hiking – Globitrotter

First outing

We have lived in Lucerne since 1 June and from our balcony we see the mountains, particularly the Pilatus. It is regarded as the “house mountain” being the highest peak close to the city. With its 2128 meters it is higher than the highest point in Sweden. Considering our interest in hiking it is astonishing that we have not hiked one single time since we came back to Switzerland. The weather has been fantastic so there was really no reason. But I have to admit that after doing so much hiking during our trip and moving around every day made us lazy and we have enjoyed just staying put for the summer.

The Pilatus is very green this time of year. If you zoom in you can see the red gondolas on the right side of the mountain.

Lately though I have started to feel the urge to get up there again and on Saturday we did our first “real” hike since Tasmania in March. (I am not including smaller walks to see certain sights.) We decided to hike the Pilatus from the Alpnach side which is the most direct route and therefore also quite steep. You start at the Pilatus Bahn station (yes, there is a train going up on this side of the mountain) on roughly 450 m altitude. It starts off on the meadows but rather quickly you enter the forest and do not get out in the open until almost half ways to the top.

Before getting into the forest.

Once above the tree line you soon see your goal for the first time and it becomes very obvious that it is a fair way to go. You can see the switchbacks you have in front of you but you also have a nicer view and it is more alpine with beautiful meadows and steep rock faces. The top of the mountain was mostly covered in clouds so it did not make much sense to take pictures at this point.

What is a hike in the Alps without cows? In the background in the left image you can see the train track.

Being not in the best of shapes it took me about half an hour longer than last time I did this hike 3 years ago. We did not keep that good track of our time, we stopped and talked to fellow hikers on the way, but I think we did the 1700 m altitude in about 3 h and 40 min. My goal is to cut that time with at least one hour. I would be happy with 2.5 h. Andy’s goal is a bit more aggressive but he would have to run part of the time to reach his 1.5 h goal…

At last we reached the peak which is crawling with people. The amount of people that actually hike up is not very large, most come up with the train or the gondola on the north side of the mountain. Recently they renovated the facilities on the top to fit even more people indoors. I guess a lot of the tourists does not realize that it gets quite cold up over 2000 m, especially when the wind is blowing. This way they can get a nice lunch or snack without having to freeze half to death.

And being out of shape we took the train down. 🙂 It is quite a cool train being the steepest rack railway in the world. They say the steepest part is 48% which is quite impressive considering it opened in 1889.

This is the half way station. You can get off and on here if you don’t want to do the complete hike or just get off, stroll around, say hi to the cows and then continue with the train.

Overland Track

The Overland Track is the most well known hike in Tasmania and probably Australia. It runs 65 km from Cradle Mountain in the north to Lake St Clair. If you stay at all huts along the way it will take 6 days to finish. That would allow you time for side trips such as climbing the Barn Bluff and Mt Ossa. We had some bad luck with the weather and actually felt we did not want to stay in the bush for that long so we finished the track in 4 days instead. On the Overland Track you are required to carry a tent since it is not possible to book places in the huts. Due to this the backpack was a bit heavier than usual so although it was not that far to walk every day it was still quite hard.

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Fantastic colors on the high plains.

The first part of the track is above the tree line with great views but then ends in the bush. The part through the bush is not too exciting but the first part makes it all worth while. Walking on the high plains with the button grass, the snow gum trees and the small lakes is spectacular. The hike over all reminded us very much of New Zealand except for the animals (like wallabies, wombats and tiger snakes), gum trees and the smell of eucalyptus.

Gum trees at Windemere Lake.

This was most probably our last multiday hike on this trip. It was the 11th one since June last year and most of them the past 3 months or so. Honestly we are feeling that we are done with this type of hiking for now. It is not that much fun anymore to stay in huts or camp. I think we need a break. 🙂 We will do some shorter day hikes but nothing advanced.

More images from Overland Track:

Overland Track

Mt Cook

After our long day hike on the Routeburn which left us pretty much happy and done with hiking in New Zealand, we drove into Mt Cook Village with the intention to stroll around the valley floor and gaze up at the snow capped mountains, including Mt Cook (the highest peak in New Zealand), for a few hours.

We went to the visitor center to find out which would be a suitable hike for us. There were a couple of short, flat hikes with good photo opportunities. Stupidly enough I asked about the trail conditions up to the Mueller Hut which is a very popular hut with great views of the surrounding mountains. We had read that the trail was supposed to be pretty bad and we had no intention of doing any advanced hiking this day. However the person at the visitor center said that it is not too bad and that it would be nothing if you have a bit of experience.

