Monday, June 23, 2014

Fiordland: Gertrude Valley Hike

In the afernoon, after our Milford Sound cruise, we decided to do a quick hike into nearby (just on the other side of the tunnel) Gertrude Valley before setting up camp for the night (i.e. parking the van).  When we started our hike, it was grey but not rainy:

As we hiked, however, the clouds started rolling in and literally surrounding us... here they come:



Even my phone started getting fogged from all the moisture, making selfies difficult (god forbid):


Gertrude Valley is a pretty hike... we intended to make it up the saddle for some purportedly lovely views, but the rain and clouds put a damper on those plans:


The clouds were out to get us:




Aren't the clouds crazy? So low-hanging... It was super neat to see how they filled up the valley so quickly.  


Less super neat: how soaked we got and how unable we were to dry out afterwards in the camper van.  It poured all night!!  The rain stopped us from doing another hike on our agenda the following morning, the Key Summit Track.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  At least we got to have a fresh and tasty pie back at Miles Better Pies in Te Anau (thanks for the tip, Colleen and Scuba Steve!).



Gah, where did we park the van??


Dramatic clouds... that pretty much sums up our fiordland experience!

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