view of the peak. When you're done with the steep jungle slope in the foreground (our trail would have gone right up the middle), you're spit out on a loose, rocky ridge and free solo for the summit. About 3 hours in, we were at the top of the bush-covered portion in the back, to the left of the peak in the front and were facing a big dip in the ridge, back down further into the bush before climbing back up again to the rock and dad called it, said his legs had enough, so we had lunch, soaked in the view and turned back. No big deal on the summit. I'm just glad we got out there and went for it!
A couple more great sunset shots from that trip
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