Queenstown, Wanaka, and the Southern Alps - Middle Earth Meander - New Zealand 2016 - February 2016

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Mount Aspiring National Park

Day 3 - Aspiring Hut to Raspberry Creek Carpark

Wednesday, February 24

As predicted, rain fell overnight, and we awoke to a drizzly, wet landscape. There was no huge rush, as we had a very easy 9 kilometre flat walk back to the trailhead, but we did want to leave at a reasonable hour, and maybe even arrive at the trailhead ahead of our agreed-upon meeting time with Lori at noon. The weather forecast called for potentially heavy falls later in the day, and if she happened to arrive early, then we could give ourselves a bit of security against any situations that might cause the access road to get washed out.

Rainy Morning

By 8 a.m. we had donned our full raingear and started out along the Track back to the Raspberry Creek Carpark and trailhead. With the dreary weather not inspiring the taking of a lot of photos, we kept up a constant pace without much in the way of stops. I was still feeling the disappointment of having not tried to climb Mt Barff the day before, and the rain and gloom was not helping my mood. I just wanted the hike to be over, so to put my frustrations to good use, I notched up the briskness of my walk.

Setting off from Aspiring Hut

Dreary Valley

Getting Drier

Our fast, no-stop pace netted us a full 50% faster average speed than our walk up two days before, and in less than two hours, we had the carpark in sight. The rain had gradually slackened, became intermittent, and then stopped entirely as we arrived at the trailhead - probably a result of our journey further east, into the rain shadow of the Southern Alps.

Rapid Progress

Carpark in sight

Arriving Carpark

Lori wasn't yet here - not surprising since we were nearly two hours early, so we settled in under the trailhead's little shelter, hanging up our wet clothes for a quick bit of drying time.

Trailhead Shelter

Flecks of Rice

Jagged Ridgeline

Lori Arrives

Our hopes were validated when we saw the shape of a white van bouncing towards us around 10:45 a.m., a full hour and fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Lori had indeed also decided to show up at the trailhead ahead of schedule. Our thought processes had been in alignment!

Our fear of rain had been overblown, and we had a dry ride back along the Matukituki Valley Road to Wanaka. Still, our early arrival and pickup at the trailhead meant we had additional free time today.

Interactive trackmap with photo points - Aspiring Hut to Trailhead - click map to view

Interactive trackmap with photo points - Aspiring Hut to Trailhead - click to view

Aspiring NP Day 3 - Aspiring Hut to Raspberry Creek TH

Start Time: 8:02a.m.

End Time: 10:11a.m.

Duration: 2h8m

Distance: 8.9 km (5.53 mi)

Average Speed: 4.2 km/hr (2.6 mph)

Start Elevation: 1533ft (467m) *

Max Elevation: 1545ft (471m) *

Min Elevation: 1216ft (371m) *

End Elevation: 1224ft (373m) *