Getting high!

This has been a weird year, to say the least. Like so many others, I had international travel plans that had to be cancelled or rescheduled to who knows when. As a result, I’ve been taking to the mountains more than usual – who would have thought such a thing was even possible since I spent most of my weekends there last year as well! But this year has involved doing a lot more multi-day treks, both for the joy of it and condition myself for next September’s 9-day trek to circumnavigate Peru’s Ausangate and Rainbow Mountains. Which is going to be awesome.

So, without further ado, here’s a few shots from the recent forays. Enjoy!

 

Buckhorn Pass & Buckhorn Mountain:

 Nannie Ridge and Sheep Lake to Cispus Pass on the PCT:

As always, if you want more information of these trails, feel free to email me!

The mountains called - so I went

I love to hike. You might have noticed that by now. In these trying times of the global pandemic, it's more important than ever to stay sane and the mountains do that for me. I can be alone up there and even if I am not, there is plenty of fresh air to go around. Here in Washington people have been fairly smart about wearing masks and that goes for us hikers, too. Now that things are finally starting to look up, and most of our parks have reopened,I've been able to do some nice backpacking with a few other members of the Mountaineers who are luckily as careful as I am about masking up.

My humble abode

Elephant head

Shooting star

Marsh orchids

Royal Lake

The comet

Trail to Royal Basin

Olympic Marmot

Royal Basin

False Hellebore

Dinner!

Sunrise over Royal Lake

Overnighting at Refugio Frey

Mike and I spent a month in Argentina last year and while there were lots of highlights, hiking and overnighting at Refugio Frey outside of Bariloche was among the best. If you have done any of the New Zealand huts, this one is very similar with the exception that reservations can only be made a few days in advance. Oh, and the website is only in Spanish. I am not fluent by a long shot but fortunately it's pretty self-explanatory and Google Translate works wonders. 

Anyway, a few days before we had planned to overnight at the hut we got on the website and booked a couple of bunks (http://refugiofreybariloche.com). We were there in early February, which is the high season, but we had no trouble getting reservations - though I did stay up until a few minutes past midnight to get them, just in case. I am Danish and we are all about timing :).

Street art in Bariloche

San Carlos de Bariloche is a tourist town and it was easy to find a place that rented sleeping bags. From our internet research we had found out that there were the usual bunks with mattresses but nothing else so it was a BYO pillow, headlight, etc. situation. However, the refugio has a full kitchen so we splurged by signing up for dinner and breakfast which, as it turned out, was a great deal. Argentina is not an inexpensive country but it was worth every real.

The unmissable trailhead

The trailhead in located inside the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. To get to the trailhead, we took a local bus at around 7 am from Bariloche bound for Cerro Cathedral and were dropped off at the last stop, which was a large parking lot with a few concession stands. They were closed when we got there, possibly because we arrived very early but it was easy to find the trailhead at the far end of the parking lot since it had a large wooden statue, for lack of a better word, of a backpacker with a "Frey" sign.

We were lucky with the weather and it was clear and sunny all the way. The lower section of the trail goes through brush and shrub and, if you're a "hortaholic" like me, some seriously cool plants. Argentina was presumably once a part of the same slice of continent that included New Zealand, but not Australia, and a lot of the vegetation was familiar. But cool plants or not, the first section is very exposed and we drank a lot of water so bring plenty. There was a section of the trail that was a bridge, a bit harrowing for someone with fear of heights, but otherwise it was well maintained and very easy to follow.

After an hour or so and a bend in the trail we emerged into a more shaded area. Dry shrub gave way to the iconic beech trees of Patagonia and we soon walked on a forest trail. It was beautiful and much cooler. We soon reached Refugio Piedritas, a wood shelter lodged under a huge boulder, where you're not allowed to overnight but can take a rest. There were benches and a fire pit so you can cook a meal if you're on the trail late. We, however, pressed on as it was still before noon. The trail followed a shallow stream, Arroyo Van Titter, where we crossed the only foot bridge and took a rest by the banks. I had read that the water is drinkable without having to filter it. We did not use filters and did not have any problems but that's just a personal preference.

