Lake Marion/Gertrude Saddle (Camping and Freezing)

Andrea and I did a bunch of fun things on my last days off and I am just getting around to posting them on this blog. We got a bunch of rain and you know what that does to satellite internet.

We planned our travels in coordination with Rowan hiking to Lake Adelaide by himself. We dropped him off on Hollyford Road and then, because we were passing by, decided to stop and do the Lake Marian hike.
I like the word "gantry." It sounds like a place you keep a lot of birds... or food? Right after we passed this sign some old people told us that they hiked 3/4 of the way and then turned back. He couldn't hike the entire way because he just got a new hip. I was thinking "well, I better get up there before I need a new hip."


Here Andrea is looking adorable as she crosses the river on this rickety bridge. It was fun to jump up and down on because it was springy. It reminded me of the part in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where the Shaman guy throws his friend off the broken bridge and he gets eaten by alligators. I'm not sure what the river is called, but since it was in Hollyford Valley, I would guess it to be the Hollyford River.


Here Andrea and I are at the food pantry or whatever it's called. The water here is really really clear and blue!


After hiking for about an hour, we found that the trail disappeared into a body of water. Looking up, we realized that we had arrived at Lake Marian. The water was as green as the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. Although the sun was out, it was still as cold as the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. Here Andrea is looking adorable standing in front of the Emerald Cit... I mean Lake Marian.

There wasn't any place to hike around the lake and I was kind of disappointed. I later realized that the water was super high for some reason and so the small beach that one usually can use to navigate around the lake was under great amounts of water. So, Andrea and I just bush wacked and found a place to sit, rest, and nap in the warm sun.


Here we are at the bird gantry again. Hiking down is a lot harder on your knees. Hiking up is harder on your muscles, heart, and lungs. Mr. Good Body says, "eat an apple a day, you idiot."


Then, it was onward down Milford Road to camp in Gertrude Valley for the night. I had no idea where we were going to camp and we were running out of day light. I should mention that we were originally planning on camping on the saddle, but we were kind of tired after hiking up to Lake Marian. I'm also glad we didn't camp on the saddle because it was windy and very very very cold. We probably would have shivered and not slept a wink.


I didn't remember this beautiful clear body of water at the beginning of the hike last time I did it several months before so I needed to photograph it. It looks like a small slice of tropical ocean water except much much colder.

As we walked into the valley, we were greeted by some guy carrying some sticks. I thought he might be a DOC employee and I was thinking camping in the valley wasn't allowed so I tried to hide the fact that we were camping by asking about his sticks quickly after he asked us where we were going. He wasn't a DOC worker by the way.


This is where we ended up camping in Gertrude Valley. It was very difficult to find a spot that was far away from the trail, but also flat, bush-free, level, and not in a wash area. Our small tent barely fit in this place. I got to sleep with the rock under my back. When I showed this photo to my manager (and camping expert), he gasped because I guess it was in a rock tumbling zone. We didn't hear any rocks tumbling though...


Sleeping that night was very very cold and windy. We wore almost all of our clothes inside our sleeping bags, but I was still slightly cold. Normally you can trap the heat inside the tent, but the wind was constantly cycling in new cold air. This picture shows the frost on my pack and my travel pillow (that I didn't use because it was soaking wet from my water bladder rupturing the day before).


Here Andrea is looking adorable standing in front of the large rock we hid our packs behind. We left our packs behind so we could hike lighter (and easier) up to the saddle.


We brought along a small tripod so we could take pictures with both of us in them.


Here we are on the saddle. The view is beyond words from there, but I will try to describe it with one I made up: zerb. Right behind us is a gigantic drop (I wish I knew how tall it was). It would be a great place to go hang gliding or to test out your new flying invention.


Here Andrea is looking adorable sitting on the saddle with her eyes closed. She is imagining she is flying the Wright flying machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.


This is Gulliver Valley and you can see Milford Sound in the distance.


Here we are grazing on the succulent grasses that can be found on the saddle of Gertrude. And by grazing, I just mean sitting.


