Arthur"s Pass

Kia Ora or good morning. What a glorious day in the mountains.  I ate a quick breakfast and drove to the trailhead.  It was my first time driving here in New Zealand.  It was a really weird feeling.  I managed just fine, but I looked both ways three or four times.  About ten cars passed me due to my cautiousness. That just doesn't happen to ol' lead foot when I am at home.  Didn't care!

Bealey Spur Track looked interesting and sounded as though it would be challenging.  And it was.  

Hmmmmm?

I crossed many of these boardwalks, but this was the longest one.

Trail marker - always a good thing.  In the first part of the steep climb up, there was a thick Beech Forest that provided a canopy. The rest of the hike was pretty sunny, so I was glad I remembered sunscreen.

The scenery was breathtaking.

What you can't see is how far down it is before you get to the dry river bed.  I am looking down on the area where the Minga and Bealey Rivers join the wide gravel bed of the braided Waimakariri River. I had to look up what that means. A braided river flows in multiple mobile channels across a gravel floodplain, 

 Tussock and subalpine scrub dot the foreground.

My only complaint about today's hike is that I had one little gnat that just wouldn't go away.  I call them eyeball gnats because they want to land in your eyes.  They are like a floater.  For you youngsters who have never had a floater, it is a minuscule piece of tissue that breaks off from somewhere. You can see them. They are not harmful, but they are maddening because you keep swatting at them. (And for my LEO friends, yes, I know a floater is also a dead body in the river. I hope you never have to deal with one. It is not pleasant)

I couldn't think of floaters for too long because everywhere I turned was gorgeous.

I just finished listening to Mathew Perry's memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing."  It was a good book to listen to.  He had probably the worse drug and alcohol problem I have ever heard of.  He was taking 1800 MG of oxy (an end-of-life cancer patient is given 30 to 50 MG), drinking a party-size bottle of Vodka (yes, the huge one with the handle), and 55 Vicodins per day.  I tell you this because he had a true God moment/vision that changed his life. 

I cannot look at this stunning scenery and not have a God moment.  I safely drove back to the Wilderness Lodge after a 9-mile mountain day, with peace and good wishes for all my friends and family. AND looking forward to dinner!

Dinner was as good as expected.  We were seated with a young couple from Chicago who were on a covid delayed honeymoon.  We had such a good time that I forgot to take dinner photos.  I started with a mozzarella, basil, and tomato salad, followed by pumpkin ravioli with ratatouille, feta cheese, and walnuts. My dessert was sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and caramel sauce.  Dennis had the same salad, followed by red snapper and a brownie with ice cream for dessert. It did not disappoint.  I waddled back to our room, and I hope to work some of these glorious meals off with hiking.

Until tomorrow - sweet dreams.