From the shelter, the trail continued up and through shrub and got a bit more rugged. We met a group of local army guys who told us they used it for training. After the shrub section we emerged onto a mountainside with great views of the valley.

First sighting of the refugio

The refugio lies at 1700 meters above sea level, with a total ascent on the trail of about 750 meters over the span of 12 km. It takes about 4 hours to get there, though we took longer since I take an awful lot of pictures. 

The refugio sits on beautiful Laguna Tonchek, which is a mecca for alpine flowers. We saw dozens of different species, along with some beautiful Andean ducks and their teenage duckling. Above the site the pale grey shard of Aguja Frey towers like a sentinel and is a destination for climbers. I was content to watch, listening to the echoes of their calls to one another from high above. It was mesmerizing. 

The dining room

As more people pooled in during the afternoon, the kitchen started to get busy preparing dinner for those of us who had bought the full deal - it was delicious! Since they also sell beer and wine, we bought a bottle that we ended up sharing with a group of Brits and a girl from Holland who added more drinks to the table, and spent the evening swapping tales and playing cards. A really good time in a really beautiful place. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Giant plate of stroganoff - not for the faint of heart!

As evening set in and it started to get dark, I went out photographing the light painting the gray mountains. It's a sight I'll never forget - and if I ever do, I have like a million pictures of it.

The sleeping room upstairs was comfy enough, a little noisy but it's a hostel after all and we got some good shut-eye before getting up at the crack of dawn to take more pictures. Another gorgeous light show later, and breakfast was served which was as delicious as dinner - pancakes! Then we packed up, wandered around for a while and finally headed back down, feeling like we had been somewhere really special. And we had.

So if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Bariloche, do this hike. I promise you won't regret it. And as always, feel free to email me with questions. :)

Mueller Hut - there and back again

Hiking is one of my favorite pastimes and in this time of isolation from the pandemic outbreak, I've been taking a trip down memory lane and found some of my favorites. New Zealand has come up a lot, as has Argentinian Patagonia. I have written extensive posts of our trips to both countries but thought someone out there might like some more information, the nitty gritty, on how, how much, when and all that. So here we go.

Mueller Hut lies at 1800 meters above sea level in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park on the South Island of New Zealand.  It is an out and back via the same route but that's really not a deterrent as the view are so spectacular you will probably not mind seeing them twice. 

Reservations for staying over - a lot of people just do it as a day trip - are made through the Department of Conservation's website (https://www.doc.govt.nz). Once you get to the Mount Cook Visitors Centre in Hooker Valley you simply show them the printout and you get the ticket which you present to the hut ranger. Easy. It's about $45 NZ for a bunk bed and use of the kitchen, which has gas but no cooking gear or lighters. We opted for the bunks but there is enough flat ground and fairly sheltered areas to put up a tent. If you dare. There are LOTS of keas.

The seams lasted a couple of hours...

The trail starts at Kea Point Track outside the visitors' center but can also be reached from the White Horse Hill car park. We stayed overnight at the Mount Cook Backpacker Lodge so we could get started early and were fortunate to have absolutely gorgeous weather. They only had dorms but there was a large kitchen with lots of cookware and a big dining hall overlooking the valley.

Trail conditions going towards Sealy Tarns

We were off at the crack of dawn, meeting several small groups of hikers along the way. This trail is pretty much up hill, all the way from the valley floor, sometimes along gravel trail, sometimes on wooden stairs. Being NZ, it's extremely well maintained. After many zigzags (I never count) and a couple of hours, the first "stop" is Sealy Tarns. From here there are spectacular views of Mount Aoraki/Cook and the Hooker Valley and it's a good place to have a snack and take lots of photos, even if the clouds are low hanging.

Sealy Tarns

From the tarns, the trail gets a bit more rugged and becomes more of an alpine route than a trail. We followed the orange markers through the tussocks which eventually turned into a rock scramble. It's fairly easy to figure out which way to go - up - but the boulders are large and probably not well suited for someone with weak ankles. Some people used hiking poles to provide some extra support. I went with the "hands and knees" option as I rarely use poles - for me, they get in the way of photographing - but everyone differs on this. Use whatever makes you feel safer and, if you're new to scrambling and walking on scree, remember you have a heavy backpack on that impairs your balance.

