Rain
turned to snow during the night and it was still snowy when getting up at 6:00. Goodness thanks, it stopped falling after 7:00 and blue sky was spreading above
us.
The hut was situated at the bottom of the hill and there was about 10cm
snow one the ground... had no idea about how deep the snow would be at the top
and there could be an avalanche risk, too. As safety was the first priority,
decided to walk on the farm road off from Motatapu Track against the rules. The
road is used for Motatapu race, an off-road marathon and a mountain bike race
once a year, and three of us have run the course twice about 10 years ago.
As
going on, it reminded me of the day. Walked across Motatapu river and Soho
river, and kept going in the entire white world, which was completely different
from yesterday and the day before, viewing Cardrona Mountains on left. Was
challenging with deep snow about 20cm in some sections, but walked pleasantly
with a fine weather.
Arrived at Arrowtown at 16:00. Mike and Kiyomi had parked
their car there and gave me a lift to home. Came home in Queenstown after 7 weeks since
having started walking. Took a bath, had a home-made dinner with my wife, and
made me completely at home after a long while. Had so many things to catch up
with her and went to bed nearly 1:00. Walked 8 hours, 23km.
夜の間に雨が雪に変わり、6:00に起きたときにはまだ降っていた。幸い7:00過ぎには止み青空が広がってきた。
麓にある山小屋周辺でも10cmくらいの積雪となり、山上ではどれだけ深いか判らない。雪崩の可能性もあり、安全性を第一に考えて、本当はいけないことだがモタタプ・トラックを逸れて農道を行くことにする。その道は年に1回のマラソンやマウンテンバイクの大会のコースになっており、自分達は3人とも10年以上前に2度そのコースを走っている。
道を進むにつれその時の記憶が蘇ってきた。モタタプ川やソーホー川を徒渉し、左手にカードローナ山を眺めながら、昨日までの風景とは打って変わった一面の銀世界の中を進む。時に20cm近い深さの所もあり歩きづらかったが、晴天に恵まれ気持ちよく歩けた。
16:00にアロータウン着。そこに停めたあった二人の車で送ってもらい、約7週間振りにクイーンズタウンの自宅に帰宅した。浴槽に浸かり、妻の手料理に舌鼓を打ち、本当に久し振りに心から寛ぐ。お互いの話も尽きず、寝るのが1:00近くになってしまった。本日の歩行8時間、23km。
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