On our way up, the sun wasn't shining on us at all, but on the way down, it was high enough to light up some good pictures. It is really difficult to judge distance in the shot, but that body of water behind us is not a puddle, but a large lake called "Black Lake." We didn't swim in it because we would have died of hypothermia.


This is us in front of Black Lake as seen looking up the mountain. I realized very quickly that the best pictures are taken when the subject is illuminated from the front. Otherwise, you look evil and sad.


Here we are in front of Black Lake as seen looking back up at the Saddle.

And then it was about an hour hike down to our car where we ate the rest of our peanut butter and honey sandwiches and oranges before driving Rowan's stick-shift car back to Milford. Oh yeah, I should mention that we took Rowan's car because, as we were leaving the lodge in my van, we realized that it had a flat tire.

Remember my last entry about Skipper's Canyon? Well, I'm glad the flat didn't happen there because it took four people to fix it. I would have truly been screwed. Here's how screwed I would have been: I would have been stranded in a remote location– no one knowing where I was– with a jack but no tools with which to work the jack, no cell phone coverage, I would not have been able to pick up Andrea at the Queenstown airport on time, nor been able to call her to inform her of my impending tardiness, and I could have easily missed work the next day. I really need to buy some jack working tools (one of the previous owners must have decided to keep them), and also a new tire...

New Zealand Sandflies

If you have ever spent more than two minutes outside in the summer sun while vacationing in the south island of New Zealand, you probably have become well acquainted with the sandfly. Having spent almost three months living in Milford Sound, I can say without any doubt that these little fellas have become a close part of my daily life. That is to say, they are the reason why I try to minimize my time outside during the day, and why, when I am outside, I am constantly speed-walking in circles while flailing my arms spastically. Here is some general information about the sandfly:


Introduction
The sandfly (“namu” in Māori) is the regional common name New Zealanders refer to two species of black fly: the New Zealand blackfly (Austrosimulium australense), and the West Coast blackfly (Austrosimulium ungulatum). At only 2–3mm in length, they look the same to the naked eye. The common name, “sandfly,” originates back to the voyages of Captain Cook between 1769 and 1775. The earliest known written reference of the name dates back to March, 1773 at which time, Captain Cook’s ship, Resolution, was anchored in Dusky Bay on the south-western tip of New Zealand. During their six-week stay, Cook and his men suffered miserably. The common name, “black fly” is thought to have North American origin.


Life-cycle
Sandflies, like mosquitoes and other flies, are members of the order Diptera, and belong to the family Simuliidae. Like mosquitoes, sandfly females bite because they need blood to get sufficient nutrition to produce eggs. Males are vegetarians. Also like mosquitoes, sandflies reproduce in water, which is why their numbers are worse near beaches, and at the edges of lakes, rivers, or swamps. There is one main difference between sandflies and mosquitoes, though: sandfly larvae require swift flowing water to survive because of how they eat. Sandfly eggs are laid on rocks or plants near or below the water surface. When they hatch, the larvae form masses fixed to the surfaces of submerged stones. They feed by catching morsels of organic particles, algae, and bacteria as it flows by. Generally, the duration of development from egg to fly averages six to seven weeks, of which 12 days are spent as the pupa.



Sandfly Behavior
Light intensity is the most important factor for sandflies to detect their hosts. Consequently, their numbers diminish as the sun goes down, and they nearly vanish at night. They seldom go indoors unless the room is lit well enough. Sandflies bite from dawn to dusk, but seldom at the same frequency throughout the day. During the day, morning peak numbers come from young sandflies that have recently emerged from pupae, and the higher evening numbers are often the result of sandflies taking blood after laying eggs earlier in the day. Higher activity can be conjured after a heavy rainstorm has depressed biting. Sandflies mostly thrive during overcast, calm, humid days. On these types of days, sandfly numbers are consistently high all day long. Their activity is high before rain, but is suppressed by strong wind. A sudden change in atmospheric pressure, like that seen before a thunderstorm, provokes increased biting activity.


