Hiking and Mountaineering in New Zealand

Serpentines Traverse continued...

Thursday Dec 14, 2017
Mountaineering 6:48:20 / 12.3 km (1.8 kph) +1194m

Such an incredible day!!

I was pretty nervous about doing the traverse solo, but had an ice axe with me for the snowy bits and kept reminding myself to be cautious and turn around if things got hairy. I was attempting the route pretty early in the season, but the recent dry spell should have melted more snow than usual.

Got an early start to give myself as much time as possible too. The full traverse from North Col to Lake Wilson is only 12km, but we're talking no path, no cairns, complex micro-nav to avoid getting cliffed-out, frequent scrambling and many snowfields to traverse/avoid.

And it all went off without a hitch Insane views all day, with snow-capped mountains and lakes all around. Really enjoyed the challenge too and only had to backtrack a few times when faced with an exposed scramble I wasn't comfortable with.

Set up camp in the Valley of the Trolls just past Lake Wilson at 3pm

www.movescount.com/moves/move190754348








Friday Dec 15, 2017
Hiking 4:56:43 / 19.5 km (3.9 kph) +477m

The predicted cold front arrived but I only had one easy km to get back to the Routeburn and all the way back along it to camp at Lake Howden. Head down and slog kinda day.

www.movescount.com/moves/move190754427



Saturday Dec 16, 2017
Hiking 1:11:40 / 4.9 km (4.1 kph) +129m

Pouring with rain when I woke up so just a short hike back to where the shuttle would pick me up for Milford Sound.

www.movescount.com/moves/move190754362

And finally.... some GoPro videos in an attempt to capture the vibe a bit better

quik.gopro.com/v/ScAzvzPELY/

quik.gopro.com/v/yayL2mKGZX/

Some overall stats for my 5 weeks in New Zealand:

25 days in the mountains
502km on foot
22570m vert
Approximately 17 billion waterfalls

Done!

I thoroughly enjoyed your write up Stijn and also the beautiful photos. You have made amazing memories! New Zealand is very dear to my heart, having visited there twice. I was not half as adventurous as you, but did do the Routeburn Track which I loved - the colour of the water in the rivers has to be seen to be believed and as you know, the scenery in South Island is out of this world. Where are you off to next?

Thanks elinda - it really is such an incredible place! What really stood out for me is how well-conserved their wilderness areas are. They have managed to keep large natural areas pristine, despite huge pressure from the millions of visitors.

And I loved the Routeburn... one of the best tracks as it spends so much time above the tree-line.

Next for me is some local stuff - Berg hikes, short bike tours, climbing trips and then looking forward to spending 2 months in the European Alps over June & July