...of 3, starts with a typical Facespace shot.
the three of us had managed to sleep in (despite some noisy snorers and shufflers in the room). By the time we'd had breakfast and packed, there was only one person out of 40 behind us.
as you can see in this photo - the weather was absolutely stunning, and a perfect temperature; which put quite a spring in our step, for the first real day of hiking.
or perhaps it was our first real view of snow-capped mountains...
either way - the scenery is very much worth the effort
Mark leading the charge
detail of my leg
Mark and Grant look back
maximum load one person... probably best to not test that limit too hard
I'm guessing this is one of the 50 or so bridges that are removed during the winter... post winter snow-melt and rain can cause the rocks to be covered with rushing water - and anything in the way would be swept down-river...
a new toilet awaits installation after being air-lifted to site.
colour shot of my favorite... love the clouds
Grants shadow
self-timer and a WIDE angle lens - makes for a small group in front of a waterfall.
Grant and Mark continue the upward journey
The General consensus of almost everyone we'd met in the past few days, was that the weather would start to roll-in at the end of our 2nd day - If there was any chance of seeing the summit, it would have to be in the afternoon - after having already hiked for 5 hours, we would need to drop our bags at the hut, and push-on another hour or so (gaining another km in elevation), take a look around, and then down-climb an hour and a half back to the hut.
Since there was a chance to actually see the pass in good weather - we'd decided to go for it, and had set a pretty fast pace
Without meaning to - we managed to overtake about 25 of the 40 other climbers.
Mintaro Hut - day 2 accommodation - it's even got a helicopter landing pad (well actually it has two, but one of them is down at the lake - about 5 mins away)
view from the front of the hut
Mintaro Hut
mountains are pretty
very cool trees
looking back into the valley - the lake is very small due to a lack of recent rain
several times on the journey to the summit, we'd enter "no stopping zones" where (even in the summer months) rock-falls and avalanches are common. In fact - on our upward journey we heard 2 rock-slides. Thankfully they were a few hundred meters away, and no-where near the path.
nearing the top
some of the faster climbers heading down (as we were heading up)
the quintin mackinnon memorial
view.
very happy that we decided to make the effort
storm-clouds rolling in
Mark myself and Grant - at the top of the pass - day 2
a view into the valley - where the rock slides occurred
daisys on the path
macro-daisy
nothing nicer after a long hike - than plunging into icy-cold water for a momentary wash.
well - that's day 2 covered.
next up is day 3+4, as we re-trace our steps (this time with our packs in the rain...)
not much else to report; New Years was spent leading a climb-group up the story bridge (2nd year in a row) to watch some fireworks...
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