Travelling
to the southern hemisphere can sometimes really throw your body and internal
clock into a big ball of confusion. When I left in October of last year the
weather was nearing the end of fall and approaching the cold winter and after
just a quick 18 hour flight I was thrown right into the beginning of an
Australian summer full of beaches and scantily clad women. Christmas was really
weird not being cold and filled with warming food and warming beverages. Now
fast forward 6 months and I find myself in New Zealand and the weather is
looking a lot like it was supposed to in Christmas yet we are approaching
summer and everyone back home is posting pictures of the warm and beautiful BC
scenery. Now is should not be confused with jealousy of the people back home. I
could not be happier to be out here in the great white nor……. South.
As far as our continuing our adventures, a few
days ago Brian and I were re-telling our story of our random hike up an all too
inviting trail, which through ropes and a little climbing, led us to the top of
Queenstown hill and we met another fellow North American who was an avid local
hiker and asked us if we would be interested in going up and checking out a
couple ridges just over on Ben Lomand, a local hike to the tallest nearby peak.
Eager to see all that Queenstown can offer for that once again beautiful price
of $0 we quickly accepted and arranged to meet for a start time of 10am the
next morning. Now to preface this story a little bit the weather around
Queenstown is typically pretty dry having most of the systems form of orographic
nature so when people say it’s going to snow it is apparently a fairly rare occurrence.
The night before our biggest hike to date we were told the system was supposed
to be moving in around 3 and we should try and be down from the ridge by then
and also that our leader had yoga that he wanted to attend at 4. Taking all
this into count be set off at the precise hour of 10:45 and headed up the
mountain a team of four, having picked up another traveller from Austin, Texas
that I and Brian had met the day before. Once reaching the top of the gondola
we took another trail towards the Ben Lomand trail; through a little bit of
forest we exited to a beautiful sight of the Ben Lomand Scenic Reserve and man
was it ever scenic with the low native shrubs of New Zealand covering the hill
sides and cresting at the top were the jagged peaks of the mountains. A scene
so beautiful it seems a crime to hike through at any speed that doesn’t include
a three hundred and sixty degree turn every step. As we worked our way higher
up the trail our leader asked if we would like to try pushing our own way up
the hillside and see the ridge line above us. Ever looking for a new adventure
we all agreed and found ourselves scrambling up the hillside through near
boreal vegetation and shale slides, it was time to cue the Hard Sun. As Mr.
Eddie Vedder played our internal soundtrack we crested the top of ridge and
what a world we were introduced too and what appreciation you gain for its
majesty. Being a fairly avid outdoorsman and snowboarder I am lucky to say that
I have the opportunity to see many peaks and great sights in my short time on
this world and I have been a greater altitudes then we were at the point but
because it was me that got myself up that mountain and not a chairlift or
vehicle it seemed like so much more. When I had finally finished taking it in to
the point where I was willing to move again we decided to move on and see if we
could reach the saddle before the storm moved in on us. At this point I would
like to take the time to tell you that when people tell stories of how fast the
weather can move in on you and surround on one these high mountain passes you
should listen because they are not joking. After hiking along the ridge for
another half an hour or so I turned around and the beautiful sights of the
valleys below had become consumed by an ever growing cloud of grey. After a
fairly quick group discussion we made the decision that we would not have the
time to reach the saddle before this storm and would thus not get any good
pictures. So we bundled up and prepared to head straight into the beast and
down the mountain. What greeted us a blinding torrent of hail like snow and
fast frigid winds so much to the point that I dawned my sunglasses and Brian
was forced to pull his toque over his eyes and look through the holes. An experience
that, once again didn’t lead to the planned outcome, I would not have had any different.
For
the next few days Brian and I laid low around town trying to find a place to
live and figuring out our banking and tax numbers that we would need for up and
coming jobs. I rested my sore foot which due to some poor listening and stubbornness
had started to flare up again after injuring it a couple times in the last year.
During this time Brian and I had been chatting with several people around the
hostel about some other hikes and hiking in general and we had decided that we
really wanted to see the saddle of Ben Lomand and what was hiding over the
other side of her. So yesterday afternoon we headed up the same way minus the
hillside scrambling and more sticking to the trail as the storm we had walked
through had left the scenic reserve looking like a winter wonderland. After
pushing my body farther then it has been pushed in sometime, I suck at packing
a reasonably weighted pack, we reached the snow covered saddle and were greeted
by views and scenes that dwarfed our previous summiting only days before, and a
sound that was something out of myth; a perfectly beautiful silence leaving you
truly alone with what the world has to offer. But as they say all good things must
come to an end and with setting sun comes even more frigid temperatures so we
packed up said our goodbyes and headed in the direction of a warm meal. Now if
anyone had had the luxury of making haste down a snowy alpine trail with what
can be barely classified as acceptable outdoor footwear then I applaud you on
being still around to read this, for the rest of you I leave on a final message
of footwear is important and appropriate footwear is even more important
Love
Tanner, (In desperate need of good boots)
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