Four days on the South Island in New Zealand. Part three

Waking up at 6 am, I made sure that the weather forecasters were not mistaken with the forecast, and there was no rain. And, therefore, I could start climbing the Avalanche Peak. But when it finally dawned completely, and I had already climbed a decent height, it turned out that the clouds were still gathering, forming either a fog, or a nasty drizzle

I continued to climb the track with an unoriginal name of "Track on Avalanche Peak," not meeting in two hours a single person

The higher I went, the more the state of some inexplicable anxiety and nervousness grew

At some point, the forest was over, and I was on a purged patch. I wanted to return unbearably, but I decided that this was some strange form of mountain sickness, although the height at that time hardly exceeded 1600 m above sea level

I decided that I would talk to myself, but it did not help much. Then I decided that since there was still no one, I would sing songs. Also has understood, that I can not recollect any which would calm me.

Most of all I was afraid of a sharp deterioration in visibility, which would not allow me to confidently navigate the route between the poles, as happened at Taranaki. But then there were more people on the slopes, and there I was all alone...

Fortunately, the cloud still remained fairly transparent, but the track was sharply narrowed. In fact, it was necessary to climb the ridge of the rock, which was slippery because of the water condensation, which here and there was still frozen

Already on the very approach to the summit, I finally met a couple from France. It seems they were also glad to see me, and even talked a little in English. Here also revealed the secret of my solitude when climbing: the local DoC office recommended everyone to climb the peak on an alternative track, since the one that I chose, in these weather conditions became unsafe. But I consulted not with DoC, but with the guy at the reception of the hostel where I spent the night, who assured me that after Taranaki the Avalanche would seem to me a walk in the park, and so I did not know anything about it

I still felt uncomfortable, especially thinking about the fact that I had to descend on a track I did not know (after learning about the DoC recommendations, I decided to go where I could potentially meet more people). I invited the French to go together and, to my surprise, they agreed! They said that they also feel some kind of inexplicable nervousness, and they will be glad to the company. At least, I was not alone

We descended in a fairly cheerful pace, so that there was almost no time left for photos

And finally, here is the forest

In general, I can not say that the alternative track seemed to me easier than the main one, and I still did not understand what the DoC recommendation was based on. On top of that, this alternative track was also flooded, so sometimes you had to walk ankle-deep in water or mud. The main track, at least, was dry
On the near approaches to the parking, we saw a single kia sitting on the top of the tree, who had nothing to do with us

Local colors ... Yeah, it’s hard in the village without a central heating and gas pipeline

Upon returning to the hostel, I realized that it was a great idea to take two sets of motorcycle sticks with me. Honestly, I was so delighted with these Aramid cargos (another Kevlar trade name) produced by RST that they became my favorite equipment for mountain hikes in the absence of extreme heat. I has pulled out all protection, except for knee pads. Of course, before using these motorcycle pants for its intended purpose, I insert all the removed protection back.
Since the track took me less time than I planned (5 hours instead of 8), I decided to return to Picton through Christchurch, which is 300 km longer. I stopped at the observation platforms many-many times!

As a result, I started to run out of gas, because it was really problematic to refuel at Arthurs Pass. In my memory, this was the only gas station where the column was switched on only if you give your documents as a bail. That's right, not even money, but a passport. Of course, I did not want to part with the documents, and I decided to hold out to a much less tourist Springfield

There refueled normally, without any documents

The surrounding landscapes clearly cost all these inconveniences. I can only imagine how beautiful it is on a sunny day, even if the rain and clouds can not suppress the admiration of the autumn in the mountains

For the night I stopped in a camping on the Lewis pass. They asked $8 per night. If I have arrived an hour later, would have stopped for free, but I didn’t want to ride in the mountains in the dark.

My neighbors on the camp were graciously allowed to warm my supper on their stove.
It's good that I left one lantern on a motorcycle, otherwise I would not have found a way to a tent that I hid in the forest, for fear of strong winds