Let me preface this post with a shoutout to everyone driving vehicles larger than a truck. I don't know how you do it, but I deeply respect your ability to judge the proper amount of width needed for a turn. Onward!
I grew up watching white-winter Christmas' and freezing temperatures on TV, but walking out to 80 degree Fahrenheit (approx. 27 degree Celsius) with almost 100% humidity, so you better believe the most exciting thing for me is snow. Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park has a bundle of trails you could try, but our group decided on the famous Hooker Valley Track. "How long is it?" "I think 3 hours." "That's not far." (And with that, I doomed us all.)
I don't remember who (I'm gonna blame Jess), but when they said 3 hours, we all thought it was the round trip. Spoiler! It took us 3 hours going one way.
You cross a couple swing bridges, but they aren't terribly scary. Mind you, if you're afraid of heights, bridges, swinging bridges, or crossing said bridges, it may be a different story. Otherwise, continuing on gets you a nice amount of scenery of towering mountains, crisp lakes and streams, and the silence of the enormous valley.
I can't tell you objectively what to see or what's common on this hike, so my best advice is to enjoy the walk! Mueller Lake was gorgeous, but you'll find a few streams in between a look over spots in the middle. If you're lucky, you'll hear avalanches off in the distance (but fret not, none near you).
By the time we reached Hooker Lake a few hours had passed and we spent about half an hour to forty-five minutes chilling down and taking photos. There were huge junks of ice fallen into the lake with more just coming down. If there was anything I could change it would be having more time, but that's always the case isn't it?
If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with the mountains. Watching the clouds roll down the ridge as the sun flits across the face reminds me of the valleys back home. The spaciousness of Hooker Valley and its gigantic cloudy mountains made the perfect scene for the fading light.
You can camp overnight in the park (first come first serve parking with a box for parking fee) which we were originally all gung-ho about doing, but our stove broke. We found an alternative camp with a kitchen and shower spot instead. In the morning, we found out our stove didn't break, we just epic failed on setting it up. Go figure.
Till Next Time!
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