Thus Far

At first I thought I was dreaming. But then I realized I was still awake and the singing voice was coming from somewhere outside our tent. We were staying at a campground in Hokitika on the west coast of the South Island. All I heard at first was, "West Virginia." Having always been proud of my West 'by god' Virginia heritage I immediately rousted (always wanted to use that word) myself from my slumber. The voice continued, "mountain mama, country roads take me home." Clay and I were in a state of shock and awe. We never could find the singers who, I can only assume are equally as proud of their 'Almost Heaven' upbringing as well. But it is always refreshing to hear some Country Roads. We had started our day off in Mt. Cook National Park where we stood in a downpour for 45 minutes trying to hitch a ride. It was not the greatest of moments. Our thumbs out, our backs to the rain, and knowing that the only dry article of clothing I possessed at that moment was a pair of running shorts. But our luck quickly changed when a Canadian from Calgary picked us up and took us all the way to the west coast (500 kilometers). Then the next day he dropped us off at the trailhead after we found out the only other way to get there was a very expensive taxi ride. But that has kind of been the trend of this trip. Clay and I have been consistenly amazed by our continuous good fortune. From our first hitch with Dean who hooked us up with a free place to stay, to the offduty bus driver who gave us a free bus ride into Christchurch. Then there was Nathan the truck driver in Queenstown. He took us from Queenstown to Cromwell on a Friday evening and then back into Queenstown the following Monday. There have been a couple suboptimal moments, standing in the rain, walking along the side of the road for two hours, etc. But these are all overshadowed by many more moments like those previously mentioned. As we reach the halfway point in our trip we cannot help but feel blessed and be thankful for the experiences we have had and the amazing people we have met. Thus far we have hitched several thousand kilometers and hiked about 450 kilometers. We started off in Fiordlands National Park (fifth largest national park in the world..just in case you need that for Trivial Pursuit) with the Kepler Track. During this hike we quickly realized our bodies were not used to packs as heavy as ours are. (I was dragging my poles Mo) But when we started our next trip, the Greenstone/Caples/Routeburn Tracks our bodies were feeling better but the weather had changed. It rained the entire seven days we were out. We then did several trips in Mt. Aspiring National Park. The Young-Wilkin circuit was a sweet trip with some side trips to some amazing alpine lakes. We were slightly starving on that trip though. We met some super cool kiwis in one of the huts that gave us some extra food. We even ate an expired Lara Bar we found in another hut. It wasn't that we didn't have food. We were carrying eight days worth of food for this seven day trip. It just wasn't enough to sustain our energy. Lesson learned. Shorter trips and more food. We then spent a couple of days in Mt. Cook National Park doing day trips. Our most recent trip we just finished up yesterday was in Arthur's Pass National Park. During the 3 Passes Route we had great weather and saw a grand total of six people on the trail. I used the word 'trail' here very loosely. There actually is no trail, hence the lack of people. Having hiked in the Tetons a fair bit, scree travel and boulder hopping are familiar terrain to us. I have never hiked on scree and rocks more in my life than on this last trip. Every form of scree you could think of we were hiking across. All very steep and all very loose. Super neat. But we made it out with only minor injuries and many more amazing vistas etched in our memory banks. So now we are in Christchurch and for the first time in 45 days we slept in a bed. It was emotional. Clay got a haircut and a beard trim. I can actually recognize him now. I found a razor. It has all been very emotional. From here we are going to take a train back to the west coast and start doing some hiking in Nelson Lakes National Park. The first half of our trip has been amazing and we feel very fortunate to be able to be here. We are stoked for all the adventures and misadventures the second half of our trip has in store for us. We hope all of your winters are full of adventures as well. Thanks for reading and stay stoked :)

View from Browning Pass. 3 Passes Route Arthur's Pass National Park.
View looking back at Browning Pass. It is the scree slope just a bit left of the center of the picture. See.
Browing Lake. 3 Passes Route.

When the clouds parted in Mt. Cook National Park. Mt. Cook is the mountain behind us.
Fox Glacier. On the West Coast of the South Island. I could walk to the Sea in just a matter of minutes from this spot. Crazy.

Clay before vist to Barber. Clay very excited after visit to Barber.

Hike up to Mueller Hut in Mt. Cook National Park. We started off in a very thick fog and then all the sudden we popped out above the clouds. It was amazing.

