Fiordland National Park
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Routeburn Track Fiordland National Park |
DAY 3 - March 16, 2017
The early contingent gets up around 6 a.m. Some will be on the trail before they can even see it properly. Having already had plenty of sleep, I get up also to try to catch the morning light on the mountains.
Just missed the sunrise
The bathroom here is a row of six stalls and another row
of wash basins — a single room for everybody.
This non-world traveler finds it a bit unusual to do one's
morning business, then emerge from the stall only to bump into a
sweet young thing who is brushing her teeth! One doesn't
find such facilities back home, where society in general is
relatively up-tight about such things.
At the Unisex facility, you don't have to decide which gender you are
After another helping of Oatsoup for breakfast, Dave and I depart early, hoping to catch the first bus back to town, yet knowing that that is not likely to happen.
Early-morning fog
The peaks to the south
The peaks to the north
Into the rainforest
Above the clouds
Magnificent colors
In the near distance we can see and hear a big waterfall; presently we are there.
Approaching Earland Falls
This place is magnificent! It is time for Dave and me to doff our packs and just take in the spectacle for a while.
571 feet of spendor
This is why I go hiking
Most trees around here aren't this color
Still above the clouds
Dave likes this old stump
A nice watering hole
Into the sunlight, temporarily
Approaching Lake Howden Hut
The fog is swirling about the lake
Now we know that we cannot catch the early bus; so we might as well hang around here for a while, and watch the Guided Walkers inside the hut sipping their tea.
This guy is looking for a handout
The big ibuprofen that Dave gave me this morning has helped, yet my back still is a bit sore. We could hang around here longer; but I cannot find a comfortable spot to recline, so I talk Dave into pressing on.
Tunnel tree
Beautiful
Near the end of the track, Dave and I actually overtake
some hikers for the first time. In this case, it's a
mom and dad with a 3-year-old toddler.
Maybe we're not so old after all!
Hold on. That group has just passed us back, with the little girl on daddy's shoulders.
It's not mistletoe; but it's everywhere
Finally, with just yards to go, we do overtake that threesome again, actually beating someone off the trail!
Made it! Now we get to wait an hour and a half for our bus to Te Anau, along with numerous others doing the same thing.
Parking lot humor
§: What a trip! I have survived
my first-ever Great Walk, and great it was, in
retrospect. I was really put off on Day-2 by
the non-stop difficulty of the trail, yet I guess that
those sorts of trail conditions are the norm in these parts.
Routeburn Falls, Harris Lake, and Earland Falls were the highlights of the tramp for me. The amazing variety of colors in the rainforest proved a pleasant surprise as well.
Overall:
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty | |
| Solitude |  |
The route: north to south