Biting
Sandflies don’t suck blood like mosquitoes do. Instead, they use teeth to cut into the skin and feed from the bleeding well they create. The saliva of sandflies contains anticoagulants which are injected into the wound to keep the blood flowing. It also contains agglutinins that help prepare the blood for digestion in the fly’s stomach. It is these contents of the saliva that cause an allergic reaction in the skin characterized by itching, redness, pain, and swelling. This reaction is made worse by rubbing and scratching, but can be somewhat relieved with antihisamine cream or calamine lotion. Although the bites are quite annoying (and far more irritating than mosquito bites), they don’t do any long lasting damage or transmit disease in humans.


Detecting their Hosts
Sandflies find their hosts by detecting their profile, breath, odor, movement, size, shape, shininess, and temperature. The color and shininess of skin and clothing attract sandflies. Black, blue, and red seem to be the most attractive followed by brown, purple, maroon, and dark green. White, yellow, mid-grey, and green are not as attractive. Matt surfaces are more attractive than glossy ones. The fact that sandflies appeal to shaded parts of a host is a response to their attraction to dark colors. Smell is secondary to sight in detecting a potential host’s location. Carbon dioxide, octenol and other compounds that make up sweat and body odor appeal to sandflies.

I’ve noticed that sandflies love to bite you on your hands, arms, ankles, and feet. They particularly focus on the worse areas to be bitten: knuckles, wrists, elbows, and on the underside of your forearms. Bites in such areas are constantly irritated as you move throughout your day. These areas work out well for them because there is minimal hair to climb on, which gives away their presence (swat!). It is also possible that you give off more chemical indicators in these areas.


Preventing Bites
The best way to prevent bites is to cover up. Insect repellent works as well, but don’t stop biting completely. I find that DEET works over botanical repellents.

A sign in a shop window in Karamea on the West Coast of New Zealand explains another great sandfly remedy:

Purchase a bottle of good quality whisky.
Rub liberally on arms and legs.
Dust sand on skin whilst still wet with whisky.
The sandflies come along, get drunk, and throw rocks at each other.

It’s worth a shot!

Climbing Mitre Peak

Hey All,

Last week Rowan and I decided to climb Mitre Peak as part of Rowan's 25th birthday. We expected good whether for two days which gave us enough time to stay the night on the mountain.

In this beautiful photo taken by Rowan, Mitre Peak is the big pointy one in the middle of the photo.



I also added this picture so you can get a better sense of depth. So, starting from the nearest point of the green mound, we climbed up and basically followed the ridge all the way to the summit.

Since the mountain is located on the other side of the sound, we had to kayak there. That is one perk locals have because normally tourists are not able to take out kayaks without booking a guided trip. We just tell them where we are going and off we go! I couldn't take any photos while kayaking because my hands were tied paddling, plus I was wearing a spray skirt, which prevents the ability to reach pockets (where cameras are kept). We kayaked to the base of Simbad valley (the U-shaped valley to the left of Mitre Peak in the photo above). On our way there, we came across some other locals on their way back from the mountain. They told us they had to turn back before reaching the summit because they didn't pack enough water with them. Mitre Peak doesn't have any water sources. Since you hike along the ridge the entire time, you don't pass any streams. It was a warning that we took seriously so Rowan and I each slammed an entire bottle of water and then refilled them from the Simbad river and treated them with iodine tablets before we took to the track. We also had to pull our two-person kayak into the bush to hide it from the tourists (since some of the guided trips stop there for lunch). We didn't want the tourists to find the secret trail.

Referring to the pictures above, this picture was taken from the top of the nearest green mound, probably 1.5 hours into the hike.


I brought my 85L backpack because it is the only one I have, but it is way too big for a one-night trip so I cinched it down so it was as small as possible. For food, we packed some bananas, apples, peanut butter and jelly/honey sandwiches, and some grapefruits that Rowan thought were oranges. We also brought a small stove to make tea. I had a total of 1.75L of water and Rowan had 1.5L. It wasn't enough!


Here's another pretty outlook looking back at the town of Milford from the mountain.