From the Golden Gate

I just spent a week in San Francisco, as you may have gathered from my previous post. It's a city that is fascinating to visit, but once again, I'm glad to be back in the hills. I will say though, that I did appreciate the fact that you can either walk or take public transit EVERYWHERE! And my hotel was pretty neat too. An NPS building right on the bay. Hard to beat. Unfortunately, I did far too much work and went to a few too many meetings to do much more than look at stuff and take pictures. Next time, I'll schedule an extra day or two. But here are some views from the Golden Gate. I really appreciated the green grass.

A Girl and Her Dog

No this is not about Bear, wonder dog, and I, although clearly by this blog's content and title, we think highly of both the dog and the "girl and her dog" concept. This morning, I was meandering down a bayshore sidewalk with my cup of chai and Starbucks (read: Evil Empire of the Coffee Kingdom) oatmeal really just watching the INSANE folks swimming in the San Francisco Bay in 50 degree weather, checking out the herons, and talking on the phone. Clearly. What struck me about this scene was a girl and her dog. Most people take their dogs out for walks and walk the dog as if it were a task or chore that is to be accomplished before they go do something else. Or walk the dog and talk on the phone. Or walk the dog and wish they were doing something else. This girl, in her leather cowboy boots, fringed suede skirt and neatly fitted jacket, was really in it for the dog. She carried a purple "Chuck-it" toy and a star studded leash (literally, as if it were bedazzled or something), and laughed out loud as her tiny long haired dachsund willed its little legs to beat that damn tennis ball to the the pelting waves, as if the little pooch knew those waves would swallow him up. He wrenched that ball out of the surf with much difficulty and returned it to the safety of his owners feet and proceded to sit obediently, waiting for another go. His girl was all too happy to do it again, smiling and giggling as she watched that cute little mistake of dog breeding chase that ball into the surf once again. That might be the most joy I have seen before 730 in the morning in a very long time. So here's to finding joy in simple pleasures and not taking out furry friends for granted.

Expanding Comfort Zones

I don't generally think of myself as someone who requires a lot to be comfortable. But there are certain luxuries in life I have grown accustom to but have been without for the last several weeks. Like for instance face wash, or a toothbrush longer than 3", (we cut ours in half to save weight). We have had to expand our comfort zones quite a bit for this trip, but the payoffs are quite worth it all. Here is a brief list of our expanded comfort zones:

1. Our feet are wet all the time. Even when it hasn't rained for several days your feet stay wet due to the constant stream/river/bog crossings.

2. The funk. The odor that everything we have with us exudes.

3. We had 6 river crossings yesterday alone one of which the water was above my belly button. (I would have taken photos but we were both just trying to stay alive) River crossings are to New Zealand Hiking what boulder hopping is to Teton Hiking. Just the way it is.

4. When the rare occasion to take a shower comes along we just put the same dirty clothes back on. It's neat.

5. We sleep with strangers. A lot. One night the hut we were staying in was so full we had five people sleeping in a space that barely fit four. We all had to roll as a unit.

6. We put our lives in the hands of those that will pick us up off the side of the street.

7. We have not slept in a bed since we left the States.
8. Neither one of us have shaved since we left.

And here is a brief list of the payoffs!!
Crucible Lake, Mt. Aspiring National Park. Amazing alpine lake with glaciers hanging above it.

Clay and I at Crucible Lake.
Sweetest cooking spot ever. Coming down from Cascade Saddle in Mt. Aspiring National Park.
Dart Glacier. On our way hiking up to Cascade Saddle.
Clay trying to create some artificial sunlight in the tent on our 7th day of straight rain.
Coming down from Harris Saddle on the Routeburn Track.
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Views from the top of Cascade Saddle. One of our toughest days yet. We had to combine two days of hiking in order to take advantage of good weather. The views made it worth the beating.

I Need a Visor Lamp

Like the good folks of Cicely, Alaska we are struggling without any sunlight. Like Walt and company (Northern Exposure, Season 5) we feel like we need some artificial sunlight. We are thinking about trying to rig something up with our rain hats and head lamps. We started our last trip in the pouring rain and finished it in the rain. We should have known our luck was ending when we stood out in the rain for two hours unsuccessfully trying to hitch a ride to the trailhead. In the last seven days we have encountered every type of rain imaginable. Showers, thunderstorms, absolute downpours, misty rain, and snow one morning. Our first trek we were worried about getting sunburnt and on this one we were worried about trench foot. It was still a great time though. We linked up three different trails to make one long trip of about 100 kilometers. We did the Greenstone/Caples Loop, and finished up with the Routeburn Track. It was a great time. We stayed at some of the backcountry huts which made the never ending wetness a bit easier to handle plus we met heaps of fun people. The last hut we stayed at slept 16 people. When we went to bed there were over 30 people in this tiny building. Cozy. One of the hut wardens was warning us about a particularly boggy spot that floods really bad with lots of rain. He said, "If the water is chest high it is manageable, but if it is above your head it is unsafe." Ok sweet, great advice. But we just got back into Queenstown where we plan on hanging out for a bit before we head back in for some more hiking.

