Mount Judah Trail
Deb and I went on the Mount Judah trail today. A little mix up at the start, as we took the Mount Judah road to what was listed on our openstreetmap trail as the Mount Judah track. We realized fairly quickly though that this trail wasn’t meant for the public, so headed back to the car to take another look around. We found the actual trailhead (with parking) just a few hundred meters up the road. The trail itself wasn’t showing on our openstreetmap data, so I’ll try to update the map database later using the track we generated. (As a side note, the openstreetmap.org data is an open source mapping database, similar in some ways to Google maps. But the data is user generated, and is sometimes much better for trails than Google maps. And, with an appropriate program, one can download desired map databases and get full navigation without any cell phone service or data. We use Osmand for Android for the GPS navigation, both on the trails and for driving.)
Here’s Tim, checking out the view. We started out with overcast skies, and quickly hiked up into the clouds. As we continued on, though, we finally poked out above the clouds, to find a beautiful sunny day! The feature photo at top is a South Island Robin. He was checking us out.
Near the top, by Heather Jock hut
Another nice thing about the trail is that it has several abandoned mining sites on it that have been preserved. So you get to see some of the mining equipment, water wheels, miners’ huts and other interesting bits of history.
Routeburn Track
Had a great hike, taking the Routeburn track from the trailhead to the Harris saddle. Tim took a side detour up Conical hill, hoping for some additional views, but the views on the main route were the best of the day. Lots of impressive waterfalls, Harris lake, and beech forests. A 24km (15 mile) hike, but relatively easy because of the good trail and steady elevation gain. When we completed our hike we found a couple of mischievous Keas in the parking lot. They were busy trying to find car pieces they could dismantle- wiper blades, radio antennas, camper top vents or anything else they could get their beaks around. They seemed to get frustrated if they couldn’t get things apart, and let out their cawing cries. Fun to watch, and they didn’t manage to do any damage to the cars. But we have seen cars with rubber roof molding ripped out, and had a kea hop under our car and pull off a 3 inch gasket cover the last time we were in New Zealand! We’ve seen keas a half dozen times on this trip, which is always a treat.
Partners in crime
Looking down from Harris lake area, at the trail we came up on.
A couple of small tarns (ponds) in the forground, Harris lake in the back. And yet another beautiful NZ waterfall.
Waterfall partway towards the Harris Saddle on Routeburn track.
A stunning waterfall about 3/4 the way up the trail. Another large waterfall was off to the right, too much waterfall for one picture!
Glenorchy, in town
Went for a walk around the town today. This image is from the Glenorchy wharf area, of the hills across Lake Wankaka. Side note: Tim and I enjoyed the Lord of the Ring films and can certainly understand why Glenorchy, and much of New Zealand, were chosen. I keep hoping for a hobbit to pop up.
Lake Sylvan & Sugarloaf Saddle
Tim went on a solo hike today, Deb gave her legs a rest and worked on the website. The trail was hard work, fairly well marked but still a challenge to follow. (Lake Sylvan/Sugarloaf saddle, back down to the road and walk back to lake Sylvan) There was a lot of climbing up tree roots, through stream beds, and other slower hiking. Unfortunately, the views weren’t great. The best view of the day was driving home, seeing the mountains near Manapouri as the sun was setting! Still, a “bad” day hiking is better than a good day at work! One fun thing about hiking in the beech forests are the little birds that come to see you. They sit on branches about 5 feet away and sing and chirp. If you start walking, they will follow you from branch to branch, talking all the way. We’ve since found out that they are attracted to insects that we are disturbing.
