We're Rambling, Man!: Hiking in Arthur's Pass

Jen was feeling a little hiked out, so Dave spent the day hiking solo in Arthur's pass. (Note to parents: Jen knew the plan and the return time (well before dark) to send help if something went wrong. I took lots of food and water, warm clothes, a headlamp, and a first aid kit. I was very safe).

The drive to Arthur's Pass from Greymouth was, itself, spectacular.

I stopped in this field to photograph the pass, because it was too amazing to keep driving, when another car pulled up and a lady and her son got out to do the same. It turns out she's from Jakarta, so I got to wish her selamat siang and terima kasi for taking my photo with the mountain (though this is not the one shown here, clearly).

The road took several cool turns, and was kind enough to provide after-the-fact viewing places so I could photograph them.

The trail I hiked basically took me up a high valley to the source of a stream. Here's a shot from more-or-less the bottom:

And a little further up:

Again, with the beautiful pools:

This shot is looking back down the valley to the start of the trail from mid-way up.

See how much closer that snow-capped mountain is now? I'm really making progress!

I liked this "likely rockfalls" sign. It actually means in the winter, though. It's a high-danger avalanche zone after heavy snowfalls, rains, etc.

Eventually, the trail started to disappear because the valley was narrow enough that the course was obvious, and also because the only ground from rock-wall to rock-wall was made of.....rocks.

And here's the top; or, at least the top of where I climbed to. There didn't seem to be a trail that continued beyond this point and, not wanting to take unnecessary risks (being the prudent solo-hiker that I am), I deemed it an appropriate place to turn around.

But look, snow!