tramping new zealand

When I finally hit the forest edge I realised that while I was less than halfway, it would be dark when I made it to the hut unless progress improved.

Major surprise when getting to the lowest clearing and spotting some antlers quite close.

The section up to Monument Hut proved a real plod, but the more distant scenery was certainly spectacular. The mountains are jagged, and the peaks pointy.

I had been asleep for over an hour last night and slowly voices, lights, and various noises woke me up as a father and his 12-year-old son arrived. They had come all the way down the valley after camping almost at the top hut, Erceg Hut.

Frankly, I couldn’t think of a better place to be. Sometimes, what is directly in front of your face is enough, and I really appreciated this most extraordinarily beautiful valley.

The valley continues to look spectacular, and I have a choice of two glaciers to peruse tonight, although not from the introverted hut.

These are the days you dream of having.

Before I left the hut, drizzle waxed and waned, but generally increased in intensity until half an hour before Red Hut was the full dose.

Crossing the Hopkins River wasn’t without drama.

One of the great alpine views with the south-facing ramparts of Mount Fraser, 2277 m, towards the north, particularly gnarly and totally impressive.

That’s what I came up here for.

Being a sucker for punishment, Option 3 it is.

I picked out a path up the other side over the unstable terrain, but when I slid to the bottom, it seemed quite reasonable to just walk down the chute and continue on down to the main river half a kilometre away.

Sometimes the last steps feel the longest of kilometres.