Training Log Archive: Stijn

Pouring with rain when I woke up so just a short hike back to where the shuttle would pick me up for Milford Sound.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move190754362

The predicted cold front arrived but I only had one easy km to get back to the Routeburn and all the way back along it to camp at Lake Howden. Head down and slog kinda day.

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move190754427

Such an incredible day!!

I was pretty nervous about doing the traverse solo, but had an ice axe with me for the snowy bits and kept reminding myself to be cautious and turn around if things got hairy. I was attempting the route pretty early in the season, but the recent dry spell should have melted more snow than usual.

Got an early start to give myself as much time as possible too. The full traverse from North Col to Lake Wilson is only 12km, but we're talking no path, no cairns, complex micro-nav to avoid getting cliffed-out, frequent scrambling and many snowfields to traverse/avoid.

And it all went off without a hitch :) Insane views all day, with snow-capped mountains and lakes all around. Really enjoyed the challenge too and only had to backtrack a few times when faced with an exposed scramble I wasn't comfortable with.

Set up camp in the Valley of the Trolls just past Lake Wilson at 3pm :)

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move190754348

Woke to rain, was hoping for better weather in the afternoon, so got a late start when it cleared a bit. Socked in again after an hour so had an extended 4-hour lunch break in a little bivvy cave :) Skies cleared properly at 3pm so I pushed on to reach the 1-man bivvy cave high up the North Col pass, which was about as close as I could get to the traverse for the next day.

Surprisingly rough going up the pass with plenty of proper bush-fighting, slippery boulders and river-wading. Such a cool spot to spend the night though!

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move190754401

There was one alpine traverse that I had my eye on for the entire trip and the weather forecast predicted one perfect day in the middle of a rainy week. The plan: use the rainy days to set myself up for the Serpentines traverse on the perfect day and then hike out in the rain again :)

Day 1 was a long slog along the first 2 days of the Routeburn Track with a heavy 5-day camping load. Pretty good weather and got some amazing views! It is a Great Walk after all ;)

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move190754384