Climbing has taken a big hold on my life in the past couple months. I freakin’ love climbing. I mean, I’ve always loved climbing, but with having regular-ish climbing partners and getting outdoors a bunch, I REALLY LOVE CLIMBING. There’s a reason why you shouldn’t let climbers into the backcountry, and that’s summarized by days like today. The agenda was fairly straightforward. AJ and I would hike up to Harris Saddle, then out to Lake Mackenzie Hut.
I just arrived at Wye Creek, home to some of the best sport climbing near Queenstown, New Zealand. It’s about a 45 minute approach and a relentless uphill battle. We’re half way up to the crag and my climbing partners are now sweating like crazy, trying to grab a drink of water, a snack and some different pants because it’s kind of hot to finish the approach. The only problem? They have no idea where they packed the goods and they can’t see everything inside their bag. Out comes the rope, their harness, their rain shell and then finally, the snacks, at the bottom of the bag. For moments like these, the Black Diamond Demon Duffel is a lifesaver.
Once upon a time, I soaked through my down jacket while snowshoeing. Yep, I’m the type of person who is too lazy to shed layers when I’m moving. I don’t want to stop; I just want to keep going. For days like those, the Black Diamond Deployment Hybrid Hoody is a lifesaver.
When I booked my New Zealand airfare, I kind of balked at the price. To compensate for being a lazy bum and paying extra for a nonstop flight, I decided to do everything else on the cheap and opted to stay in hostels. I’d heard great things about hostels and making all the friends. Somehow I managed to be really bad at doing the hostel thing and only really used the rooms to sleep and store my stuff, because activities. But here’s a roundup of the places I stayed at so you can pick your accommodations accordingly.
After making my way through Christchurch and Queenstown, I was finally heading out on the Routeburn Track! It had rained that night and my dreams of tramping this Great Walk were almost trampled by threats of high wind. I’d met my new backpacking friend, AJ, climbing the day prior and he asked if he could join me on the track. Though my whole mission was to wander around solo, I opted for some company.
Worst case scenario, we’d part ways. Best case scenario, it would be a blast. AJ and I woke up bright and early to a drizzly and gloomy morning. We were going to catch a TrackNet bus from Queenstown to the Routeburn Shelter where we would begin our tramping.