Half an hour later we were on our way up to the hut. 10 km round trip and 1000 m elevation… How did this happen? We were going to take it easy. Well, turned out we had to anyway because I was not feeling very well this day and I was slower than usual. We made it to the top of the ridge and almost to the hut. But we decided to stop about 15 min before the hut and enjoy the views from there.

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Andy did a great job to cool and find stubby holders for the beers that we had brought to celebrate the last hike in New Zealand. Beer has never tasted better!

The views were very much like in the European Alps and we are looking forward to seeing them again when we visit Switzerland at the end of June.

Mt Cook

The greatest Great Walks (Milford, Routeburn and Kepler)

In the Fiordland area in the southern part of the South Island you can find the three most popular hikes in New Zealand. The Milford Track being the most popular closely followed by the Routeburn. The Kepler was created not too long ago to let some pressure off especially the Milford. I am not sure how well this worked considering you still have to book the Milford Track half a year in advance to be sure to get a spot. The Kepler is normally the track people end up doing if they have not booked in advance.

MacKinnon Pass on the Milford Track

Being a keen hiker and researcher I of course booked the Milford already in July last year so our spot was safe. There are usually cancellations so if you have not booked you can still get lucky but would require checking the booking site everyday which is not what I fancy on a holiday. At the time of booking I did not realize we would do as many hike as we have. Now we have done 8 multiday hikes and a few day hikes including all of the three above.

The hikes mentioned above are also the most expensive ones costing 54 NZ dollars per person per night. This is the same price as a standard motel room but here you have to share more or less dirty kitchens, toilets and sleeping quarters with snorers and people with no respect of others. I understand that they do charge this much considering how hard it is to maintain tracks and huts in this environment. But being on holiday and wanting to do a lot of hiking it unfortunately quickly becomes very expensive.

One of the many waterfalls on the Milford Track.

Partly because of the price but even more because the recommended times on the Great Walks was becoming too easy and tedious for us (spending too much time in huts is simply not comfortable or fun enough in the long run) we ended up doing these three tracks in different ways. In the Milford case we didn’t really have a choice, you had to spend one night in each hut. They let 40 people start the track every day (on top of that there is the guided walk) and you are only allowed to go in one direction in high season. So the Milford was an easy hike, 3 nights and not very strenuous. We had lots of time on the track which in our case was perfect because Andy had some problems with his knee and by the end of the track he was basically fine again. This track requires ferry transport at each end and bus to take you back to square one which also makes it the most expensive one.

Part of the ridge on Kepler.

Andy’s knee problems originated on the Kepler Track which we did faster than recommended spending only one night on the track instead of two or three. This meant two longer hiking days, 30 km each. Due to Andy’s knee, which started to give him trouble on the second day, we cut that day short at 20 km and caught the bus the remaining 10 km. I had thought this hike would be very strenuous with two long days including about 1700 m total elevation but it turned out not to be so bad. Maybe we are getting more fit after all. 🙂

On top of Conical Hill on the Routeburn Track

The Routeburn Track which was the last of our hikes we decided to do as a day hike, or at least two thirds of the track. The complete Routeburn in one day would have been easy being only 32 km. But the problem is that it is a one way trail and you have to get transport from the finish back to the start which is a 4-5 hours drive. So we decided to hike the most interesting part over the Harris Saddle, down to Lake Mackenzie and then back again. Meaning we managed to make a 32 km hike into a 42.5 km one because we wanted to get back to the point we started. This was a bit more strenuous than anything else and our bodies needed a day or so to recover.

As for the tracks it is hard to say which one is more beautiful because they are a all a bit different. The Milford has the most variety with its streams, waterfalls, steep valley sides, the mountain pass with good views, forest and boat rides. It is known at “the greatest walk in the world” for a reason, it is really nice. However if what you are after is a more alpine experience the Routeburn with better views (especially if you climb the Conical Hill), alpine lakes, nice forest and streams might be to prefer. The Routeburn still has a lot of variety and more time above the tree line with good views. The Kepler, which is a bit of a favorite for us, has the best views and a trail along a long ridge (I love ridges). However the forest is not as nice and it misses the streams and waterfalls. But that ridge is worth it! Actually I would recommend hiking the ridge over to the hut on the other side and then going the same way back the next day instead of doing the complete loop. That way you have a better change of getting good weather on the ridge.

