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New Zealand
2007
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Day Twelve Milford
Track - Mintaro Hut
March 25
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Ascending is never the joyous part of hiking and today started the first of
two days of continuous
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climbing. After following the river for 4 hours, the trail started
upwards to the Mintaro Hut located
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at 1,800 ft elevation. Thankfully, some cloud cover kept the temperatures
mild and enjoyable.
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Some of the wildlife along the way included the paradise ducks, piwakawaka
(fantail) birds, and
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very "cheeky" robins. Except for deer, larger animals do not
exist in the national parks. This also
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accounts for the extremely clean water - very rare to be able to drink
directly from the river and
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waterfalls.
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We encountered our first views of the upcoming McKinnon Pass over the
mountains. Thus, an
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early dinner and sleep was a good choice.
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Mintaro Hut demonstrated the New Zealand humor about weather - It had a
weather stone hanging
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from a string on the front porch. The accompanying instructions posted
on the inside hut wall
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explained how to read a "weather stone". If the stone is
dry, it is fine weather and may change
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to rain. If the stone is wet, it raining and the weather may change to
sunny. If the stone is
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moving back and forth, it is windy. And lastly, if the stone is white,
it is snowing.
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Last Updated 2007 March email@ellerberoad.com