Mountain Cook

 After we hitchhiked to Tasman Glacier, and did a day walk to Hooker Valley, we were ready for a bigger challenge. We decided to do an overnight long walk to Mueller Hut. The Mountain Cook Village, named after British explorer James Cook, is a cute, but cold village, which does not have a supermarket or an ATM machine. We basically lived of cookies, chocolate, white bread and potatoes because of our bliss ignorance. The village resides at 700 meter altitude and is surrounded by big snowcapped mountains, of which Mt Cook is the biggest with 3800 meters. Our hiking destination the Mueller hut was located on top of a mountain at an altitude of 1800 meters. This meant that we were going to climb a rough 1000 meters up a mountain! Early in the morning, after we made our preparations we went to the visitor center to purchase our hut tickets and to rent a sleeping bag for myself. Onno already bought one in Queenstown. Suddenly, renting one was not possible any more as of that day. Ah well, armed with thermo underwear and merino woollen vests I was not that concerned. How cold could it be? The ascending started with many, many stair cases. Halfway the mountain, the track became more difficult to climb. There was no longer a clear pathway to walk on and we had to climb up on rocks and little stones. Slowly, more and more snow started appearing. Before we knew it, our ankles were deeply covered in snow. The last hour was tough and we kept slipping away as it was also quite icy. 

Once on top, we were rewarded with the most amazing view I´ve seen so far. The hut provided a 360 degree panorama encompassing glaciers, ice cliffs, vertical rock fares, and New Zealand´s highest peaks. It was a great view for hearing and seeing ice falls, avalanches (=lawine), alpine sunrises and equally unforgettable sunsets. The cold at night was unbearable. We were sleeping at night with a lot of degrees under zero. The old and scruffy blankets did not provide much comfort. The next day, descending the track was really difficult which resulted in a lot of falls and slidings. However, at some point I was in a flow and jumped from rock to rock enthusiastically. I felt like a waterdancer from Game of Thrones series. I bragged a bit up in the hut about the fact that I like to think that I am rather athletic and therefore experienced no problems during the hiking. I am glad these people did not witness my intense muscle pain for the following few days. Honestly, I could not walk for two days after this hiking track. I am still limping today. But it was worth it.