We have been delinquent on our blogging. When that happens,
you feel like you need to write a lot to make up for the big gap, but I’ll
spare you that for the most part.
We finished up the Milford Track a couple of days ago. If you google the Milford Track, the
advertisement at the top describes it as “The Finest Walk in the World”. That is a pretty bold claim, but it certainly
is nice. It is a four day hike, but if
you are speaking like a proper kiwi, it is called “tramping”, not hiking. The total length is 33 miles. Over that distance, you first hike up the
Clinton River valley. At its headwaters,
you climb up and over MacKinnon Pass and then down the Arthur River valley to
Milford Sound.
The before.....
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Our first hut, the Clinton Hut...
In part, Margaret and my
inspiration for this New Zealand trip was seeing a Globe Trekker New Zealand
episode on PBS when the kids were just babies. In that show, the host tramped
the Milford Track and we thought we have to go do that someday. So we did it.
This is super wet and lush country. We had two partial days of rain, but also two
clear days which I would guess is well above average. Somebody told us that Milford gets 8 to 9
meters of rain per year. That is an unsubstantiated
figure, but I am going with it. For you
English units enthusiasts, that is an average of almost an inch of rain per
day. The country reminded me of a blend of
the Napali Coast on Kauai (for verticality), Southeast Alaska (when raining),
and the Sierras (for all the granite).
It was impressive.
The Kea, the world's only alpine parrot species. You had to hide your boots from these guys as they are quite mischievous and destructive....
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The kids did well on the trail. We were carrying our sleeping bags, clothes,
food, kitchen gear, etc. (no tents, or sleeping pads as we were staying in huts
along the way). The first day was short,
but the next three days averaged about 10 miles per day, which is decent chunk of mileage for a 14
year old and 11 year old. Everybody
travels in the same direction on the track, so we stayed with the same set of
walkers every night. Lucas and Walter were
the only kids which made us a bit of a novelty in a good way.
At the top of MacKinnon Pass which was about 3500 ft....
Our teenage son in an unsuccessful attempt to be surly...
It was quite an international contingent on the track at
least among our hut-mates. Lots of
Aussies, a few Germans, eight Americans including ourselves, couples from
Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Austria, a woman from South Korea, a few Scots
and English. Interestingly, there was
not a single Kiwi on the trip.
Apparently, they like to do it in the off-season when the tourists have
gone home. The trampers were clearly
bi-modal with about an equal number of younger people without kids and older
empty nesters, and then us in the middle.
The after looking a bit haggard and ready for a shower....
Four thumbs up for the Milford Track from the Morton family!
