Mount Luxmore SummitOnce again I am back here in Queenstown for another night or so to recuperate from past three days of hiking and torture I put my poor legs through. I just completed the Kepler Track which is a 67 km track thats starts off in the little town of Te Anue and brings you through valleys and forests, up into the mountains, over Mt Luxmore Summit, then across ridges and saddles, and finally back down to civilization.
I Left Te Anue on June 2 around noon and sure never realized what I was getting myself into until I stumbled into the first hut for the first night after climbing over 3500ft and covering nearly 30kms. All you I could think of was, "OK just one foot in front of the other you will eventually get there." My first hut was just above the treeline on the way up to Mt Luxmore, I got there with just enough time to unpack my things, change into dry clothes, make supper, and enjoy and cup of coffee while watching the sun set over the valley that just took me all day to walk through.
Its quite funny when your up in these huts cause once the sun goes down the only light you have is from your head lamp and, as you con imagine, its not exactly toasty warm so you find yourself going to bed at about 7pm because there's really nothing else to do. The first night was definitely the coldest I have spent in a long time. The temperature dropped to about -8 and with no heat whatsoever it took me wearing everything I had brought along plus my sleeping bag but I managed to stay warm and had a great night sleep.
The next day I reached the summit of Mt Luxmore which, as you can see, provided me with an absolutely amazing view making the whole trip worth while. After having lunch on the summit I started hiking down the ridge to drop below the snow line then continued my day and a half decent back to town, strange how far people will walk for 10 minutes on a mountain.
I returned back to town on June 4th (Happy Birthday Mom and Dad) and boy was I was happy to finally reach the end of the path. I started my walk full of energy and feeling good now, three days and 67 kms later, I am completely knackered and and can barely lift my legs let alone walk. Boy what a great way to spend my holidays!
"All Worth While"
3 comments:
looks amazing, give your little yegs a rest. Looking at snow in June, reminds me a little of Alberta. Your adventures make for good bed time stories! Take care of yourself.
It looks very awesome Bru!You are doing and seeing things that will stay with you forever,you should be very proud of yourself,we are.
nice, i tell the boys to check your blog. great pics.
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