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Me Hiking in Snow
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I woke up, got dressed and went straight to the DOC office. It was raining steadily.
The forecast was for becoming fine in the afternoon, so I decided to book into the Mueller Hut.
After checking out of the hotel, by 10:00, the sun was shining through a break in the clouds, so I was feeling good about the decision.
By 12:00 when I started walking however, it was clouded over again.
Climbing to Sealy Tarns, there were good views of the valley, the track was steep, going straight up the side of the mountain range.
By the time I got to Sealy Tarns (1 hour 20 mins) it had started sprinkling rain, and the views had disappeared. I had a quick break and continued upward. About halfway to the hut from Sealy Tarns, the rain turned to sleet, then to snow!
It was still snowing with minimal visibility when we went to bed that night. The hut was tiny – not much bigger than our loungeroom at home for 12 people to stay in. There was a NZ couple there who had stayed the previous night in the wind, a French couple, a Belgian couple, an Aussie couple and a lone Australian guy who was going ice climbing further up the Mueller valley.
