Piopiotahi Milford Track

The last day, looking back on where we came from

Living in Japan’s volcanic archipelago, tramping every weekend was de rigueur for me. Passing local hikers on the mountain tracks, they would ask where was I from. When I replied New Zealand, they replied with hushed awe ‘ah Milford.’ It seemed everyone knew this place whether they had been there or not.
Our guests often comment on this tramp, speaking with reverence of their experiences having walked it. 


​I have scant memories of the first time we walked the track fifteen years ago, mainly because the weather was overcast and cloudy. This time when we began the track in clear skies and warm sunshine, the scenery and track seemed like it was all new. As the vistas unfolded with the steep mountains stretching out, I felt that despite all the walkers, the track was unspoiled and it was easy to slip the crowds and be alone. 

---

Rivers, forests mountains wilderness

U-shaped valley

Starting up the McKinnon Pass

When I got up on the first night to go out to look at the starry night, I disturbed two wapiti grazing near the lodge, their big silhouettes against the starry skies. They were startled by me and thundered across the grassy flats into the bush. I got a heck of a fright by this close encounter.  More excitement the next morning, as I had chance to watch a long-tailed cuckoo, being fed by its foster parents. I was in awe, as In my early morning bike rides in Franz Josef, I have heard their unmistakable calls, yet never have seen these secretive birds.   ​

The elusive long tailed cuckoo

Track workers hut

Friendly robin

Trout in the clear waters

​We came across the first hut we stayed in on our first trip. Jo was working for the Department of Conservation, so we were lucky to have had access to the rangers' work huts. Then it was Easter and cold, the weather was clagged in. I remember that when we came across it then, the hut was a haven. Today, even in the sun, 15 years later, it looked pretty basic and dirty. I couldn’t help but wonder what had changed, me or the hut? 

Looking back with a long way to go

Praire Lake refreshing dip

Still smiling between gasps

​Tramping up the valley, we came to a lake in the steeply U-shaped glacier valley named Prairie Lake which was perfect for a swim with a waterfall as a backdrop. While refreshing in the cool water I pondered that with all its hype. It would be easy to mistake the Milford track as a pilgrimage to a heavenly place. The next day the climb up the mountain to the McKinnon Pass, the exhausting kilometres we were yet to traverse would knock that thought away at times!  

Final leg

Rising above all is the fiord’s Mitre Peak Rahotu

More of the wildlife

The lofty peaks of Piopiotahi