Some shots from the Kepler Track. 1. Top of Luxmore Saddle. 2. Hiking across the alpine section of the Kepler Track. 3. Our last campsite on the Kepler Track. We had this whole lake to ourselves. It was awesome.

Home sweet home. We met up with a friend of a friend from the states and he let us sleep on his back porch for a couple nights. Score.

The Greenstone Hut on the Greenstone Trail. Sweet hut in the middle of nowhere. Even had flush tiolets. Craziness.

*Internet time is almost up..but more pics to come.

Unintentionally Growing Dreads

I have never wanted dreadlocks, but up until I took a shower yesterday I felt like I was well on my way to having some. We just finished up our first track, the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park. Prior to that though we hitchhiked our way from the middle of the North Island to the south end of the South Island. 1700 kilometers. Sweet. We camped the along the way at "holiday parks." Holiday Parks are the KOAs of New Zealand. Kind of expensive but have lots of amenities. So fortunately we could take showers. But check this out ladies. My shampoo (Dr. Bonners Suds) is the same soap we use to wash our clothes, our pots, our bodies etc. etc. Doesn't really have any volumizing attributes. (But it does have an over powering peppermint scent.) Oh yea and my brush is my fingers. So then follow up that week of awesome hair care with about 4 days of no showers and wam bam you are on your way to some sweet dreadlocks. But insert yesterday's shower (with shampoo and conditioner) and the dread cycle has been reversed. Sweet. But the Kepler Track was even sweeter. We had amazing weather. Which is saying a lot for here since they get 9 meters of rain a year. But next we are heading just a wee bit north of here to do the Routeburn and Greenstone/Caples Tracks. They start in Fiordland National Park but end up in Mt. Aspiring National Park. Anyways here a couple shots from the Kepler Track. Cheers.

Well after several attempts I cannot seem to get the pics to post. But I will try again later when I find another library with free internet :)

'MIND THE STEP'

That's good advice. This sign has greeted us several times since we have been here. The first time getting off our plane in Auckland and the second time getting off a ferry boat. Those steps we navigated without any mishaps. But walking around through traffic is a bit more challenging. Clay has nearly walked into oncoming traffic twice now. That whole driving on the opposite side of the street makes crossing the road a bit more precarious. You don't know which way traffic is coming from. Since arriving in Auckland on the 6th we have become proficient hitchhikers. Neither one of us have ever hitchhiked. So it was a whole new adventure for us. And so far it has went pretty well. In two days we have managed to hitch rides from Auckland (north island) to the south end of the South Island. A distance of about 1200 kilometers. We now only have about 300 kilometers to go to Te Anau which is where we start our first hike. We have met some pretty interesting folks though while hitching. Dean the dairy farmer has been the best so far. We rode with him for nearly six hours and then stayed with him that night. It was pretty sweet since we had no idea where we would have stayed otherwise. Then there was Collen the one-legged meat deliveryman. We rode with him for a while and went around on all his stops and helped him deliver his meat. Our packs rode in the freezer. But as we got to know Collen we found out he was a convicted criminal for threatening to kill someone. Neat. He was also trapped in an auger for 7 hours, hence the missing leg. Random. He was a nice guy, but we were glad when he dropped us off at the ferry terminal and we could retrieve our very chilled packs. There have been countless others but those were the most interesting. So we haven't done any hikes yet but we have already walked heaps. With no car getting around can be a bit tricky. The other night after taking the ferry, (which was sweet, if you have ever taken the one at the Outer Banks, this was nothing like that..pics to follow) from the North Island to the South Island, we had to walk an hour out of town to get to a campground. We didn't get there until 10:30pm. Then the next morning we had to turn around and walk back into town. It is sweet just takes us a bit longer to get places. Well we gotta go put our thumbs to the sky and try and find a ride. But don't worry we will be 'minding our steps.'

Getting ready while staying at Carol's home for wayward children. If she would start a home here she could make a killing.

Although there are a lot of unfamiliarities here there is one universal truth, all the cool kids get around on two wheels.