VictoriaMarch 19
Roy’s Peak hike was a 10-mile combo of Day 3 of the Milford Track and Day 3 of the Queen Charlotte Trek, all rolled into an excruciating 4-hour climb, with an extra few thousand feet of elevation gain thrown in for good measure.
We arrived to a car park that was almost full. Many people hike to Roy’s Peak to see the sunrise, donning head lamps to navigate the trail in the dark. We chose to sleep in late, until 6:15 a.m., and started the hike just as the sun was rising an hour later.
We huffed and puffed and slogged for 3 hours up a zig zag track through alpine meadow and tussock grassland. I needed a Leslie jetpack or whatever superhuman energy my friend seems to possess. I settled for a power bar and an electrolyte drink for fuel to keep me going.
We finally reached Roy’s Peak lookout, which I thought was the summit. Nope. This was just the famous Instagram spot where everyone takes that iconic photo, thus making Roy’s Peak the most Instagrammable hike in NZ.
To see the peak of Mt. Aspiring and get full pano views, well that was another steep mile up.
Nope! Not for me. The clouds had rolled in and I was worried that the views would be obstructed.
Mitch took one for the team and carried on while I waited and ate my sandwich and took in the amazing views of Lake Wānaka and the the surroundings below. I watched fearless paragliders jump off the side of the mountains in front of me and glide down in the wind.
The clouds began to clear and I started the descent before Mitch arrived back from the summit because it was starting to get cold. The descent was way easier than the climb, but very hard on my knees. It took another two hours and I was never so happy to see a car park as I was at that moment.
Total elevation gain for me: 3,275 ft. A total of 8.2 miles.
For Mitch, he went the distance at 10.2 miles and a 4,200 feet elevation gain.
He said it was the hardest climb he’s ever done, but the views at the top were worth the pain to get there. It’s hard to believe these pictures are even real.
Mitch went out on the ledge of the cliff where others were also taking photos and asked another traveler to grab those shots. Straight drops down on either side. He said he was a bit nervous to go out there — twice because the guy taking his photo didn’t get the pano shot, so Mitch had to do a take 2.
For him, he felt it was even harder to hike down and the last two miles were brutally painful on his knees, even with the brace he was wearing for extra support.
He also caught this video of a paraglider jumping off the cliff.
Thanks to AllTrails, we have a cool animation of our hike.
After a good stretch, a long, hot shower and a glass of wine (or 2), we were feeling a little better. Roy’s Peak was definitely the hardest hike either of us have ever done.
We took a power nap and then headed out for dinner at Kika, a highly recommended restaurant. We ordered a bunch of tapas style dishes and they were excellent.
During the meal, a gentleman from a nearby table stopped over to inquire about what we had ordered. Turns out he and his wife are from Colorado and live about 20 minutes from us. Small world!
We headed back to our Airbnb to get ready for tomorrow’s excursion on Lake Wānaka to Mou Waho Island.
