TRAVEL TALES | NEW ZEALAND
The Return Hike From the Hut in the Valley
And learning from mistakes others made in the backcountry
After a rather peaceful night in the backcountry hut, we were staying in the mountains, I woke up seeing a man walking around outside the I hadn’t seen the night before. I crawled out of bed and opened the door. That was when I saw it.
There were seven more tents. These people must have arrived in the dark as I went to bed late. Exclaiming my find, the lady who slept below us on the bunk beds said they arrived just before midnight. Flashlights were lighting all around.
Another reason why I sleep with earplugs and an eye mask when on camping trips. I heard and saw none of that.
But who on Earth would arrive at a hut in the mountains at midnight? There must have been some really bad planning involved. The mother confirmed the danger of it as she and her husband work as volunteers for the fire brigade and mentioned how hikers like that put search and rescue teams in danger as well as they then have to go out in the dark.
When David and I sat down at the table to have breakfast, the man I had seen outside joined and we were soon involved in a conversation.
He was the group leader of an excursion of 12th-grade teens from Australia who were working toward their Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award, a program neither of us had ever heard of but is active in 144 countries.
It’s a youth program where teens or young adults must complete different tasks in categories such as volunteering, physical, skills, expedition and residential and work toward their award for a certain amount of time.
This award recognizes a series of self-improvement exercises for young adults and will help them later when applying for jobs or other positions.
And yes, while talking to the man, we did notice a handful of mistakes he made with his group which led to them arriving so late and exhausted. Three of the group didn’t even make it to the hut and pitched a tent just about a kilometer down the trail.
I wondered how and where since there was no space or flat surface on the entire stretch once out of the forest.
This group didn’t start like we did at the parking lot but in the town of Wānaka. Like most others on the hut, they were doing a longer hike and began with a scenic but lengthy walk along Lake Wānaka.
Having spoken to a Dutch girl who came that way the afternoon before, we knew about the trail and that one doesn’t need to arrive so late.
David and I later spoke about the group more and while he was giving them the point of a doubt, I shook my head. Sure, the time on Alltrails was misleading but when you go on a multiple-day trip with a group of underaged children in a foreign land, you do your proper research.
The man said he planned on arriving at the hut at 9 pm. In no world would I ever plan on arriving that late. You have zero room for error and if any delays happen, which will occur due to the size of the group, you will have to walk in the dark putting your group at risk and the ones who potentially need to come to the rescue.
They left town way too late.
Also, this was their first day of hiking with fully loaded bags and the planned tour was supposed to take around 8 to 9 hours. That is a lot of hiking and carrying a heavy load makes it even more difficult. Now add the beating sun and brutal heat of summer and you have a great combination.
We are not long-distance hikers but we don’t plan any journey which is written to take more than five hours.
Also, David mentioned the man had said they had hiked at night before. I’m like ‘whatever’. I’ve also walked through the desert at night using stars as a lead and crossed fields in Germany at night.
But you don’t walk a tricky mountain trail that is written out as having damage on it in the dark with a group of youngsters who are already tired after seven hours of hiking.
We don’t even drive at night.
Also, the group leader told me about their journey ahead which ended in Queenstown with 20 river crossings at the last part of the trail. He said but the water was only knee-deep.
I looked at him confused. How does he know? The river levels change here quite rapidly and it was supposed to rain in the two upcoming days. Just saying.
Anyway, I’m not saying I’m perfect and don’t make mistakes but I plan stuff like that and always have a backup plan looking at the time.
Packing up our stuff and leaving the hut as one of the last ones, we wished the group leader all the best for the upcoming journey and walked past the collection of tents in which teenagers were still sound asleep at 9 am.
Lucky us (and them), the skies were overcast and we didn’t have to fight the brutal heat and sun we endured the day before walking up the valley.
Putting one step ahead of the next one while pushing tall grass aside, we constantly were reminded that this group had walked this stretch in the pitch dark.
Unbelievable.
Either way, not wasting more time on them, we embraced the beauty of this trail and the cooler temperatures. Talking about the foxgloves and many different grasses in bloom, we were distracted and surrounded by the constant sound of flowing water in the creek down below.
Backtracking what we had come up the day before, we now realized how much we had climbed in altitude. It made sense why we had a hard time walking this trail during the midday sun.
David stopped in his tracks pointing to the right where a small waterfall was visible in between all the lush vegetation. Boulders of all sizes were creating rapids and waterfalls all along the stream.
Back in the forest, I smiled while climbing across fallen logs and holding onto roots in hand holds. The trail was certainly fun but I agree with the descriptions on AllTrails, this path should not be walked in or after the rains. Some stretches were slippery even on this dry day.
When we reached the spot where we had a break the day before, we decided to put down our bags again and rest a little while enjoying the peaceful scene by the river.
The water flowed constantly next to us, we just sat there and listened to the sounds of the forest mixing with the rushing river in the creek.
I pointed at the tree ahead which had half of its roots exposed due to wash-outs from heavy rains. It looked like a miracle he was still standing holding onto the slope with all he had left. One of these days, the tree will fall and make a hell of a sound crashing down on the trail. One can only hope no hikers will be around that time.
Continuing our hike down the valley, I stopped to watch a tomtit hopping from one branch to another while chirping in a high-pitched voice. These quirky birds are common in the beech forests but difficult to shoot as they don’t sit still for long.
Crossing a few more boulders next to the river, I was looking down not noticing how far David was ahead. It’s usually that way. I’m the one taking the lead when hiking upward and he is the one ahead in the way back down.
Coming out of the forest, a bit of sunlight came through between the clouds but still nothing compared to a day of full sunlight. David mentioned a very angry California Quail shouting at him as he passed a bush and I explained the parents’ anger.
Walking around the corner just behind him, I heard the chicks cheeping in the tall grass and understood the father’s anger when we approached the nest unknowingly causing him to stress and be alert.
I didn’t stop and continued walking shooing off tiny butterflies resting on the trail. These insects were barely larger than my thumbnail but their fluttering above the ground pulled my attention.
Not long after, we crossed the few farmland fences and reached the car park. With tired and sore legs, we dropped the bags and cooled off our feet in the nearby river. The water was icy cold but it felt so good after the hike.
What an adventure it had been.
This was day one of our hiking trip:
If you’re interested in my New Zealand adventures, subscribe to my newsletter to stay updated or check in on my new list regularly. Join my email list here if you would like to read more photo essays.
Shutterstock | Instagram | YouTube | Mailchimp | Amazon | Redbubble
