I have heard of Mt Alfred and saw pictures of its views online. From then on, it has been my goal to one day reach its peak. Just like the other trails that long lived on my to-walk list for some time, it too has been bumped a lot because of unfavorable weather and time constraints. Two weeks ago, as NZ summer ender for 2017, my friend and I finally ticked Mt Alfred off our list.
That day's forecast was cloudy but we were hopeful it would eventually clear out later as the day will progress. We planned to wake up early but when I looked at the sky that morning, I thought a little extension of snooze time wouldn't hurt. We decided to just go even if the clouds were still blanketing Glenorchy. The air was getting quite chilly since the sun was nowhere in sight, I almost concluded the sunscreen spray I bought last night was a waste of money. Despite all the pessimistic thoughts brought in by the dreariness of the weather, we carried on the track.
The parking lot for the Mt Alfred trail is about 15 minutes drive from Glenorchy town centre and it can be tricky to find (although it's just on the side of the highway) especially since the parking lot doesn't have a sign that it leads to Mt Alfred. There's just one big orange triangle and a small DOC sign that says the track is damaged by October last year's storm. I was pretty sure that was the start of the trail so we did start off our hike.
About a minute or two from the parking lot there hidden in the woods is the sign for the Mt Alfred track. With cheery faces, day packs on our backs we commenced our walk. This was my first half day walk since I got unwell for 2 weeks so I was expecting to struggle a bit. According to DOC this trail is zigzaggy, the ascend was gradual which was an advantage on my fitness level that day.
The track was truly damaged by fallen trees, we had to do a lot of tree hugging and tree straddling but all these just added more interest to the track. There were a lot of detours which slightly slow us down but the track as a whole was definitely doable.
As we reached the end of the tree line, the sky was still white. We can see the orange markers leading to the top from where we were resting. It didn't look too far and I can only imagine how majestic the views must be from there. So we decided to just take our lunch break before heading up since the summit is totally exposed; it looked cold up there with the clouds dominating the sky. My friend and I came to an agreement-- whether or not the sky clears in 30 minutes we'll just go for the top anyway. I was almost bummed about the thought of reaching the peak and not seeing any of the views that I saw in the pictures. That contemplation aside, I remained optimistic though.
The way up was steep scree with helpful tussocks that we can grab if we ever take a wrong step and suddenly slip. My apologies, I always have crazy ideas about falling and missteps but really the track was alright just make sure you don't take selfies along the loose rocks. Teehee!
Once we took our first step up top, the views blew us away as the sun has finally come out and the clouds gradually dispersed. It was 360 degrees of awesome! Mountain ranges surround us. Lake Wakatipu and Dart River are still such stunners from a different angle. Mt Earnslaw and the rest of Mt Aspiring National Park were magnificent. We were alone on the peak for about half an hour, not a single soul around other than us. We were so lucky to savor the peace, serenity and beauty of it all. If only I could stay there for longer, I would.
We only met few hikers on descent, about 3 groups of 2 to 3 people. I find this strangely comforting, especially with the fact that other trails are getting damaged due to too much number of walkers jam packing them. Anyway, I hope this track and the views will be preserved for the next generations to enjoy; for them to realize that there are still wonderful and glorious places that remain in this fragile planet of ours.
At the end of the day, I was so elated to be one with nature again and to add another amazing 360 view in my memory that I could one day talk about with my future grand children when they ask me about my adventures. Haha.
Here's shots from our Mt Alfred hike:
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| Resting and waiting for the clouds to clear out at the end of the tree line before heading to the peak |
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| Pretty mountain flora |
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| Mt Earnslaw at the right |
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| The descent |
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| Going down from the top |