I didn't see a single sheep this whole trip...

A couple of days ago Erik and I, as well as six other wonderful people, decided to take a backpacking trip near Arthur's Pass. It was called the Waimakariri-Harman Pass route, it was 44 kilometers long, and it was burly. It may have been the most strenuous backpacking trip I have ever gone on. We began the tramp by walking 13 kilometers up a kilometer wide river bed, and the views during this section were incredible. I felt as though we were walking through the pages of a tourism magazine. The cool thing about New Zealand is that they have an entire network of huts throughout the entire island. So, rather than carrying fifty pounds worth of gear, you have the privilege of sleeping, cooking and eating in a small shack in the middle of nowhere. This is great that you don't have to carry as much, but those tricky Kiwi's make up for it by not having switchbacks anywhere. For some reason, Kiwis would rather walk directly up a fifty degree slope in six kilometers, rather than covering the same vertical distance the American way and taking ten kilometers. This leads me to the second day of our wonderful adventure, Harman Pass. We began the day by hiking straight up a river that cascaded its way down a rocky pass. I could have mistaken the landscape with those I have seen in Hawaii. Mist cooled the backs of our necks as we walked past countless waterfalls...it was surreal. The third day was spent bouldering down the Taipo River. This was considered the "easy" day. The girls, Annika and Pinecone, walked the entire fifteen kilometers in their Chacos, which eventually lead to some pretty nasty blisters. In my mind the last day of the tramp will be the most memorable. The day begins by ascending sharply through the New Zealand rain forest. Root after root, we ascended 800 meters in 3 kilometers. Once we arrived at what we though was the top of the pass we began to look for the trail markers. At this point it had become very foggy, cold, and rainy. We wandered, relatively mindlessly, about the top of the pass until we found what we thought to be the trail marker. We began to descend down the pass, when we realized that we were completely turned around. We were going down the same side that we had just climbed up. Our spirits were low but not broken and we climbed back up. Exhausted, tired, and sore we stumbled our way around the top of the pass, about three hours, until we found the hut to eat some lunch. After lunch Brian, Grahm and I blitzed it to the car so that we could retrieve the shuttle.
Although the trip was spectacular, I can say with confidence that the best part was meeting six other people. Having gone on this trip we all achieved a greater level of community. I am excited and anxious to see what other adventures Team Sandfly will go on.