So the weather on our hike wasn't quite as good as we had hoped, but it was still the most amazing journey. When we checked the weather report on Sunday, the forecast had snow falling down to 700 metres on Tuesday and heaps of rain pretty much all week. So we got us some thermal longjohns and plastic pack liners to protect our stuff, but we didn't cancel or rebook, which turned out to be a very good decision.
Day number 1 was a nice stroll up the Greenstone valley and we were dropped off at the track start by a boat. No rain while walking and we set up our tent on dry ground no problem. It did rain a lot that night, but it wasn't cold or nothing. Day numero 2 was also nice and still flat, though I must say that walking in valley flats can get quite muddy and it seems that cows prefer to do their business right along the track. Setting up tent was no problem again, and we were able to have it dry for the night. We had planned on getting up a bit earlier the next morning than the day before, hoping to avoid bad weather later in the day, but at 7 we decided it was still too dark outside. Turns out it wasn't actually dark, but about 3 inches of snow were covering our tent. It had fallen earlier than expected. So that made us get up quickly and shake of the snow to keep the dang thing from collapsing. Snow was still falling in huge flakes.
Our boots were still a bit wet from the day before and getting wetter as we went along the track to the junction with the Routeburn track. We arrived at said junction where Howden hut is also located to find out the track had been closed because of the snow, but conditions would be reviewed in an hour or two. So we warmed and dried up a bit in the hut, had lunch and talked with the couple that had been camping with us on the Greenstone so far, and were actually going the same way as us. Except that they would walk back on the Routeburn and go down the Caples valley afterwards. They had a real flash tent too. Anyway, the ranger told us we could go up to the next hut/campsite at Lake Mackenzie after an hour or so, but we still had to climb over the plastic tape closing the track, which she left up to be able to talk to more people going that way. It turned out to be no problem walking that bit, and the climb was really gentle. However, our feet were getting increasingly wet and by the end every step felt like slushing through water. As it was still raining and snowing off and on, we didn't get a chance to take a picture of the beautiful Earland Falls, but we did see a Kea in the snow and photographed it, which I thought was pretty flipping cool. Did I mention that the forest and mountains looked absolutely stunning covered in snow? Well, they did. Of course they did.
Arriving at Lake Mackenzie the next section of the track was closed, but we weren't getting on that until the next day. Even though campers aren't allowed to, we used the hut to warm up and dry some of our stuff. They were a few people in there, which had planned to go that day, but since the track was closed, they had to stay an extra night. Now you have to understand though, that this hut with 50 bunks as well as the campsite with 9 spots were all booked out for that night, but there were maybe 12 people in the hut and two parties camping (us and the couple mentioned above). Everyone else either cancelled or couldn't come from the other side of Harris Saddle (that's where we were headed the next day). Since the freezing level had dropped to 900m, and we were at that level, we weren't too thrilled about sleeping in the tent, but had no choice and it turned out to be no problem at all, thanks to our longjohns and alpaca sweaters. We also figured out that it's possible to zip our sleeping bags together, which added some extra warmth as well.
The ranger was pretty sure the track would be open the next day, and it was, so we went. There was still lots of snow, but the hut people had already walked there so the track was clear, with some bits a bit slippery from compacted snow. The initial climb was quite steep, and the way to the saddle windy and exposed in parts, with the mountain dropping off quite steeply to our left. We arrived at the saddle sooner than expected, had lunch in the shelter there, where two fearless mice were eating the crumbs, and we went on to Routeburn Falls hut, which was basically just a steep descent. We only used the bathroom there though and went further down to our campsite at Routeburn Flats, all in all dropping about 500m. So that was Thursday, and the weather was fine all day, but rain was supposed to fall the next day, especially at night, which was no problem for us, since we were getting picked up at 2 at the end of the track. Anyway, the campsite was absolutely beautiful and we were nice and warm throughout the night. The only thing disturbing my precious sleep was a possum or rat (I'm afraid it was the latter) nibbling a hole in the bottom of our tent while trying to get into our trash bag. That bastard! I moved the bag into my pack, but it kept coming back (ha, that rhymes), even though the hole was closed with duct tape now. Once it woke me up while I was dreaming about pizza. I really hated that thing.
Since we only had two hours of walking the next day, we took it easy in the morning and left around 10. The weather was still fine, and we saw some more robins, tomtits and even riflemen, as we had the days before. The bus picked us up and we took some much-needed showers. So that's it, out fantastic mountain adventure. Even though we had hoped for and expected much nicer weather, it turned out that snow made everything even more beautiful in the end, and that the added strain was well worth it. Also, it was much less crowded than it would usually be that time of year thanks to the snow. We are also very proud of ourselves for walking the track in the direction we did, as it turned out to be easier and we went downhill on the long and steep side. Aren't we great? Oh, and of course we had pizza for dinner back in Wanaka.
