Kepler Track 2.

If you haven't started at Day 1, go back to the beginning on this blog.

Day 2 of our walk again dawned fine. In these huts there is always someone waking up earlier. I took the opportunity to get up before sunrise and go walkabout with the camera. 

Fog filling the Te Anau Basin.

Before sunrise 

After taking the above shot I moved around the track get the sun rising above a distant range of mountains. Then returned to the same spot a few minutes later.

Sunrise.

The star burst effect here is achieved by shutting the aperture down. You couldn't take a photos like this on a cellphone. ( Shot details: ISO 100, focal length 15mm, f/22, ¹/₄₀ s with exposure compensation of -1 ²/₃.) This is the shot of about 10 I took in order to get this exposure here.

A few minutes after sunrise.

Luxmore Hut in the golden light after sunrise.

Leaving the Luxmore hut at 0950hrs the track climbs steadily towards Mt Luxmore where a short side trip leads to the summit. This takes about an hour and a rise in elevation of about 400m.

The track from Luxmore Hut around the side the mountain

Leaving Ian an kea watch, the summit is only a 10 minute scramble to the summit at 1472m. (Keas are very inquisitive and adept at using their sharp beaks to attack packs and pull items out and spread them around given the chance.) No keas were around. The hut wardens warn trampers to look out for keas and what they are capable of doing.

The last view of Te Anau from the top of Mt Luxmore.

A great 360° panorama on a fine day is breath taking. Well worth lugging my DSLR with me.

The track leads along the tops to a good lunch stop at Forest Burn shelter. Plenty of photo stops on the away too.

Ian taking a breather at the emergency shelter before were had lunch.

From here the track goes along several ridges for a few kilometres before reaching the Hanging Valley Emergency shelter.

Ridge line track

The last view of the South Arm of Lake Te Anau before the descent
down to the next hut.

From the Hanging Valley shelter the track plunges down a series of steep steps and ankle twisting loose rocks, if you are not careful. Walking poles came into their own here and are highly recommended.

The hanging valley.

A steep descent down to Iris Burn. Lake Manapouri top left.

Once in the bush, the bird song came back. More about the bird life in the next blog. 

Iris Burn Hut.

The hut was a welcome site after a very hard day. We arrived nearly 8 hours after Luxmore Hut. We were told that kiwi are most likely to be found here and that you could easily spot them after dark. I was so tired after a strenuous day that I didn't go kiwi spotting. Those who did, saw none! I did hear the call of the kiwi though, albeit some distance away.

Return to the start of the trip on Day 1.

Day 3 here now.