Mt. Brewster Hut to Mt. Armstrong - onward to Haast

This morning I took off to climb Mt Armstrong while MJ stayed behind and eventually started to descend to the car park. I picked my way up to mountainside through unmarked steep tussock and large boulders of schist. I summited the 2150m peak at 9:30 and was rewarded by the most glorious views of the seemingly endless succession of ridges. I could see Mt Brewster in front of me so close I could barely take it all in. To the south I could see Mt Aspiring and other high, glacier-laden peaks. Jen and Jeroen made their way to the summit also and after 45min at the top I descended back the same way we came up and then to the trailhead. The way down seemed more like a series of controlled falls than walking. My thighs succumbed to the slope and I could barely stand when I cleared the beech forest and forded the river to the carpark.

Marijo had made it down ahead of me and headed out on her bike bound for Haast. After about 5 hours of hiking I still had to bike 35mi. Believe it or not, it felt good to get on the bicycle. I descended the steeper north side of Haast Pass, stopping at the Gates of Haast and a long thin waterfall and then put the hammer down, finally catching up with Marjio an hour down the road. We enjoyed the views of the wide Haast River valley with the turquoise streak meandering down its seasonal path to the Ocean. We literally stumbled into Haast, barely able to make our way down the block to the only restaurant open in town and we were treated to the worst meal we have had so far: )

We were glad to be off our bikes and on level ground but our minds were racing so we watched 'The Fugitive' on TV until 1am before jumping into our fartsacks for the night. "Goodnight".