We continued onto Lewis Pass from Hope River. We had stopped here before, but had not explored. This time we decided to try for the Lewis Pass Tops walk. It started off relatively level and wandering through beech forest with lots of native birds.
We wondered if this rock was the argillite that is colloquially (and unaffectionately) referred to as “Weet-Bix” (a brand of cereal similar to Mini Wheats in the States), as that is what it sounds/feels like as it crumbles beneath your boot.
Shortly, however, it started its steep ascent. Every time we start up anything even moderately steep, I am reminded that I am not at all good at inclines. I blame this on my Kansas roots. Many of you know that I grew up in Kansas. What you may not know is that in that “flat and empty” state that you tried to go through as quickly as possible on road trips, I grew up in the flattest county in Kansas. Hill? What is that? Ravine? Do those things even exist? Fortunately I did a lot of traveling, so I do know they exist, but apparently I don’t climb them very often. Combine that with 10 years of living in height-challenged Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a year on the flattest continent on Earth, I apparently revert to a snail’s pace anytime there are inclines. I thought with the past year of hiking, even managing 18 km in one day once, I would be prepared for hiking in NZ. That has not been the case. I can handle the distance, but I can’t handle the inclines. Going up is terrible, I feel tired and out of breath very quickly. Going down may be worse. While not as much required cardio; we aren’t talking about going down stairs here. When you are going down natural surfaces that are often loose (gravel, leaf-litter), you have to control each step and pray your foot doesn’t slip. Or, if it does, that you land on your butt instead of sliding down the mountainside on your face. I am slowly getting better, but make sure not to expect pleasant answers from me while I am focusing on traversing a mountain. At least the views are normally worth it.
After 1.5 hours, we cleared the tree line.
There was a set of birds at the top that were finding lunch and trying to avoid being blown away in the wind.
From here, we restocked at Greymouth and delved back towards Arthur’s Pass. Before we got too far, though, we were sidetracked by the Goldsborough Track. We didn’t enjoy this track as much as we thought we would. We wanted to see the tunnels they made for redirecting the river for gold mining. But, we weren’t as prepared as we should have been (didn’t bring enough water nor lunch), and after an hour in, uncomfortable humidity, and no tunnels, we decided to turn back.
Bluestone.
We were walking in a rainforest next to a stream after a recent rain. You can guess from where the humidity might be coming?
We think we found some uncurled/not-dried-up kidney ferns.
There were some flowering trees.
The birds were singing happily despite the humidity and warmth.
Red-orange fungi.
We came back for lunch and then decided to try Tunnel Terrace Walk. In one of our guide books, it was noted as great fun for children and walking through old water-race tunnels, so I figured I would be sure to enjoy it. Just call me a 30-year-old kid, as I loved it.
You start and finish the short walk by going through tunnels.
The landscape has been dramatically reworked by gold miners. This hill has been slivered into nearly a wall that looks like it could topple.
The harvested side is now showing signs of regrowth.
Leaf-like moth.
You can still see the pick marks.
From there, we drove into Arthur’s Pass, visited Dobson’s Nature Walk and called it a day.
This cliff is the result of a glacier that went up to top of the bare rock in the image during the last ice age.
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