The TLA 'OMG' is very overused, but 'OMG' is probably a fair reaction to today.
I was awoken several times during the night by the sound of the wind buffeting against my room, and when the alarm went off at 06:00 I had a peek through the curtain into the still dark morning and I could see a couple of stars and the ground looked dry. That was all it took for me to get my rear into gear, and as I left my room my neighbours were also on the move. As I turned I caught sight of the mountains, and I definitely hadn't seen them yesterday.
Away at 07:30, and parked up in an empty car park at the Hooker Valley trailhead at 07:45 .... I didn't know what the day had in store but I thought than an early start was a good idea. About 5 minutes into the hike, and I took the first detour to the Alpine Memorial, where the views were stunning and showed me what I was missing to the rain yesterday.
The sun hadn't been risen that long, so the valley was in shade with a strong breeze in parts, and the light was kissing the clouds and glaciers high up in the mountains. Over the first of the three suspension bridges, and Mount Cook slowly came into view. I was wondering at my good fortune with the weather this morning, but wasn't about to complain.
The trail was fairly empty, and as I continued I had a chat with some fellow hikers, including my motel neighbours who seemed to be on the same schedule as me this morning. Onwards and the views just kept getting better. Over the second of the suspension bridges, and onto the seemingly inevitable section of steps before a boardwalk section over a marshy area.
Onwards once more, and soon I was at the final of the suspension bridges; across and the path continued, the sun climbed higher in the sky, Mount Cook came fully into view and the scenery was just stunning. I can see why this is one of the best hikes in the world, and it's definitely towards the top of the list of ones I've done. Past a sign that said the Hooker Lake lookout was just five minutes away, up an incline and around a corner and there it was; the end of the trail just a couple of hundred yards away.
There were only about a half dozen people about, so there was plenty of room to take photos and videos without people getting in the way. There was a trail leading to the top of a hill just past the viewing platform, so I explored that and then took the path down to the lakeshore.
The view was fantastic; Mount Cook dominated the scene with Hooker Lake sitting at the base. A glacier ended at the far end of the lake, and icebergs had gathered at the near end of the lake, carved into beautiful shapes by the elements. A sign pointed out that the water temperature in the lake gets as high as 3 centigrade in the summer, so there were no swimmers here!
I stayed at the end of the trail for about a half hour, by which time it was getting really crowded with a scrum for the best spots; I decided that it was time to start back to the car, and I passed a steady stream of hikers making their way up to the viewpoint. Starting the hike early this morning definitely paid dividends!
On the way down much more of the valley was in the sun, and so the views that had been great on the way up were now even better. In addition, the view down the valley that I'd had my back to on the way up was now the focus of attention on the way down.
I arrived back at the car at 11:15; the car park where I'd parked had been empty on arrival, but on departure not only were the car parks full, but vehicles were parked on both sides of the road for a mile; it is definitely a popular hike, and I fully understand why. Back to my room, and some time to relax and rehydrate with a couple of cups of tea while I made my plan for the rest of the day.
There was a second place that I wanted to visit here at the Tasman Glacier, so at around 13:00 I made my stiff legs move and drove the 15 minutes to the base car park for that. As I started the trek, a large coach party started along the path ahead of me. I was aiming for the glacier viewpoint, but in trying to navigate around the big group I totally missed the turnoff to that path.
I gave up trying to get around the big group, so hung back a bit until they started to descend towards a jetty. I'd expected steps up to a viewpoint, so I asked the backmarker tour guide and they said that I'd missed the path, but suggested that it I took what looked like a goat trail I'd have good views of the glacier.
An adventure for the afternoon, I took the steep narrow path upwards, and was rewarded with a fantastic view of the lake and glaciers with not another person in sight anywhere.
Back down to the car, and near the car park I spotted the trail that I should have taken. I'm not sure how I missed it (too busy having a grump at the big tour group I expect), but it was a constant stream of people and would have been absolutely packed at the top. It was a good reminder that sometimes mistakes can lead to something that's far better than if the original course had been followed.
Back to the room, and my legs are officially done for the day. My calves have stood up well today, but I know all about it now. It has been a most excellent day, and I'm so pleased that I added the additional night here so that I could explore at leisure.
I also cannot believe how kind the weather has been to me today. It's been breezy but a nice temperature (although a fleece has been required), and after yesterdays rain on arrival I could not have asked for better. Added to that the forecast for tomorrow is for heavy thunderstorms and snow, so my timing really has been exceptional, and an early depart back towards the east coast may be in order tomorrow.
Oh, and in case you're wondering from line 1 of today ...... TLA = Three Letter Acronym
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