Day 98 - waiau pass

Blue Lake hut —-> Waiau hut 16km

I woke up extra early today, very keen to get a head start on the day’s walk. I knew there were three others staying at Blue Lake hut who were all going over the pass today. The next hut was only a six bed, so if they got there before me and a couple of NOBOs were already there, I would have to camp. I was planning on camping as little as possible on the South Island. It was getting cold.

I set off as soon as I could just about see to make sure that I would at least start the day ahead of the three also coming from Blue Lake.

Climbing up through a steep forest, I soon had great views back over Blue Lake.

After a short tussock section I was at the edge of Lake Constance, where I needed to climb what seemed like a near vertical skree slope. I stuck my head down, leant forward and didn’t stop until my feet hit solid rock.

Lake Constance was another sacred lake, and arguably more impressive.

The clouds were hanging around, floating in and out as the morning went on.

The trail continued above and along the length of Lake Constance, scrambling over rocks and through tussock before climbing down over some rather precarious rock faces, back to the shore of the lake.

From the shore the track was relatively flat, through tussock to the edge of the lake and into the valley beyond.

I assumed that Waiau Pass would be at the end of the valley. As I got closer, the thick clouds seemed be coming down closer to the valley floor - I was not looking forward to walking in a white out yet again.

But as I neared the end, the poles disappeared and I very nearly missed where the track turned left. I wasn’t going up the valley ahead of me, but instead up the giant skree slope on my left.

I now had 500m ascent in elevation - a scramble up the skree and the rocks to reach the top of Waiau Pass. It was about as steep as you could get without needed ropes.

I would climb 50m, turn around to admire the view, catch my breath then start again, all the while balancing on the rocks underneath my feet.

Just over an hour later and I wonderfully bumped into an intrepid tramper coming over the pass from the other direction and he was able to take my picture just at the top.

It was as if I’d passed through a different world as I climbed over the saddle, I left the warmth of the morning sun behind and was met with snow on the other side.

It wasn’t snow-ing, and it had probably been on the tops for a good few weeks, but it was snow! Had I started this trail too late!?

Travel across the top of the pass was easy and I stopped for a while admiring the incredible mountain views.

But then I had to climb down, which I really did need ropes for. The descent down was over 700m, but unlike the smoothish skree slope on the way up, the way down was over steep jagged rocks which I had to lower myself down over continuously. It was the first section of the whole trail I thought I would have preferred to do in the opposite direction. Rock climbing up feels a lot better than rock climbing down.

Eventually I reached the floor and followed the river and a series of stunning waterfalls down through the valley.

I found a spot on the edge of the river for lunch and sat basking in the sun and soaking my feet in the icy water.

I then siddled alongside the river for the next hour, rock hopping over boulders in parts, enjoying the temperature now I was off the coolness of the mountains.

As the trail veered away from the river slightly, the most glorious sight came into view. Flat land.

I’d almost forgotten what flat land looked like and I skipped along the dreamy path through the grass all the way to to the hut.

I needn’t have stressed about getting a bed, there was just one NOBO already there - Matt. The three who were coming from Blue Lake didn’t arrive for a few hours. Two other NOBOs turned up just as it was getting dark and we scooted the furniture around in the hut so that the seventh person could sleep on the floor instead of camping.

I felt like a totally different human from yesterday. The day was tough, but the change in scenery every few hours was spectacular. The hut was wonderful and warm, no one was nicking any of my stuff. Life was great.