Mt Cook National Park: Mueller's Hut

An excited journey to Mt Cook, especially as we got closer and saw the snow-capped mountain range. 

But we were also nervous - the forecast for our overnight walk to Mueller's Hut (elevation 1800m) included 50km winds and sub-zero temperatures, which might mean we wouldn't be able to go. Happily the forecast at the visitor centre had improved, so we headed up the 2200 steps to Sealy Tarns in strong sunshine. We were constantly blown away by the views. 

But the first half was the easy bit, now we began the steeper climb and soon the path gave way to scrambling over rocks guided by orange poles. Thankfully the way wasn't obscured by cloud as it sometimes is, but it was still pretty sketchy and more than a little scary - which is why there aren't any photos of this part!

By the time we got near the top it was quite cold and had begun to rain but we pressed on until finally we rounded the corner and saw the red Mueller's Hut in the distance. A brief stop at a pond of snow before we wearily mounted the steps to the hut. 

Our first time in an Alpine hut - an entrance room for your gear and to take off your boots, 1 bunk room with 28 mattresses, a basic kitchen with gas burners and benchtops; the water tanks were outside and the water needed to be boiled; the drop toilet was outside. 

After a quick bite to eat and a chat with those staying i the hut, we set about trying to pitch our tents outside in the lush camp ground you can see out the window above, supposedly before the wind set in. Previous campers had made little rock walls to provide some respite from the wind. Unfortunately, the wind had already picked up and the air was freezing cold, and our experience and our tents were not really up to the task, especially since there wasn't any soil to put pegs into! Reluctantly we decided we couldn't camp there. Only 1 other person was camping that night, and she had been trekking through New Zealand for the last 122 days! 

We waited to see if there might be a cancellation for the hut but at 4:30pm we had to head back down the mountain to avoid walking in the dark. A disappointing outcome! 

A long and sometimes precarious walk back with our packs and we finally arrived at the campground at the foot of the mountain about 8:00 p.m. A fantastic day unlike any other, though it would have been much easy to do it without carrying all our camping gear!