I have never slept better than that night in the warm comfortable hut
I felt like I could live in a place like that forever at that point.
Two days of the journey were spent reaching the hut and were keen to do some hunting. We had a chat about what type of animal we would prefer to chase. I was happy with a Red stag, Chamois buck or bull Tahr. My friend was keen on a Red or Tahr but thought Chamois looked like rats (HA! Dont ask..). He kept saying he would prefer to let one walk than shoot it and would just hand the rifle to me and walk away if one presented itself.
We figured we should head up high while we were still fresh for the Goats then head back down toward the end to chase Red deer. We read the trip reports in the logbook Seemed like a good spot! Most entries recorded animals taken and some good info on how to get up to the tops (NZ term for breaking above the tree line). Packs straight back on and up we went. A trail led from the hut to a river, then on to a spur that we would follow most of the way up the mountain. The trip was recorded to take on average 3 hours. I figured it would be fairly basic; just go UP! I couldnt have been more wrong.
Looking at the maps, this spur was one of the most gradual climbs in the area yet most of the hike was close to vertical. I couldnt believe how long it was taking to cover ground on such a steep incline. Nothing was flat. Everything was soaking wet, even though the day was warm. We pushed and pushed but never seemed to get any closer. It didnt help that my buddy kept saying things like Just 600 more metres and it flattens out a bit so we would charge on for those 600 metres only to hear him say Yep, maybe just another 600 metres!. Hours passed and I was still moving at a decent pace, I thought. It couldnt possibly be much further
Its a 3 hour trail!!!! Might be an hour out on my fitness level but surely Ill be there soon
Or so I thought. It was so vertical I couldnt see the tops and therefore I couldnt judge the distance. All of a sudden
It got dark. A light shower Nice! It cooled me down as we moved. But the light shower grew heavy
The muddy trail became slippery. With each step the rain filled our clothes and gear as if to hold us back. The trail started to throw out areas that required a climb. Slipping and sliding on tree roots as we pushed our way up The rain wasnt welcome anymore. The higher we got, the colder it became. We eventually popped out on a ridgeline exposed even further to the rain. Every dip in the trail filled with water and we splashed through small pools and scrub. The trees started to disappear.. We did it. The tops! Finally, we had broken away from the tree line and we could see.
The rain was still relentless. I figured the front we had been warned about was coming in and we needed shelter fast. Even though there were no trees, the ground wasnt flat anywhere. You basically needed to pick which angle you preferred to sleep on and pitch there. The other issue was the rising water. Each depression in the ground was a pool. The most flat area we could find, we pitched my two man tent on. It was right beside a growing pool of water. I dug a trench so the water could run off if it kept rising and didnt think much more on it. There was no time or space for a second tent! All 3 of us dove into my tent and wrapped ourselves up in anything we could find. My down sleeping quilt was mashed up against wet bodies on one side and the tent wall on the other. It wasnt long before it was soaked and basically useless. If it was for my Kifaru Lost Parka synthetic jacket I would have frozen. It was one of the most uncomfortable night of my life. If one person rolled or moved, we all woke up and had to roll or move with them
The view inside the tent that night
The rain didnt give in the next day but we were sick of being cramped up in that tent together. My mate jumped out and looked for a better location and somewhere we could both pitch our tents and attempt drying out our gear. I jumped out to have a look and saw the pool beside us had grown so high that it looked like the tent was floating on it. We found a better area nearby, pulled up camp and the sun came out
Rocky outcrop above camp
We quickly got to know the surrounding area. Plenty of fresh water pools for clean water around. I had also heard about these white alpine berries and started finding them all over camp. They werent very sweet but have a very distinctive flavour. Really refreshing and I ate them by the handful.
The map showed a good area to look out over a wide area of the tops only 500m away. With a little sun out we jumped at the chance for a look. We had one rifle between us, which I was carrying. In his eager haste, my friend took lead about 5m in front and we moved quickly to the lookout area. We saw a huge boulder and rocky outcrop that would give a good vantage point and scrambled towards it. As my friend got to the top we both heard a scurry A Chamois buck was resting under that boulder, jumped up, looked back at us for about 1 second and bounced down into the fog below. My friend was upset with himself for taking point without the rifle. I personally saw it as a good sign of things to come! We had moved 500m on our first scout and saw our target! We spent some time there and glassed the area for more
This is the rocky outcrop most of the time. In a constant battle with the fog.
This is how it looked when it cleared
The fog began to roll in heavy and the day grew long. It was time to head back to camp. Finally set up in a hunting area and first animal seen
This was going to be a great trip.