During the hike, we came across a question mark carved on a tree trunk. We thought it was funny so I took this picture of Rowan making a funny face next to it. What we didn't know was that it was a warning sign telling us to turn back. Since the trail we were following is not used very often, it gets overgrown by the fast-growing rainforest making the trail blend into its surroundings. You end up either following what you think is the trail but is actually either part of the forest that looks like the trail or a trail that someone before you made when they took a wrong turn. I can't tell you how many times we followed a trail only to have it dead end. This was one of those times and it really sucked because it was very steep and by the time we climbed down a muddy, wet, mossy, section, we realized we had to climb back up to find the trail again. We were probably set back 45 minutes trying to find the tail! Once we found the trail and compared what we had just endured with the correct route, it was pretty embarrassing.


This picture shows what we had just accidentally climbed down after the question mark. The correct route is along the ridge, but we veered to the left of it. You can see how steep it gets!


This picture is taken from where we camped for the night. Normally it won't have been a very good place to pitch a tent because it is really exposed to the wind, but we were blessed with a very very calm night. Our tent didn't flutter at all. It was sooooooo beautiful!


What a great place to use this tent for the first time! You can see what we had to climb the next day– curving around with the ridge to the right and then ending up on the peak in the distance.


This is what it looked like when we woke up at about 8:00am the next morning to start hiking toward the summit. There I am putting on my pants, meaning business.


Here Rowan is looking very serious. It is a good thing too. Any wrong move and you fall a very long way down!


Here's a good view of the ridge we needed to follow to get to the summit. Some parts were really steep and I must admit that the thought of turning back was always looming in my mind. We knew we had to race the weather that day and I was worried we would get caught in the rain that would make what normally would be catchy rocks slippery. The closer we got to the summit, the more the rock turned to loose, layered, shale. We had to continuously test our hand and foot holds before putting our entire weight on them.


This is a good picture looking back at what we had already climbed. Our tent was still pitched in that yellow-green patch in the lower left. If you click on the picture and look hard, you can see it as a light dot in the middle of it. It gives you a sense of scale.


Here is one of the steep scary parts you had to climb down in order to continue up to the summit. This part was basically rock climbing. Right before this picture, I was telling Rowan that I had no idea what I was going to do to get down. He was like, "hold on and let me take your picture!" Thanks Rowan!

Here I am drinking some water when I arrived at the summit. I was pretty tired, but I knew I had to conserve water so we had some for the hike down.


This is looking back at the town of Milford. You can see Bowen falls as a white streak to the left of Milford. Look how far you can see!!!


Looking down from the summit at a tiny cruise ship passing Sterling Falls.


This is looking down at the ridge we passed, our tent, and Simbad river.


I should also mention that we were not at the proper summit of Mitre Peak. This is a picture of the summit. Where we went is where most people go. The very summit requires a final steep ascent that we didn't think we had time to do before the weather hit us. I was glad Rowan didn't make me do it!


And just like that, we were on our way down again.


Even on the way back down, when we had already seen the trail on the way up, we still managed to lose the trail and find ourselves in some sticky situations. This part was funny because Rowan insisted he was going the right way, but I was skeptical so I shimmied over to the right and found the trail again. I took this picture showing the steep situation Rowan was stuck in. We learned that bunches of grass and bushes work as strong hand holds.

We ended up running out of water with another 2.5 hours of hiking to go. We were so thirsty by the time we got down to the bottom that we didn't even treat the water out of the Simbad river before drinking it. It was the best tasting water ever! During the last couple hours of hiking, it started to rain, which made our thirst worse since we were surrounded by water, but couldn't drink any of it. Rowan even tried to sip drops of water off of leaves.

Summiting Mitre Peak was one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I have ever done. I am very glad I did it, but I have to say that I prefer hiking on well broken trails. By the time we got home, we were soaking wet, tired, muddy, and our forearms were bleeding from scrapping past branches and fern leaves. Rowan also had a cut between his eyes because he wasn't looking and walked into a branch.

Fin