The trail gradually becomes not so much a trail

Follow the orange markers!

After about 50 meters of this, we came to the skyline ridge and amazing views of the
Mueller Glacier that swept down the valley, passing several smaller hanging glaciers along the way. You also have views of the very cool ice shelf on Mount Sefton. We were lucky with the weather and there were very few clouds.

As you round the corner, you get the first sighting of Mueller Hut and it's a stunner. And that's when it hits you - this is where we spend the night and it's going to be SO cool. I could almost feel my camera jumping for joy. The hut has a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains and there is literally nothing preventing you from getting gorgeous pictures. As long as the weather held and it did.

A long awaited sight

Following the rocky trail those last few meters were a breeze but then odd sounds started to come into ear shot. It sounded almost like crying babies, and yet... The cry of the kea is very distinct and hard to describe.It almost makes you think of video game sound, so otherworldly and unlike anything else. And they were having fun, which explained why everything on the hut was bolted down like they expected a raid by marauding Vikings. Everything was being picked at, nibbled on, tried on for size.

Keas trying to find purchase on the metal roof

 

Attitude...

The setup was the same as with many of New Zealand's huts - a thick mattress in a couple of big mixed dorms, BYO pillow, sleeping back and ear plugs - though this one had a particularly cool long-drop...

The Mueller long drop - not a bad view

The dorm - aiming for comfort, not privacy

This particular hut sleeps only 28 so it's one of the smaller ones but there was a nice, big common room and kitchen.  None of the bunks are assigned numbers so we grabbed a couple that faced windows after checking in on the roster. There were closets opposite to store our stuff. Since I do get up to photograph sunrise, we took bottom bunks. Then it was off to eat lunch outside in the sunshine and watch the keas frolic on the roof. The area around the hut is filled with cool alpine plants and it was fun to wander around and take pictures.

The wind picked up at bit...

After a hearty re-hydrated noodle dinner, the stable of backpackers the world over, the sun started to set and people went outside to watch the light disappear. The wind had picked up and it was pretty cold as there was absolutely nothing to hold onto the warmth from the day - a windbreaker came in very handy. It was gorgeous and I stayed out until I could no longer feels my hands or hit the shutter button, then fled inside to warm up on tea and whiskey. As with the other huts we stayed in, there was a nice atmosphere. Everyone had endured the same rigors coming to the top and the sense of exhausted accomplishment was as undeniable as it was satisfying. It was a good, fun group of people, including a bunch of Aussies who had actually dragged several bottles of wine to the top. Admittedly, I felt a little envious.

Hooray moment

Sunset over Mt. Aoraki/Cook

A word of advice about dorms - there was a large group who got up at 4 a.m. to hike back and who were shining their very bright headlights on all us sleepers as they fumbled around in the dark to get their gear together. Don't be that person. Get your stuff ready before you go to bed so you can just grab everything when you get up and gear up outside the dorm away from the sleepers. It seems self-explanatory but a surprising number of people don't. Common courtesy is priceless when you sleep with a bunch of strangers. Personally, I sleep with my camera bag just above my head and a stuff sack with my clothes so it's easy to slip out of bed using the weak light from my phone to navigate in the dark and keeping the headlight where it belongs - in a pocket :). That being said, it was totally worth getting up early for the sunrise!

Sunrise from the hut

Quite a few people were up early to watch the sunrise. Once it was done and the sun was up, we headed inside to make big bowls of hot oatmeal and instant coffee. We chatted with the Aussies who were surprisingly frisky despite having downed several bottles of wine the previous night, then cleaned up, got our gear together and headed out since we had not packed a lunch. We took our time getting back down - it's always easier on the knees going up than down - and we were back at the hostel in the early afternoon where a good lunch, and a hot shower, awaited.

Post-hike lamb pie, entirely guilt-free

As always, feel free to email me at anneharaiphotography@gmail.com with questions if you plan to go the same route!