Today was a great day. After a nourishing breakfast, we convoyed to the Hermitage Hotel where we embarked on a spectacular day long traverse up the mountain. The first thirty minutes of flat terrain gave us some false confidence about the trail that lay ahead. We turned on to Sealy Tarns trail and began our ascent on the seemingly endless stairs. We hiked at an aggressive pace and took small breaks every 10 minutes or so, and after 300+ m of ascent we asked Dan if we were close to the top, and he informed us we'd made it about half the way.
After a couple hours of our best mountain goat impressions we made it to a beautiful lunch spot overlooking two bright blue lakes and the Tasman Glacier. We ate our sandwiches at a picnic table surrounded by tarns, which are essentially just little lakes that are created by glaciers and collect rainwater. Then we decided to continue upward even though the groomed trail had ended. We saw some incredible conglomerates with beautifully metamorphosed clasts, pieces of which members of the group carried all the way back down. By this point the clouds had descended upon us obstructing our view, so we called it a day and turned around.
It took us less than a third of the time to hike down as it did to come up! After we successfully made it to the base, we took a quick detour to Kea Point, which gave us a more intimate overlook of another glacial lake, where we celebrated our triumphs with a big bar of chocolate. Finally, we returned to the Hermitage Hotel where our van was parked.
Before leaving this beautiful national park, we lounged in the hotel's cafe, enjoying hot drinks and decompressing from a long day of hiking. After a much-needed shower, we went to the local pub for our last group dinner in Twizel.
What a day and an adventure.
Signing off,
Henry and Maddy
After a couple hours of our best mountain goat impressions we made it to a beautiful lunch spot overlooking two bright blue lakes and the Tasman Glacier. We ate our sandwiches at a picnic table surrounded by tarns, which are essentially just little lakes that are created by glaciers and collect rainwater. Then we decided to continue upward even though the groomed trail had ended. We saw some incredible conglomerates with beautifully metamorphosed clasts, pieces of which members of the group carried all the way back down. By this point the clouds had descended upon us obstructing our view, so we called it a day and turned around.
It took us less than a third of the time to hike down as it did to come up! After we successfully made it to the base, we took a quick detour to Kea Point, which gave us a more intimate overlook of another glacial lake, where we celebrated our triumphs with a big bar of chocolate. Finally, we returned to the Hermitage Hotel where our van was parked.
Before leaving this beautiful national park, we lounged in the hotel's cafe, enjoying hot drinks and decompressing from a long day of hiking. After a much-needed shower, we went to the local pub for our last group dinner in Twizel.
What a day and an adventure.
Signing off,
Henry and Maddy
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