The Milford
We hear the helicopter approaching up the valley, and Blake, standing next to me in an orange rain parka, puts his arms up in a V. This is the signal for "we need you"; CT and I learned that studying the guidebooks, but little did we think we would see it used.
We are on Day 3 of the Milford Track. We have ascended the Clinton River valley, crossed the McKinnon pass, and are halfway down the other side. At my feet is M, another tramper from our party. He is in shock. I'm pretty certain he is having a dissecting thoracic aneurysm, and his chances of survival are small. But he is still alive now 2 hours after it started, so maybe he has a chance. So far, our medical intervention has been to keep him head down, and as warm and dry as possible, and to keep other well meaning folks from giving him aspirin. Aspirn would be just right if he is having a heart attack, but potentially fatal if he is indeed dissecting. It's a tough call.
As warm and dry as possible... The first two days of the tramp were sunny and warm. Yesterday evening as we arrived at the Mintaro hut, it began to rain. It hasn't stopped , nor is it expected to. By the time we get to Sandfly Point on Milford Sound, late afternoon tomorrow, it will have rained on us between 16 and 20 inches. Not terribly unusual for a place that has been known to get more up to 9.3 meters (over 30 feet) of precipitation a year. We've already experience more than we get at home in a year. M went down on the trail, after a particularly vexing part of the trail - a detour necessitated by a washout caused by the HEAVY rain of 6 days ago. The detour actually follows a kind of stair step stream bed. When we came down it, the water was mid calf deep. Now it is upper calf. We moved M off the "trail" where he dropped, but the water has risen enough that we have others working on diverting the water upstream to keep him above water level.
Up til now the tramp has been fantastic, an in the end, will be one of if not the most amazing hikes we've ever taken. The Clinton valley was beautiful, and the Arthur valley where we are now is spectacular. It is indeed the land of the vertical. Very steep valley walls rise thousands of feet above us, and are festooned with waterfalls. I love waterfalls, and will often travel out of my way to see one, but by the time this hike is over I will have increased my lifetime waterfall viewing experience (volume of flow times distance of fall) by one or possibly two orders of magnitude. The Beech forests are fantastic, fern and moss encrusted. The rivers are amazing.
Night three we will spend in Dumpling Hut. In the morning, the ranger will hold up back from starting down the trail for an hour to let the water on the trail receed. The DOC (New Zealand Department of Conservation) which runs the trail and hut system is very careful about hiker safety, and they will helicopter hikers out or over a flooded trail if things get too bad. Too bad, as best we can tell, means flowing water over knee deep or still water over waist deep.
The hike is strictly controlled. Forty hikers a day start the tramp. It is by reservation only and we made ours at almost the last opportunity - about 8 or 9 months ago. Trampers move to each of the 3 huts together on schedule. We dont hike together, but everyone ends up at the hut together each night. So you get to know almost everyone in the group. There are good bunks with cushy mattresses, good cooking and washing facilities, toilets, at each hut. Wood stoves provide heat, and some clothes drying. But by the end of the third day we are all soaked no matter what our gear, and we start the last day at least damp. But tho we are wet, we are still warm.
Because of the delayed start on the last day, we have push consistently to get to the dock in time to meet our boat. But we make it with 20 minutes to spare. Enough time to change into some dry clothes we have saved for this moment, since there is still a half hour boat ride and a two hour bus ride before we are back in our room.
Back at the helicopter pickup, the chopper arrived with a several personnel including a fully equipped experienced Paramedic and a stretcher. Unfortunately, given the terrain and M's location, the pilot had to land uphill so then it was necessary to carry him in the stretcher back up the swollen creek bed to the helicopter. Later we will learn that M made it to the medical center in Dunedin and made it through the necessary life-saving surgery. Whew..
We are on Day 3 of the Milford Track. We have ascended the Clinton River valley, crossed the McKinnon pass, and are halfway down the other side. At my feet is M, another tramper from our party. He is in shock. I'm pretty certain he is having a dissecting thoracic aneurysm, and his chances of survival are small. But he is still alive now 2 hours after it started, so maybe he has a chance. So far, our medical intervention has been to keep him head down, and as warm and dry as possible, and to keep other well meaning folks from giving him aspirin. Aspirn would be just right if he is having a heart attack, but potentially fatal if he is indeed dissecting. It's a tough call.
