Milford Track day 3

17 Feb
We had a beautifully situated room last night and enough clear sky to be able to see stars for the first time in 3 weeks. I watched from our window which gave me a view of the surrounding mountains, too. The new-to-me bird at this lodge was the kea, a large and highly intelligent parrot. At the first lodge we were asked to leave our boots outside the room. At this lodge we were told to bring them inside and lock the door so the keas couldn't get in. We were told stories of keas working together to steal food and other things from backpackers. One or two of them distract the backpacker while another unzips the pack and takes what it finds. Sounds like the pickpockets everywhere. We were also told that when the lodge was being renovated, workers kept losing materials. When they checked on the roof, they found nuts, bolts, screws and nails all neatly arranged by size. We heard other, equally amazing kea stories, so we were careful.

The power went off at 10 pm, as on the first night, but came back on at 6:15 am so we could get an earlier start. Today was as hard as advertised. We hiked 9 miles but had an elevation gain of about 2400 feet followed by a descent of about 3000 feet. We crossed McKinnon Pass, the highest point on the track, in passing clouds, spitting rain, and high winds. Even so, the views were beautiful for most of the day. My favorite part was close to the end, Margaret Falls & the Anderson Cascade. This is a relatively new part of the track. It's a series of long staircases that follow a series of beautiful waterfalls, each ending in a deep blue pool.

It's hard to convey a sense of the difficulty of the track. The distance and elevation change don't really tell the story. This is an old track, although it's maintained, and while it doesn't meet contemporary track standards, it is kept because of its historic significance. That means narrow, rocky ledges that would have been treacherous had it been raining, descent from bridges onto boulders, scrambling through large rocks where the track wasn't entirely clear, and other delights. Anderson Cascade was added to the track (the Kiwi term for a trail) in recent years, which explains the relatively easy to manage stairs. We felt very accomplished when we reached our night's lodging.

The morning routine is the same at each lodge. 15 minutes after the geneerator is restarted and lights come on, lunch fixings are set up in the dining room so we can make our own lunch for the day. Shortly after that, cold cereal and juice are available. Some time after that, a cooked breakfast is available--eggs either poached or scrambled, Canadian bacon, cooked tomatoes, sometimes baked beans, toast, and porridge. We have about half an hour to eat, finish packing, and get on the trail.

When we arrive at a lodge after a day of hiking, we are greeted by the host, given water or juice and a baked treat (none of which I can eat but which Mike sausage good), given a tour, and shown to our room. We shower, wash the clothes we've worn on the track in the common wash room, and hang them to dry in the drying room. The heat for this comes from the diesel generator and has been effective in drying our things every night. So the morning routine also involves retrieving and putting on our dry track clothes.

Tomorrow is our last day on the track. The guides promise that while it's the longest distance, it's not as hard as today. We'll see.