Pura Vida: Milford Track

The Milford Track...another one of the NZ "Great Walks." You can see the map of the track from above here, and there is a nice day-to-day description -- with cool pictures here. I can't even begin to describe it, so I think I will copy-and-paste the first email I sent to our parents telling them we were OK, when I was still flying high. Read on for pictures below...

Yahoo Mail, Tuesday March 2, 2010:
"Thought you guys might be interested to know -- We made it out from the Milford Track safe and sound. It was probably the coolest backpacking experience of my entire life. And by far the most extreme. We stayed in the huts so could be warm and dry every night, with gas stoves to cook food and commiserate with our travel companions over hot drinks. The first 2 days were sunny and warm with spectacular views down the valley we were hiking up. The second 2 days were torrential rain all day long, we were in our full wet weather gear (rain jackets, rain pants, gaiters, pack covers...) and were soaked all day. I've never seen so much rain/water in my life -- including in Central America. It made for amazing waterfalls speckled all over the steep canyon walls -- At one point I counted every one I could see in one viewpoint, and stopped counting at 30!! The last day, the hike out, was 6 hours (about), and we had the pleasure of a Dept of Conservation (DOC) ranger...and the company of our 38 fellow walkers. The rain was coming down fast (the first day of rain, our 3rd day hiking was 8 ml/hr, the last day was somewhere around 25 or 30 ml/hr)...and the river was bursting it banks, and we had to hike out with the ranger/group for safety. (I guess that is like being evacuated, eh?) We hiked in water up to our hips/waists on several occasions, for quite a ways each stretch (ie 15-20 minutes/stretch) since the water had come up over the banks and flooded the trail...and countless rushing stream crossings. It was like hiking through a waterfall all day. But again, every time you'd look up, there were huge waterfalls everywhere you looked. More than you could count. Despite the fact that we were wet, and cold, it was gorgeous. So cool that when we were hiking through the waist-deep water instead of thinking "Man, this is COLD!" I was thinking, "Man, this is COOL!" It gives a great sense of accomplishment and I'm so proud we did it together!! There was a sign in the first hut - I meant to take a picture, but it said "Long smiles make short miles." And it seemed very true. (Some of our travel companions from Australia were lamenting how rainy/wet/cold/ridiculous it was on our boat ride out, and I was like, "Yeah, but aren't you PROUD of yourselves? Wasn't that a once in a lifetime experience?!?" And they were like, "Yeah, but, it was really cold and wet." I'm glad my glass was half-full...(it was actually running over!), but this was an occasion where my tendency to have rose-colored glasses came in handy."

Pack Liners...the best NZ$5 you will spend before your trip. We picked these up when we got our passes at the DOC (Department of Conservation -- not the Dept of Corrections...), and they seemed "handy." We found out later that they are "essential." No pack cover could keep the amount of water we were soon to encounter out of your pack. This is at our little lakeside hotel room in Te Anau, where we stayed the night before we left. Te Anau is the real gateway to Fiordland - an extremely quaint little village that is a perfect place to pack up and get ready...and then gorge yourselves when you get back. (We also saw the best mullet EVER in Te Anau...that is a blog Patrick is composing for another day.)

It takes some doing to get to the start of the track...You take a bus from the DOC in Te Anau, to this dock at Te Anau Downs. You then take a boat across Lake Te Anau to the trailhead. We had a fantastic, clear day, and had some nice views along the way.

Once across the lake you arrive here...tucked right in here is the start of the Milford Track. Once you get off, you're with the 40 people you'll be spending the next 4 days with. 40 people go in a day, stay at the first hut, and move to the next hut the second day, when 40 more people start, and so on. You aren't allowed to stay more than 1 night at any given hut, and you can only do the hike in 1 direction during the peak season. (This is key later, when there is torrential rain and you think, "Why don't they just let you stay at the hut?" -- They can't, because there are 40 more people arriving to head up the trail...so you hike in the rain. If it gets really bad, you get a DOC escort like we did, or you get helicoptered to the next hut!)