- Round The World Trip Destination Wish #3: Great Walks in New Zealand
- Milford Track Booked For April 2015
- New Zealand, On The Road Again After a 2 Month Break
- 8 New Zealand Great Walks in 8 Weeks
- Preparing for The Great Walks and Waiting Out Cyclone Pam
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 1: Onepoto to Panekire Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 2: Panekire Hut to Waiopaoa Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 3: Waiopaoa Hut to Marauiti Hut
- Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk Day 4: Marauiti Hut to Hopuruahine Landing
- Wairoa and Taupo, In Between Great Walks
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 1: Mangatepopo Hut to Oturere Hut
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 2: Oturere Hut to Waihohonu Hut
- Tongariro Northern Circuit Day 3: Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa Village
- Wellington, Christchurch, Mount Cook, and Queenstown, In Between Great Walks
- Routeburn Track Day 1: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls Hut
- Routeburn Track Day 2: Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut
- Routeburn Track Day 3: Lake Mackenzie Hut to The Divide
- Milford Track Day 1: Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut
- Milford Track Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut
- Milford Track Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut
- Milford Track Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point
- Te Anau, In Between Great Walks
- Rakiura Track Day 1: Oban to Port William Hut
- Rakiura Track Day 2: Port William Hut to North Arm Hut
- Rakiura Track Day 3: North Arm Hut to Oban
- Stewart Island, In Between Great Walks
- Kepler Track Day 1: Te Anau to Luxmore Hut
- Kepler Track Day 2: Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Hut
- Kepler Track Day 3: Iris Burn Hut to Moturau Hut
- Kepler Track Day 4: Moturau Hut to Te Anau
- A Return to Milford Sound
- Coastal Pacific Train, Hitchking, And Nelson, In Between Great Walks
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 1: Marahau to Anchorage
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 2: Anchorage to Bark Bay
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 3: Bark Bay to Awaroa
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 4: Awaroa to Whariwharangi
- Abel Tasman Coast Track Day 5: Whariwharangi to Totaranui via Gibbs Hill Track
- Heaphy Track Day 1: Brown Hut to Perry Saddle Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 2: Perry Saddle Hut to James Mackay Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 3: James Mackay Hut to Heaphy Hut
- Heaphy Track Day 4: Heaphy Hut to Kohaihai
- Riding The Tranzalpine Train in New Zealand
- In Review: 69 Days of Backpacking in New Zealand
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal
Previous entry: Day 1 – Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut
Journal entry for April 10, 2015
Distance Hiked: 16.5 km
With almost 40 people in the hut, things can get pretty hectic in the morning. There’s always a few early risers who start waking other people up, starting a chain reaction, and before you know it everybody is up even if they don’t want to.
The scenery at the beginning of the day was the same amazing forest as the previous day, including more varieties of beautiful mushrooms.
After a while you reach an opening and I finally got to see the mountains surrounding us. This is the type of scenery I had in my mind of the Milford Track.
The day was cloudy, but luckily no rain. The trail was great as expected, mostly wide gravel paths with barely any big rocks or tree roots.
The sun then came out pretty strong, clearing most of the clouds
The trail then goes through some open rocky areas, remnants of old landslides. I stopped at Prairie Shelter for lunch and got attacked by sand flies. The last section before Mintaro Hut is slightly uphill.
By the second day I had already made a good number of friends, including a group of seven young Australians traveling together, Anna from Denmark, Dor from Israel, and Carla, Alicia, and Cathy from North Carolina.
At sunset, Dor, Anna, Carla, and I headed to a nearby lake to enjoy the views and try to find blue ducks, a very endangered bird that only lives in New Zealand. We didn’t see any.
I chose the upstairs bunkroom instead of the downstairs one. I also picked the bed all the way at the back, as far away from the entrance door as possible. I figure there would be less movement and noise from other people.
The second day on the Milford Track was also pretty easy. So far the scenery had been very good, and Milford Track was living up to its hype.
More info:
NZ Department of Conservation’s brochure and video for this walk.
Next entry: Day 3 – Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut
Part of the New Zealand Great Walks Journal
