Here is a link to a youtube created by the Department of Conservation about the track:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkU6-qGHgvA
Milford Track Website: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/fiordland/northern-fiordland/milford-track/
The first day we drove to Te Anau which is the launch site for the boat which takes you to the trail head. Yes, the trail is only accessible by boat at both the start and finish. The ferry picked us up in the pouring rain at Te Anau Downs. We didn't get to see much of Lake Te Anua because of the rain, but it was a nice 1 hour ferry trip to Glade Wharf where the trail starts. We were with all of the other hikers who would be on this journey with us so it was a good time to stay dry and meet people. They also provided us with free tea or coffee to keep warm before we got dropped off. Once we got to Glade Wharf the rain had slowed down. We grabbed our packs and started our easy 1.5 hour hike to Clinton Hut.
Huts: The Department of Conservation (DOC) has many huts throughout the NZ national parks and through the many Great Walks tracks. They typically have a cooking area which is also in the common area and then bunk rooms. The bunks will have thin little mattresses and anywhere from 4 to 40 beds in one room. Some huts provide a wood stove to keep warm and (in the high season) gas stoves for cooking. Sometimes they also have a water supply and rough, rough bathrooms (you're super lucky if they are flushing toilets and not just pit toilets). Don't even think about showers - no chance of having one of those around! Some huts, which have a lot of people coming through them in late spring to early fall, will have hut wardens. The wardens keep record of who stays, provide weather updates, give trail advice, and maintain the huts and trails. Huts are a great place to meet people and a really great way to get people out and hiking the country. We loved them!
Once we arrived at Clinton Hut, we thought we might take a look around. The hut warden that evening took us on his daily nature walk where he told us all about the history of the area and introduced us to native plant and wild life.
The next morning it wasn't raining too much so we packed up and went on to our first full day of tramping. The valleys and forrests were beautiful and brimming with waterfalls. We had a wonderful first 4 hours taking our time to soak in all the views, and then the rain came in stronger. Our last hour was in the pouring rain, and we were some of the first few people to make it to the second hut. Others had much more than one hour in the downpour. Everyone made it to Mintaro Hut pretty much soaking wet but still in good spirits. That evening we played cards with other trampers and during the evening hut talk, Daniel won a prize for getting a trivia question right... a piece of cake! And he shared it with me - true love :)
Day 3 hike is the hardest because you go straight uphill from Mintaro Hut to McKinnon Pass via a series of 11 zig zags. And yes, the weather was rainy and foggy, but we were all prepared for that. The top of McKinnon pass is above the treeline so winds pick up pretty strongly, strong enough to blow through all your layers of clothes onto your cold wet skin! On a sunny day, the views from McKinnon Pass are spectacular. We couldn't see much besides clouds and more clouds. We made it to the top and then had a cup of peppermint tea in the DOC shelter. This is the 6th shelter that has existed on McKinnon Pass. The wind and crazy weather has blown the first five down. Once we got to the shelter (and I changed into dry clothes), we were told that winds would be getting twice as strong around lunchtime and to spread the word to the hikers who came in the shelter after us. The wind was already so strong at this point that it was blowing me around and part of my backpack's rain cover was temporarily blown off. The hike down to our last hut, Dumpling Hut, was much better once we got back down into the brush line. The wind and rain slowed down a little bit, and I think the hot tea and scroggin (NZ term for trail mix) helped too! We crossed and walked down tons of streams and saw dozens more waterfalls. That's also when we stumbled across Lindsey Falls, where I, of course, took a picture by the signpost. The mountainous land is all made from very hard rock so the water is not absorbed leading to all of these temporary waterfalls. We had to walk in a lot of rain, but the waterfalls made it all worth it! At Dumpling Hut the weather took a turn for the worse with really strong winds and heavy rains. A couple of hours after we had all made it to the hut, the warden told us that parts of the track we had just walked on were now impassible due to chest high water. He also told us that there may be a chance that the next day's track may flood overnight. He assured us that DOC would make that call only if the water level was well over waist high, otherwise we were walking through whatever was ahead of us! DOC is not about to helicopter us all out if the water level is safe to wade through.
When we woke up on day 4, the warden gave the word that the water level was only 40 centimeters at most down the track and that it should be even lower by the time we got to that spot. Thankfully he was right! We didn't have to wade through anything. It was a really nice rainy tramp on our last day. Once again we saw loads of waterfalls and some really cool wildlife including three baby wekas (flightless birds, kind of like kiwis that come out in the day time). We made it to the end of the trail, Sandfly Point, with an hour to eat lunch, rest, and wait for our boat to arrive. The boat took us from Sandfly Point to Milford Village, and we stayed in Milford for one night with Whitney and Rory. We celebrated finishing the Milford with homemade pizzas and wine at Milford Lodge.
What a great way to start Daniel's trip! We loved the Milford Track and the whole NZ tramping experience!
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