André (of Dutch descent) trying to cross this little stream without getting wet feet

The highest point of the Canyon Creek Route, from left to right: Jeff, John, André, me, Carl

The view north, further up the creek, we decide to walk down there as well

This is next to that grassy bit in the previous photo, Carl starting to wonder if he shouldn’t be flying

Another group photo, Mt Barth in the distance

Further upstream, Carl and André have already returned and Jeff is taking a refreshing soak in the river somewhere

Which leaves just John and me to go as far north as here, I’ve been here before

On the way back, at the highest point again, Barrier Range looking great

This is where we’ll soon be walking through again, back to the car

A last photo of Jeff and John before we arrive back to the car where we wondered why Carl and André weren’t there (they got lost and despite returning to the car an hour before Jeff, John and I did, they arrived about an hour later, awesome display of navigation skills!)

Map and height profile of today’s hike (12.1 km)

Monument Hut

Ben Ohau Range

Barrier Range

Today the East Manuherikia Track

This track leads from Omarama via the Omarama Saddle to St Bathans

The road is pretty steep in places and I need to drive a lot in 1st gear

Happy, especially for not having to walk up here

The saddle is coming into view

It’s a great day for driving up here

Looking back towards the Ewe Range

Almost at the saddle

At the saddle we decided to take a detour to the St Bathans Range, Justin Wills told me you could get to the lake there that I so often flew above. Unfortunately the road was so steep in places that I had to drive a bit on my own, with Rachel having to walk a little

The view towards Lake Dunstan

This is on the actual St Bathans Range, normally I fly over these mountains so it’s cool to be able to drive on them for a change, the view is back towards the Mackenzie Basin

The lake I mentioned above is right below and to the right here, in the distance the Ewe Range, Horrible and the Benmore Range

The lake! We made it. Maybe next time we’ll camp here, must be awesome

After a long walk back up the ridge I’m back at the car

Top Hut

For us the road continues a while further

As we still need to make it to Homestead Hut

Nearly there, about time, getting hungry!

Could I look any more stupid? Likely. But at least I’m eating. Om nom nom

There’s even dessert, thanks Julia!

Sandy Bluff, this is where I’m heading

Cosmos Peaks on the true right of the Dart River

The Dart River at Sandy Bluff

Looking back at the Dart River, Dredge Flat and the Barrier Range

From here on the track is through forest

Where sometimes you have to pull yourself up using a handrail

Or stop to look a waterfall

It’s getting flatter, must be getting closer to the end of the track

A river coming from Pluto Peak joins the Dart River

Pluto Peak

A string of little peaks leading up to Cosmos Peaks

Looking back to Mc Bride Peaks in the middle

Looking SSW towards Chinamans Bluff

Mc Bride Peaks again

The first sign of (other ) life in 4 days: a jetboat racing up and down the Dart River

Almost at the end of the track, looking back: the ridge leading up to Cosmos Peaks on the right, the Beans Burn Track leads to the valley in the middle, Mt Chaos on the valley’s left, Mt Niobe in the clouds further back

The ridge leading up to Cosmos Peaks again

This is really only a few minutes walking from the end of the track, nearly there! What an awesome hike this was!!

Track log of today, distance was about 17.5 km again and that took about 5 hours

After all that walking the last 4 days I decided to do yet another hike tomorrow, to the Earnslaw Glacier. That track starts in the valley in the middle of the photo and leads up to the highest peak left of it

View back to the west, Mt Ansted in the distance

View west again towards the Barrier Range

Dart River and Barrier Range

More and more cloud drifting in and it’s still about 2 hours to the hut, hopefully no rain before I get there

To the south, the Forbes Mountains, everything is still looking sunny

The scenery here is beautiful

A selfie

Mt Head hidden in these clouds

I know today’s hut will be smaller then the previous one, so not enough beds for all of us, I’m therefore trying to stay ahead of the other walkers which isn’t easy as most of them are younger

There are a couple of beautiful flat areas here, you could land a glider here if you needed to

It’s getting the glider out that’s going to be the difficult part

Then the track suddenly goes through forest again

But forest normally makes for faster walking then tussocks

Once out of the forest I can see the hut! Rain looks imminent

Almost at the hut, one look back

Here we are all in the hut, playing Uno. The big beard is Philip

Being one of the first to arrive here paid off, I had a bed, quite a few people had to sleep on the floor, which is less than ideal of course but everybody was in good spirts, also because a few of us carried some good spirits!

Track log of today, distance was about 17.5 km and that took about 5 hours and 15 minutes