“A Real Thigh Burner” Back Next Home
We caught our first look of NZ’s highest mountain from the road.
We’d traveled back down Lake Pukaki
from Braemar very early in the morning. The cloudy weather from the day before
had providentially cleared. Nev stopped the bus and we clambered out to soak in
Mt.
Cook, or Aoraki, as the Maori named it before Europeans arrived. We didn’t
climb the mountain itself, but rather took a trail up the flanks of nearby Mt.
Sefton. The weather was cool when we started, but within 30 minutes we were all
stripping down to tee shirts and shorts. We reached our first objective, Seeley
Tarns, about 90 minutes later. What started out as a steep but easy track
quickly developed into very steep steps cut into the rock. They never seemed to
end.
Best
description of the tramp: “a real thigh burner,” from Greg in our group. Some
showed off and went even further up until they were stopped by newly fallen
snow. The views from Seeley Tarns, a collection of glacial sink holes filled
with water, were incredible, as they were on the way down. Besides souvenir
photos, we returned with some of the most profound aches in lower body muscles
that I’ve ever experienced. I was so grateful we didn’t have any more climbing
for a few days!
Click on these thumbnails to see more of the incredible views that we enjoyed on this first tramp on our trip.
