We Slept Alongside Avalanches

Katie and I arrived after noon and slightly flustered to the Aoroki/Mount Cook National Park carpark. From what I had read, it would take us three hours to climb to the Mueller Hut, but don't believe everything you read on the internet. It was already 2pm and we ferociously packed our bags for the overnight stay, as my mind subconsciously calculated the hours of daylight we had left.

Final calculation; not many.

I foolishly insisted on stuffing a large wool blanket into my pack while Katie felt the need to carry a bottle of red wine and Whittaker’s chocolate to commence our climb. After all, our worst fear was making it to the hut and being sober, hungry, and too cold to sleep.

We were on our way, mastering 2,000+ vertical stairs before we made it to the halfway point. The descending crowd looked at us with pity, assured us the final view was worth the current leg pain and distorted our confidence with "you're almost there". Although very sweet of them.... completely untrue. We were not almost there.

I, of course, noticed we were the only ones in sight who were headed UP the mountain. Keeping my cool, I disregarded the obvious, (we were late), and picked up the pace. I managed the calculations in my head, "...Should take us three hours according to the reviews... was that for a fit person? Were we even "fit" at the moment? I mean, I thought I was fit...but when I moved to NZ and compared myself to Kiwi's (New Zealanders).... I realized fitness is a spectrum...." I digress.

After a ludicrous number of steps, we had conquered the stairs and moved onto the terrain bit of the trek. Katie and I scaled rocks on all fours whilst balancing the weight of our overfilled backpacks. We navigated the topography, guided by skinny orange flags acting as our makeshift "trek guide". In the back of my mind I worried the sun was setting and temperature was dropping. We were absolute rookies. At this point, I imagined I could have doubled as the sweaty hopeless Gollum in Lord of the Rings on the lookout for "the precious".

Once we reached the hut, I had shed my body weight in sweat and anxiety and was flabbergasted by the 360 degree views of New Zealand's raw, natural beauty. There's nothing like it. I wholeheartedly believe it's the most stunning country on Earth.

We were the last group to arrive but not far behind a few others. Our overall time: 2 hours 40 minutes (NAILED IT!)

Katie and I were exhausted. We passed the time hopping across boulders and listened intently as "mini" avalanche's rumbled upon the neighbouring mountains. We played card games, sipped our victory cabernet sauvignon, enjoyed NZ's finest chocolate and watched the sunset and rise next to the country's tallest mountain (Mount Cook). I couldn't help but feel so at peace with life, despite all my previous worries.

The Mueller trek was undoubtedly the most challenging hike/trek/walk I have done in my lifetime and simultaneously, the most rewarding. I take this sentiment with me in life. I remember the climb being awful....really hard.... but more so, I remember the profuse feeling of reward and the jaw dropping beauty of the mountain peak and surrounding majestic landscape.

We as humans all have instances in life that challenge us; in nature, in jobs, in relationships. The past six months has been exceptionally difficult for people around the world because of the Coronavirus. That being said, I hope you take this opportunity to wrestle these challenges head on and with an open mind. Overcoming the fear and the pain of this pandemic is possible with resources such as nature.

Nature is always there for you. She doesn't judge, she doesn't ask anything of you in return, and she always welcomes you with open arms. Nature is calling you, and I reckon you should answer.