As warm and dry as possible... The first two days of the tramp were sunny and warm. Yesterday evening as we arrived at the Mintaro hut, it began to rain. It hasn't stopped , nor is it expected to. By the time we get to Sandfly Point on Milford Sound, late afternoon tomorrow, it will have rained on us between 16 and 20 inches. Not terribly unusual for a place that has been known to get more up to 9.3 meters (over 30 feet) of precipitation a year. We've already experience more than we get at home in a year. M went down on the trail, after a particularly vexing part of the trail - a detour necessitated by a washout caused by the HEAVY rain of 6 days ago. The detour actually follows a kind of stair step stream bed. When we came down it, the water was mid calf deep. Now it is upper calf. We moved M off the "trail" where he dropped, but the water has risen enough that we have others working on diverting the water upstream to keep him above water level.
Up til now the tramp has been fantastic, an in the end, will be one of if not the most amazing hikes we've ever taken. The Clinton valley was beautiful, and the Arthur valley where we are now is spectacular. It is indeed the land of the vertical. Very steep valley walls rise thousands of feet above us, and are festooned with waterfalls. I love waterfalls, and will often travel out of my way to see one, but by the time this hike is over I will have increased my lifetime waterfall viewing experience (volume of flow times distance of fall) by one or possibly two orders of magnitude. The Beech forests are fantastic, fern and moss encrusted. The rivers are amazing.
Night three we will spend in Dumpling Hut. In the morning, the ranger will hold up back from starting down the trail for an hour to let the water on the trail receed. The DOC (New Zealand Department of Conservation) which runs the trail and hut system is very careful about hiker safety, and they will helicopter hikers out or over a flooded trail if things get too bad. Too bad, as best we can tell, means flowing water over knee deep or still water over waist deep.
The hike is strictly controlled. Forty hikers a day start the tramp. It is by reservation only and we made ours at almost the last opportunity - about 8 or 9 months ago. Trampers move to each of the 3 huts together on schedule. We dont hike together, but everyone ends up at the hut together each night. So you get to know almost everyone in the group. There are good bunks with cushy mattresses, good cooking and washing facilities, toilets, at each hut. Wood stoves provide heat, and some clothes drying. But by the end of the third day we are all soaked no matter what our gear, and we start the last day at least damp. But tho we are wet, we are still warm.
Because of the delayed start on the last day, we have push consistently to get to the dock in time to meet our boat. But we make it with 20 minutes to spare. Enough time to change into some dry clothes we have saved for this moment, since there is still a half hour boat ride and a two hour bus ride before we are back in our room.
Back at the helicopter pickup, the chopper arrived with a several personnel including a fully equipped experienced Paramedic and a stretcher. Unfortunately, given the terrain and M's location, the pilot had to land uphill so then it was necessary to carry him in the stretcher back up the swollen creek bed to the helicopter. Later we will learn that M made it to the medical center in Dunedin and made it through the necessary life-saving surgery. Whew..
posted by Axolotl at 11:58 PM
4 Comments:
Oh my God. I read Fernne the first paragraph on the plane, and then they made me shut opff my iphone. So if I was incredibly relieved to day when I got the rest of the story from Walter and then Sarah.
It's considerably less exciting here in Wewoka, thank God, though we did a white knuckle crossing of Vale pass in a snow storm yesterday on our way to the airport in Denver./
Wow - I'm so impressed that you were able to help him. That sounds like a harrowing adventure and I'm so relieved that everyone survived. I'm also incredibly proud of you two! I'm sure there are many more adventures you are having that you don't have time to write about, but I look forward to hearing them when you get home. Love to you both!
Awesome! Personally I'm most excited about "Dumpling Hut" but the rest of it sounds fantastical too.
Yes! How do you Not crave hot dumplings after a wet day of hiking to the Dumpling Hut??
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