No Fixed Abode: Lakes and Cirques

Sun 10th January 2016 - Walks in Fiordland

For the last day before our kayaking trip we decided to cram in some more walks. Having arisen nice and early we were at the remote parking area to the Marian Lake track ready to walk at 10:00.

In more beautiful weather we set off up the track to firstly, the Marian Falls, more a series of cascades than waterfalls but pretty all the same. On the way up we’d passed some dubious looking folk and the lady had asked us if we were walking the longer track - a three hour round trip. This had played on Yvonne’s mind and she thought they might break into the van armed with the knowledge we would be away for awhile so Glenn trekked back down the track to check - they had left and the van was untouched - and then back up to give Yvonne the good news.

The next part of the walk was a steady climb through the old forest occasional crossing dry stream beds and scrambling up the twisted roots of the trees to escape the other side. As it was early it was very peaceful with only the birdsong to accompany the tramp of our feet on the rocky ground and we enjoyed the morning making steady progress to the top. When eventually the trail stopped rising and started to descend we knew we must be at the the moraine holding the lake captive. A couple more minutes through the last of the woodland and we exited into a wide, steep sided cirque (the bowl where a glacier forms) and there, under a bright blue sky, were the clear azure waters of lake Marian sparkling in the sunlight.

With the warmth of the sun on our faces and only the sound of birdsong in our ears we sat on a rock for a long while enjoying the peace and watching the last of the clouds clear from the surrounding mountain peaks. What a very special place.

Once again we’d got our timing right as we passed many people on the way down including the obligatory group of orientals on their way up.

On our return we retraced steps on the road to Milford Sound to a place we’d spotted yesterday. The path to Getrude’s Saddle is described as “a challenging tramping (hard core hiking) route requiring tramping and alpine experience” and, with no map, we’d planned to just walk into the huge cirque. With this in mind we took a leisurely lunch and Glenn had a nap so it was 1500 before we set off. The walk into the base of the cirque is unmade and uneven but is marked with orange tipped poles so although progress was slow navigation was not difficult. The walls of the cirque are massive. Near vertical walls of granite hundreds of metres high. An awe inspiring place that makes one feel very small.

At the end of the poles the route is unmarked, which we’d expected would prove difficult to follow with no map, however, the progress of many previous walkers has worn a distinctive track so we decided to have a crack. The track is very steep so although it was tiring we gained height rapidly and everyone we passed coming down told us how marvellous it was at the top in this rarity of a clear sunny day in Fiordland. Now we were torn. Time was getting on, we had over an hour and a half drive to our next campsite and we needed to prepare for a 0600 start the next morning.

Desperately wanting to continue we ultimately decided we should return to the car and get on our way. On the way we were hailed by a tired looking lady asking where the path went. We called here over to us and discovered it was the same lady who’d given us a lift from the boat yesterday. Not wanting to ignore the good karma we walked back to the car park with her lifting both her spirits and her pace.

As it was now early evening the road was clear so we were able to eat up the miles back to Te Anua where we had dinner and serviced the van then it was on to the freedom camping spot we’d been moved to three nights ago to pack meals for our two day kayak adventure starting tomorrow at 07.00am. We had selected Doubtful Sound as not many tourist go here, everyone heads for Milford Sound.