Arthur's Pass/ Avalanche Peak
We were longing for a more remote experience for the end of our trip. New Zealand, wild though it is, has mastered the art of capturing tourists like fish in nets. So we jumped in our little car and headed north, to the promising Arthur's pass. This is where the Narnia movie was filmed, we were told, and we were excited to see some wilderness up close. By staying there two nights, we'd have a full day for hiking. 
The campground was great! Instead of a $36 super-campground, this was a backcountry place, with flush toilets, and an enclosed lodge-like room with running water. People brought in their stoves and made dinner away from the chilly wind, and ate like civilized campers. The wild animals were a little ferocious -- within five minutes of getting out of our car and setting up our tent, a Kea, a wild parrot, had taken a bite out of a stuff sack. We quickly got out what we needed and popped the rest away into the car!
The Kea (Nestor notabilis) is a semi-nocturnal parrot native to the alpine mountains of New Zealand. The Kea is the only known parrot in the world to live in the alpine regions. The Kea is also known as the clown of the mountains, because of its playful nature and reputation for tearing the rubber sealing from cars, presumably for fun. The Kea has also been known as the feathered wolf because of its reputation for attacking and killing farmers' livestock (predominantly sheep). The Kea is the only known species of parrot to habitually attack and kill other vertebrates, though this is generally rare and probably restricted to sick or trapped animals. They are probably the most active, intelligent, destructive and playful aviary birds, therefore making them very prone to behavioral problems and boredom if not well cared for.
(borrowed pictures, thank you!)
The trail for Avalanche Peak lead right from the campground. We set off with plenty of water (thank goodness.) The peak is 1855 meters - 6302' - with 3000' of ascent in 3 kilometers. Steep is an understatement. We hiked up through 'bush' - the low growing trees, with roots creating steep steps for hikers, and waterfalls crashing in the background, for a few hours, then came out to above timberline. The grasses that grow here are like lion's fur in color, and in the distance, the mountains look like a crouched animal. But up close, the grass is tufted and tall, and interspersed with hundreds of alpine wildflowers.
False summits abound in this area; we hiked over three grassy peaks before we could see the rocky ridge that leads to the real summit. Down a cull, then up a scree slope to a ridge whose footpath is no more than a foot wide. Scree slopes steeply down one side, the other side was just slightly higher than we were, before it peaks off and plunges down into the next valley. This, fortunately, was not a long section, and we picked our way carefully towards the peak.
A pair of Kea came to see if we had lunch to share, then took off, spreading their wings - the garish turquoise and orange was so incongruous with the alpine meadows and glacial peaks!
Then there we were, at the summit, not much bigger than a double bed. Beyond us stretched range after range of mountains, as far as we could see, and much farther. The clouds added dimension and brilliance. Again, we were in awe.
The way down, we remembered how dangerous it is to be in the high peaks during a summer storm, so we hurried. But we were lucky (thank you, kamisama!) and the rain didn't speckle us until we reached the village. A dinner of chili and a corn muffin was deeply satisfying. It was our last night.
The campground was great! Instead of a $36 super-campground, this was a backcountry place, with flush toilets, and an enclosed lodge-like room with running water. People brought in their stoves and made dinner away from the chilly wind, and ate like civilized campers. The wild animals were a little ferocious -- within five minutes of getting out of our car and setting up our tent, a Kea, a wild parrot, had taken a bite out of a stuff sack. We quickly got out what we needed and popped the rest away into the car!
The Kea (Nestor notabilis) is a semi-nocturnal parrot native to the alpine mountains of New Zealand. The Kea is the only known parrot in the world to live in the alpine regions. The Kea is also known as the clown of the mountains, because of its playful nature and reputation for tearing the rubber sealing from cars, presumably for fun. The Kea has also been known as the feathered wolf because of its reputation for attacking and killing farmers' livestock (predominantly sheep). The Kea is the only known species of parrot to habitually attack and kill other vertebrates, though this is generally rare and probably restricted to sick or trapped animals. They are probably the most active, intelligent, destructive and playful aviary birds, therefore making them very prone to behavioral problems and boredom if not well cared for.
(borrowed pictures, thank you!)
The trail for Avalanche Peak lead right from the campground. We set off with plenty of water (thank goodness.) The peak is 1855 meters - 6302' - with 3000' of ascent in 3 kilometers. Steep is an understatement. We hiked up through 'bush' - the low growing trees, with roots creating steep steps for hikers, and waterfalls crashing in the background, for a few hours, then came out to above timberline. The grasses that grow here are like lion's fur in color, and in the distance, the mountains look like a crouched animal. But up close, the grass is tufted and tall, and interspersed with hundreds of alpine wildflowers.
False summits abound in this area; we hiked over three grassy peaks before we could see the rocky ridge that leads to the real summit. Down a cull, then up a scree slope to a ridge whose footpath is no more than a foot wide. Scree slopes steeply down one side, the other side was just slightly higher than we were, before it peaks off and plunges down into the next valley. This, fortunately, was not a long section, and we picked our way carefully towards the peak. A pair of Kea came to see if we had lunch to share, then took off, spreading their wings - the garish turquoise and orange was so incongruous with the alpine meadows and glacial peaks!
Then there we were, at the summit, not much bigger than a double bed. Beyond us stretched range after range of mountains, as far as we could see, and much farther. The clouds added dimension and brilliance. Again, we were in awe.
The way down, we remembered how dangerous it is to be in the high peaks during a summer storm, so we hurried. But we were lucky (thank you, kamisama!) and the rain didn't speckle us until we reached the village. A dinner of chili and a corn muffin was deeply satisfying. It was our last night.
posted by JAM at 6:41 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home