You can decide for yourself which is your favorite by looking at the images below:

Milford Track

Routeburn Track

Kepler Track

The challenge – North West Circuit on Stewart Island

After hiking a number of Great Walks we started to feel we needed a challenge. The North West Circuit on Stewart Island would definitely be the longest and hardest trail we have ever done and most probably ever will do. The fact that this is the place where you have the best chance of spotting kiwis was another reason for going. The route we chose was in total 132 km and almost 5000 m elevation including the highest peak on the island, Mt Anglem. The trail is not maintained like the Great Walks and features lots of roots, steep slopes and mud. We had read a lot about knee deep mud all along the trail and were prepared for the worst.

Sunset at Big Hellfire Hut.

It had been dry weather for two whole weeks when we arrived at Stewart Island and only a few showers were predicted in the next couple of days. The hike would take 9 days so we knew that we could get any kind of weather before we were due back. A few days of heavy rain and the track would be very wet, muddy and slippery. We believe we were very lucky and had only light showers a couple of days.

Mud, mud, mud.

Doing the Circuit clockwise is not the usual way to do it and not a lot of people go in this direction. Reason being that the first few days will then be the longest and hardest when you still have a very heavy backpack. But we did want a challenge so off we went. It was hard the first few days but I thought it continued that way the whole time. Of course that was partly our own fault. First of all it was hard just because it was long, many consecutive days on a difficult trail. Second we decided to add a side trip on day 6. The side trip was climbing Mt Anglem which is the highest peak on the island with its 980 meters. It may not sound very impressive but the trail was even steeper, more washed out and muddier than the rest. This day we hiked in total for 9 hours and were completely exhausted in the evening. Our bodies did not seem to really recover after this and even if the remaining days were easier we felt more tired.

View from the top of Mt Anglem. We were extremely lucky with the weather, the only day with a clear blue sky. That made it worth the 3 hour climb to the peak.

Before we started I was mostly worried about the mud and the length of the track. What I ended up thinking was the worst was all the ups and downs, high steps and roots to climb over. It was basically very exhausting all the time. It was mentally hard to be out for so many days and after a few days we dreamed of fresh fruit and beer instead of freeze dried food and oatmeal.

East Ruggedy Beach.

What you see along this trail is a large variety of scenery including beaches, forest, bush, and sand dunes. We did meet a few people along the way but most of the time we were alone in this wild country which was absolutely amazing. And we did see 4 kiwis! Apart from the kiwis there are lots of cool birds on this island like red crowned parakeet, robins, wood pigeons and fan tails. Although it was hard work it was worth it and very rewarding in the end.

Sunrise at Bungaree Hut.

First thing I did when we came back to Oban was to order a big salad for lunch. Wonderful with fresh food! In the evening after a long hot shower we went for hamburgers and beer. 🙂

More photos:

Stewart Island – North West Circuit

The stats:

The Heaphy Track

This Great Walk was going to be the longest for us so far, 80 km in total. The first part of the trail is going over a pass and the highlands, then coming down to the coast and finally goes along the beaches. We had for some reason booked the huts as recommended without thinking too much about it. We were doing the track in four nights and five days. This could easily have been cut down to three nights and four days without even being very hard. But it was already booked so off we went.

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The view back towards Collingwood where we came from.

The first day was uphill and was supposed to be the hardest on the whole trail. It was very moderately graded so it was actually quite easy. Much easier than things we had done before. It was raining when we started but it stopped almost immediately and the sun came out until the evening when we were already in the hut on Perry Saddle.

Gouland Downs. The pretty highlands in not so pretty weather.

Hut life.

Day 2 and 3 were very short and could have easily been combined. We arrived at the huts very early and had to bring out books and join other parties card games to keep busy. Although we would have liked to skip one hut it was still a good thing because the first three days were partly rainy and foggy. Day 3 was really bad with heavy rain that made stream crossings very interesting. We were lucky and made it through with more or less dry feet but others coming in after us had to wade in thigh deep water. Day 4 and 5 though were excellent with blue skies and we could enjoy the track more.

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Looking down towards the coast where the last hut is.

The part along the coast was stunning with views of beaches and rugged coast line. It would be worth walking the whole track only for this part. It can also be done as a day hike from the end of the track.

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The bad thing about the Heaphy Track is that it ends a long way from the start. Either you can catch a bus back from where you started which will take half a day, have the rest of your luggage sent to the other side, have your car driven to the other end or…. fly back. Guess what we did? Yes, of course we took the scenic way. A shuttle bus took us from the end of the track to the air strip where we called the guy who was coming to pick us up. A few minutes later he arrived and took us back in a Cessna to the start of the track in 20 min. A bit depressing that you fly in 20 min what we had walked in 5 days. But it was definitely worth it especially since we were so lucky with the weather. The sky was blue when we were in the air but just a few hours later rain clouds were rolling in over the hills. Good timing!

More photos:

Heaphy Track – New Zealand