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{"id":439,"date":"2020-03-01T05:40:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T05:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2020-03-03T22:35:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T22:35:15","slug":"the-mueller-hut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/the-mueller-hut\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mueller Hut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I started my day early, grabbed a coffee with Dirk before he left, and hit the trail. The start of the trail was at the White Horse Campsite, about a half-hour walk away from the lodge. I got to the campsite, stretched a bit, and started the ascent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The track is quite steep, ascending to 1,000 meters over a 5-kilometer stretch. To put it in perspective, the Kepler Track, which I did a week earlier, ascends 1,200 meters but over roughly 12-kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first half of the climb is mostly up a staircase built into the mountainside. The first step greets everyone with the note “2,200 Steps” written on the wood paneling. I didn’t do an exact count but that number seems fairly accurate to me. Obviously the first bit was a challenging climb but it is manageable as long as you pace yourself and take rest when you need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two hours I reached a lookout point called Sealy Tarns. Most people stop here and for good reason. The views of Mount Cook and Hooker Valley are incredible, especially on a nice day like it was. I took some lunch here on one of the less frequented overlooks in the area. There was only one man sitting there and we got to talking. I forget his name but he was from Australia and he worked for the New Zealand Department of Conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gave me some tidbits of information about the park and the surrounding area. Then he started unpacking his paraglide which was a bit of a surprise. At this point, I was committed and decided to hang out to watch this guy jump off the side of this mountain. He got everything set up and twenty minutes later he was gliding his way back into the village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching Someone Jump off The Mountain Was A Surprise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The second half of the hike is where things got really hard. The going was just as steep, if not steeper, but no stairs were provided. This was a true rock scramble. More often than not I had to get on all fours to climb up the rocks or else I would lose my balance. This part of the climb took another two hours. Breaks were plentiful but I enjoyed this part more. Climbing stairs gets boring. You really have to concentrate when scrambling and that makes it fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I arrived at the ridgeline. Again, I grabbed a little bite to eat, took some pictures, and then started off along the trail, the homestretch to the hut. It only took 30 more minutes until I was where I wanted to be. Man, was I exhausted!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
Happy To Reach The Top<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The views were totally worth the trip though. Not a cloud in the sky. It felt like I was at the top of the world. I could look down and see the village in the distance and it felt odd to think that I had started from there in the morning. I went a little further and hiked to the peak of Mount Oliver which provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I heard a loud crack, something similar to thunder. But I was forewarned that this would happen. I took a look to my left and the glacier was breaking apart. Snow and ice started falling down the mountain, gathering in a pile at the base. It was an amazing sight. We don’t realize how powerful the glaciers can be. They literally break stone and shape the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
View From Mount Oliver<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
I decided to head down after hanging out by the hut after two hours. Along the way, I met a German girl named Nina. We got to talking because I pointed out that she was wearing sandals. I figured her feet must be killing her but she said she was feeling great. She even told me that she normally goes on hikes without any shoes on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After about an hour we arrived back at Sealy Tarns and waited a while for her other friend to catch up with us. This usually happens. I hike up the mountain by myself and by the time I get back to the bottom I’ve made two or three new friends. We continued down to the camp together and made good time. It’s always quicker going down (obviously). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were thinking of heading to Lake Tekapo the next day as well. So I told them that if they were that I’d appreciate it if I could hitch a ride. We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the lodge. Not much to report on after that. I was happy to get a good meal in me and head to bed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I started my day early, grabbed a coffee with Dirk before he left, and hit the trail. The start of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-zealand","post-archive"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Watching Someone Jump off The Mountain Was A Surprise<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The second half of the hike is where things got really hard. The going was just as steep, if not steeper, but no stairs were provided. This was a true rock scramble. More often than not I had to get on all fours to climb up the rocks or else I would lose my balance. This part of the climb took another two hours. Breaks were plentiful but I enjoyed this part more. Climbing stairs gets boring. You really have to concentrate when scrambling and that makes it fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I arrived at the ridgeline. Again, I grabbed a little bite to eat, took some pictures, and then started off along the trail, the homestretch to the hut. It only took 30 more minutes until I was where I wanted to be. Man, was I exhausted!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
Happy To Reach The Top<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The views were totally worth the trip though. Not a cloud in the sky. It felt like I was at the top of the world. I could look down and see the village in the distance and it felt odd to think that I had started from there in the morning. I went a little further and hiked to the peak of Mount Oliver which provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I heard a loud crack, something similar to thunder. But I was forewarned that this would happen. I took a look to my left and the glacier was breaking apart. Snow and ice started falling down the mountain, gathering in a pile at the base. It was an amazing sight. We don’t realize how powerful the glaciers can be. They literally break stone and shape the landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$
View From Mount Oliver<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
I decided to head down after hanging out by the hut after two hours. Along the way, I met a German girl named Nina. We got to talking because I pointed out that she was wearing sandals. I figured her feet must be killing her but she said she was feeling great. She even told me that she normally goes on hikes without any shoes on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After about an hour we arrived back at Sealy Tarns and waited a while for her other friend to catch up with us. This usually happens. I hike up the mountain by myself and by the time I get back to the bottom I’ve made two or three new friends. We continued down to the camp together and made good time. It’s always quicker going down (obviously). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were thinking of heading to Lake Tekapo the next day as well. So I told them that if they were that I’d appreciate it if I could hitch a ride. We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the lodge. Not much to report on after that. I was happy to get a good meal in me and head to bed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I started my day early, grabbed a coffee with Dirk before he left, and hit the trail. The start of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-zealand","post-archive"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itravelandstuff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}