Helicopter ride

The third day of the Milford track is the big uphill and downhill day.  It's the day that everyone hikes for two hours up to the Mackinnon pass then another five hours to Dumpling Hut.  For our group, all that uphill would take 30 seconds.  Due to the warm rain in the area, the avalanche risk was too high to allow us to hike up the trail and instead, we got a sweet helicopter ride.

The helicopter ride didn't take place until 11:30 in the morning and everyone was up on the high part of the pass by noon (there were 26 of us and one six seat helicopter).  There is no helicopter landing pad on the pass, so the pilot dropped us off on a grassy knoll.  All of our hiking packs came last held in a net hanging from the helicopter.

 On the pass is Mackinnon shelter, a lunch shelter for the hikers, and our refuge from the high winds and rain on the pass.

On the other side of the pass is five long hours of continual downhill.  Due to the high avalanche risk, we had to take the emergency path which doesn't cross over any avalanche paths but heads down the mountain at a steeper grade.  It was a slow grueling day.  At several parts we walked down a small waterfall or through streams that crossed through the path.

Around 4 pm we reached a day hut to put down our packs and to hike a side path to Sutherland falls, the highest waterfall in New Zealand.  This path led to the bottom of the waterfall where we could and did stand underneath the roaring falls.  It was incredible.

The waterfall is 580 meters high

Back to the hut and another hour along the path, we reached the final hut.  After changing out of our wet clothes, we made dinner, listened to the ranger give his hut talk, and hung out around the wood stove with some of the Aussies and Kiwis before heading to bed.