Here's where it all went wrong. After breakfast we went to the Department of Conservation's office in Te Anau to fill out a form indicating a date at which they would send help up for us if we didn't make it down and to inquire about the conditions of the great walks in the area. It was at this point that we learned that nobody had been or would be doing any of the three great walks in the area until the avalanche danger was considerably lower. The avalanche danger would only be low enough for a full winter crossing of the Kepler Track if it had not snowed or rained in two weeks and the forecast appeared good.
Our plans were turned upsidedown. We decided we would do the walk up to the first hut on the Kepler Track, stay there one night while discussing what to do with the rest of our time, and come down the next day.
Because we were only going up for one night we were able to leave plenty of our food supplies in the car.
It was raining as we prepared to leave. We wanted a photo of us at the start of our hike so I offered my "waterproof to 10 feet camera" to take the shot. Unfortunately, I could not figure out how to set a timer for the camera so I took this video thinking I would just take a screenshot of part of it. I'm told the video is funny so I'll just link that instead.
So we started out on the trail and walked as a group for an hour to a nice beach spot where camping is permitted.
Here we stopped for a few to admire the beach and prepare for the next bit which we had read was an estimated 4 hours uphill to the hut. Dale and I were inspired to climb the hill rapidly and we waved goodbye to our four mates before flying up to the hut in 2 hours 15 minutes including a lunch break. We stopped for lunch at a bit of a clearing where you could see out to Te Anau as the clouds dispersed. The poor weather mostly pushed off as we climbed to the hut with just a few sprinklings the rest of the way there. The sun was shining through the trees as we climbed up above the tree line.
Just as we finished the steepest portion of the day's tramp and came out of the trees we were greeted by this view.
We tramped the last thirty minutes which were full of fantastic views and we came to the hut.
Dale and I arrived at the hut at about 1P.M. and we waited (an hour and a half?) for the ladies and matt to come up. Here they come:
Once our whole party had settled in at the hut we did a bit of exploring up the mountain behind the hut towards Luxmore peak and the rest of the tramp. We were careful not to carry on where the trail is in potential avalanche paths, though we did have to go across a bit of snow to get there. Fortunately, the snow did not require the use of crampons as we had none. Rather, it was the kind of snow you tend to fall right through. Matt's gaiters did not help him with this one:
The trail looked like this when we stopped. It was clear that nobody should be doing the alpine crossing that day:
We then went uphill to the left where there were a few fun looking rocks to climb and a bit of snow. Here's a shot of Dale at the highest point we climbed to that afternoon:
We headed down as soon as we saw rain coming our way and we had just made it to the door when the sky openned up again.
Luxmore Hut has 56 bunks and a nice main room. I took a silly video from inside the main room as I was waiting for the rest of our party to come up. At the beginning I was trying to capture the image of these clouds which were forming in the valleys and quickly rolling up the hills like steam.
Dale looked through his guidebook and the two of us put together a list of different hikes we might be able to do as we worked our way back up to Christchurch. We decided we would call DOC offices ahead in the future.
I ate some tasty paleo foods: bananas, apples, parsnips, carrots, broccoli, celery, and nuts. Dale cooked for himself as he would do each morning and night. Matt and the ladies made some hot veggies and potatoes for dinner.
We all got a good bit of sleep though the wind and rain crashed violently against the hut throughout the night.
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