Elevation: 695m
Distance: 3.1km one way. Maybe a couple hundred metres of elevation gain.
Access: Lower Hollyford Rd., Fiordland National Park
Difficulty: A relatively mellow and short hike. Good for a short morning or afternoon trip.
Description:
Last year Ruby and I bought a new fancy Sea to Summit tent. We were eager to test it out but the weather wasn’t playing ball. The forecast was showing rain over most of the south island. We figured if we were gonna still head out into the rain anyway we had might as well go where it rains the best, Milford Sound. I had a colleague, back when I was a lifty, tell me about an easy to access lake with stunning views. We decided to make this our weekend mission.
We packed the car and made the 3 hour drive down to Fiordland National Park. The gloomy mountains of Fiordland shoot almost vertically up into the thick cloud. Waterfalls cascade down from all directions. We turned down the Lower Hollyford Road and turned into the Lake Marian parking lot. This lake sits at the base of one of Fiordland’s grandest peaks, Mt. Christina. Mt. Crosscut serves as the backdrop.
We put on our packs and headed down the thick forest track. The Marian Lake track weaves through dense beech forest. Lush ferns fill the space beneath the forest canopy. We were treated to the coastal soundtrack of babbling creeks, soft rustlings of beech leaves in the wind, and the unmistakable screech of curious Kea lurking overhead.
We wondered through through the winding trail for what must have been less than an hour before breaking through the trees. Before us was an emerald lake with lush, mossy walls surrounding it. The dark clouds sunk low into the basin. Mt. Christina was hidden from sight. We scouted out the landscape and realized that the only place we could maybe find a spot for our new home away from home was near the mouth of the lake. We walked along the quiet shoreline until we came across a little clearing amongst the beech trees. This was a perfect spot to pitch our tent. Maybe 20 metres away was a little rock shelter with enough space for us to cook out of the rain.
Our home away from home.
We took no time setting up our tent. We inflated our mattress, zipped our sleeping bags together, and switched out of our wet hiking clothes. The sky was beginning to dim as the sun set behind the mountain range. We wondered over to our natural kitchen and cooked up a couple servings of our Radix Mexican Chilli (The best dehydrated food of all time). We sat under our rock shelter and watched as the mist rolled through the mountains.
I found it kind of hard to sleep. You hear horror stories of little anarchist Kea tormenting unsuspecting campers. My ears were always pricked up, listening for the battle cry of those fluffy, green aggressors. Silence. Until, what seemed like out of nowhere, a deep rumble broke through the night. What must have been tons of snow broke from one of the high benches on Mt. Crosscut and tumbled to the ground. I knew we were nowhere even remotely near snow but the heavy roar of the avalanche had me second guessing myself. A minute passed and then the night fell silent again. After hours of being on guard, I finally dozed off into the night.
We woke to a much brighter morning. The clouds had mostly lifted and we were treated to views of the towering peaks. We sat and enjoyed a peaceful breakfast over the still, mirror-like lake. We watched as the high peak of Mt. Crosscut broke from the clouds. After a couple hours of enjoying the views we packed our things and made our way home.
