At sunset, on the very top of the Summit, I could see the wind continually gusting a fine veil of snow over top of the ridge. As the sun set behind the mountain, the backlighting produced a pink glow there at the top, where the snow continued to blow, and remind me how lucky we were to be down below protected from the wind. It's a shame I couldn't capture it with my camera equipment...a big zoom is the only thing that would have done it justice.
Speaking of camera gear, we have a clear night tonight...possibly the first I've seen since our 3rd night on the Routeburn Track. I'm hoping to capture some star trails tonight, but without the North Star, I don't really know where to point the camera to get those beautiful circles. Guess it'll just be trial and error out in the cold.
Back to yesterday...
The limestone(henge) was awesome. I can only imagine that on a fine day, that place would be crawling with Rock Climbers - very good rock climbers I might add. The holds in the rock were invisible to me. As you are going east across Arthur's Pass, these rocks appear - seemingly out of nowhere - and only stick around for about 5-10k. The other thing is that the landscape is smooth with rolling hills. Only these rocks interrupt the flowy landscape. Jude said "Don't forget to write about Castle Rock if you didn't yesterday" just now. Strangely enough...that's exactly what I'm writing about. Apparently, that place was a highlight for Jude as well. Castle Rock seems to be the most well recognized of the Limestone Tors. It sits atop a hill...far enough in the distance, and so shaped that you could very easily mistake it for a castle.
And back to today...
We woke up a bit late this morning at Lake Tekapo. Why not? :) After all that 'going', we need a little bit of 'staying' I think. I had a nice hot shower, drying myself off in the freezing cold temperatures. Its the kind of experience that makes your body say "Come on sucka, the blood's pumping. It's time for a hike!" And since it is only wise to listen to your body, I put on some layers and headed up the steep path to Mt. John, the greatest observatory site in all of New Zealand (as written on the sign at the top). Also, there was an old U.S. spy center where they tracked satellite activity from the late 60's through the late 80's. Cold war anyone?
Another interesting fact was how the telescopes operated. I believe the concept was called "gravitational magnification." Basically, the scope focused on a far away star, while another star was adjacent to the intersection of the line of sight. Apparently the gravity around the intersecting star creates a magnification effect so the scope can see the far away star more closely than it could on its own. I still wonder if that same concept is why the moon and sun look larger to us when they are on the horizon of the earth. The last time I Google'd the topic, a source stated that it was just an optical illusion. Whatever...I like the sound of "gravitational magnification" :).
At the top of Mt. John was a spectacular view of the turquoise, Lake Tekapo and the other neighboring lakes, as well as a view of the Alps, whose peaks were covered in clouds at this point in the day. Out of place was this award winning bistro, at the top of the mountain, next to the observatory. The food looked absolutely delicious!...but I said "no thanks" and opted for my navy beans and vienna sausage in a can. The "All Day Breakfast," it said on the label. Well, it wasn't the first poor decision I've ever made :). Anyone who knows me knows they hooked me with the word "breakfast." Not to mention claiming that this wonderful canned substance could provide breakfast around the clock.
Back at the van, I found out that Jude's cold was beginning to worsen. He advised that he needed to take it fairly easy. With that said, my aspirations for hiking Mueller Hut were finally and instantly tossed aside. We probably didn't have any business up there at this time of year anyways.
We refueled and headed off for Mt. Cook. We probably got 60-70k down the road when I saw this amazing little pulloff at the south end of Lake Pukaki. The changing level of the lake had left the stones of the shore in many interesting, loose ridgelines. I snapped a couple of shots and turned around to see Jude, which at first glance appeared to be making snow angels in the loose rock. At second glance, his fully stretched limbs looked more like a frozen jumping jack. He was out cold; basting in the sun. I decided to let him be. The sun works wonders for a cold sometimes.
I setup my camera on the shore for a time lapse series. My new misison: Build an arch out of the flat rocks by the lake. I must say - building a stone arch is MUCH harder than it might appear. At one point, I had it complete, but 'stop' is a word I've never quite understood. I found this perfectly shaped equilateral triangle rock and thought "this would make the coolest keystone!" Or the quickest disaster. After 2 more solid, but unsuccessful attempts at this primitive architectural feat, Jude showed me the trick - use little rocks to shim and stabalize the foundation. Genius!...but still not a piece of cake. Go ahead...try it! :)
It was around 4PM when we left that spot...much more relaxing than the touristy hot pools we were recommended.
The drive into Mt. Cook was spectacular. Those mountains are just perfectly shaped A's rising from the flat valley floor (which happens to be a golden color this time of year). Luckily, the clouds parted, and we could see the famous cap shape at the summit of Mt. Cook.
Well, it's probably dark enough now, I'm going to go try to snap some star trails while Jude's feet...rest in his socks, covered by socks, covered by another pair of socks, underneath long johns and pants, covered in a sleeping bag, wrapped with a down comforter...lying within the confines of the van. In about 2 minutes, I'm going to wish I were Jude's feet.
Cheers,
Ryan
[P.s. After closing my journal and getting up to leave, Jude peeped "my feet are freezing!" I laughed about as hard as I did the whole trip. I opened the journal back up and read him the last section. He got in a good laugh as well :)]
