Angelus Peak from Angelus Lake
Type: Out and back
Distance: off trail (it varies) 6.4 km (4 miles)
Elevation change: 397 meters (approximately 1300 feet)
Nest day we got up at 3:30 am to hike up to the Angelus peak. The Angelus peak is located behind the Angelus hut. There is not an official track to the summit, but there are cairns (a pile of rocks) to the top. Previous day we asked the warden about the route and she showed us the drawing of brief route, which is a drawing somebody wrote on the first page of intention book at the hut. We heard that many people hike up to the Angelus peak and it is great, by Julie whom we met at the Mid Caples hut during greenstone backpacking (Wrote about Julie at post #9 link is here )
We started tramping around 4:30 am. Since sunrise was 5:20 am, soon the orange sunlight was appearing. Sun was about to come over the carpet of clouds in the valley was surreal. It was super pretty. Green meadow and lakes were gradually getting orange reflections. How wonderful it was to be in that magical place!
 |
| Sunrise |
Although the route was rough, it was rewarding, because one step go higher the view got more impressive. After some climb we came to a little flat spot. I thought, "Oh this in the top?"
No. It is a false summit. False summit always happens when you climb a tough mountain. Every time you think arrived the summit then another hill shows up. Angelus peak was not an option. The last section was scree. Scree.....my scree memory is Mt.Shasta. Scree is hard, because if I hike up 3 steps, then 2 steps slide back. It looked so steep and I thought I might stop before the final scree. However, I remembered a sentence on the intention book drawing. "The last scree is steep but not as bad as it looks". OK. I started hiking up. Actually it was not as slippery as it looked and much less slippery than Mt.Shasta.
After 30 minutes of scree, we finally made it to the top!
The view was AMAZING.
 |
| Angelus Peak! |
Handsome mountains are coming out from the ocean of clouds. What a view. It was like as if I was in a different world. Nobody was on the way or top. All the view was ours! Soooooooo priceless. We took pictures, looked around, enjoyed the 360 view. We sat down and had snack. No Keas in this area, so no worries for being stolen. This is definitely one of the best scenery I have ever seen.
After an hour or so, we started descending, although it was very hard to leave the summit. When we got close to the hut, we saw the warden. She had said that she would climb up to the Angelus peak after she got off duty in the morning. We chatted with her for a little. We thanked her for the cozy camp/hut. She said, "No worries." I love the New Zealand iconic answer to the thank you.
Then we packed up and headed for this day's destination.
No comments:
Post a Comment