I took a zero day on 1/19, did laundry, ate, sorted my bounce box, took several showers, tried to patch my shoes together and just hung out in general.
1/20 Slept in a bit, got breakfast with Holger, Katie, Gerben and Sanna, bought some things from the general store, took a shower and hit the trail sometime after 10. One group I’ve been hiking with (Pete, Katie, Yuji, Sam and Steady Eddie) was planning on staying at the first hut, which is only 10k, another group I’ve been hanging out with (Katie, Georgia, Gerben and Sanna) was planning on going to the second which is 24k. I was kind of on the fence about which I wanted to do.
I got to the first hut, had lunch and was debating where to stay. I was originally thinking of staying at the first hut and spending the afternoon swimming in the lake, drinking wine and hanging out, but the lake wasn’t as close to the hut as I hoped. So I decided to head on and try for a hut called the Cupola hut which is off of the TA, but only by about 3k.
The walk followed the river and was more shaded than I thought, which was nice because it was a hot day.
On the way I met a hut warden, who headed back to the John Tait hut after checking out one of the other huts. She and I talked a bunch as we were hiking along, she told me the Cupola hut was a smaller (8 person vs the 28-30 something huts that many Nelson lakes area huts are) old style hut, had great views, and I should be able to make it there before dark no problem. Perfect!
I got to the trail junction, filtered water, grabbed a snack and started heading up at 6:30. The sign says it takes 2.5 hours and is only 3k, but is roughly 500m higher than the other hut.
As I was going up I saw the light changing to sunset and tried to rush, but it was slow and I was very sweaty.
I got to the hut at 8:15, plenty of time for sunset, there were five locals there, an older crowd, they informed me that there’s an even better view just 50m further behind the hut… and wow! Amazing panoramic Mountain views!!
I came back down, got my dinner and cooked it on top while watching the sun set. It was a glorious day!
Beautiful photos, Pete.