Trip Notes:
The intention was to to do a 3 day tramp up Mount Owen in Kahurangi National Park from the Southern route and then descend via the Branch Creek Hut and the Fyfe River. We landed up just doing an overnight hike to Sunrise Peak and back.
- Arrived at the farmers field late. Put up tents and went straight to bed
- Started walking at 7:30, treeline at around 13:00, Sunrise Peak at 15:30
- Total walking time going up 8hrs
- Total walking time coming down 5.5hr
- Total elevation gain 1200m
- Sunrise Peak at 1583m
- Started out flat along the river, then went straight up.
- Sim not feeling well, struggled on the uphill, quite worried about him. Not good
- Sim lost the top off of my camelback while filling up with water in the river, so down to 3 litres of water between the two of us over potentially 2 days
- Completely exhausted at the top
- Went for a 2hr recce after we dumped out packs
- Unusual scenery
- Found a tiny bit of snow to munch on
- Would have liked to continue to Mount Owen, but lack of water and our physical state meant it was a no go
- Bivvying for the first time
- Completely silent at night
- So many stars
- Having to ration water. Not fun at all
- 2 ladies came to say hello – they camped higher up
- 2 tourists came to say hello, before going back down – crazy
- Not enough water for beakfast
- Hiking down through the Spaniards. Hellish
- Hiking down through the trees, legs dying, and so thirsty
- Reaching the cool cool water and having to wait a further half hour for purification – hellish
- Crossing icy rivers with our boots on – a pleasure
- That first gulp of water after having had nothing for hours – absolute bliss
- All in all a challenging hike, reminding us once again that we need to get serious about getting fit or give up and go home cos these types of trips are not much fun
