Mount Aicken & Devils Punchbowl Waterfall

Hello everyone,

Just before I head further inland, I'm telling you about my first tour with Fridolin and a hike that was one of the most challenging I've done so far. This will also probably be one of the last posts for the next few days, as I'm not sure how my internet situation will develop in the next few days. Thanks to Fridolin, electricity isn't a problem, as I have a solar cell with a second car battery, but unfortunately I don't have unlimited data on my phone, and I don't know what the internet situation is like in the surrounding regions.

I set off relatively early for my tour to Arthurs Pass National Park. The weather was rather bad but the weather forecast said that the clouds would clear up after the morning - and that's exactly what happened.

When I arrived at the car park, I gathered my 7 things together and set off full of motivation. The route I chose was my first option and was definitely the more difficult and longer route to get a nice view. However, it is not as touristy and the descriptions from hikers on the internet were a bit more appealing to me than the alternative route to Avalanche Peak. This is directly opposite the waterfall and is supposed to look down on it the entire way. Since I definitely wanted to see the waterfall up close, I decided to walk the Mt Aicken Track and then look at the waterfall up close.

The track to the waterfall runs directly through a kiwi area - unfortunately I didn't see a kiwi or a kea.

The track was pretty steep and the path was interspersed with loose but large stones, which sometimes made walking a little difficult because they were large but not firmly anchored in the ground. I also found a cave in the middle of the track. I didn't quite dare to go in, but I did peek in a little.

From a certain height I could also see the feeder streams to the waterfall and watch how the water runs down from the peaks to the waterfall - pretty cool. I was able to enjoy the view from a real viewing platform made of stone. I also tried to take a nice picture here, but failed. After the tree line the markings stopped and I followed the pre-stamped path or the previously built cairns.

The first snow was already on the higher peaks and one of the peaks was covered in clouds the entire way. Really epic, I thought. After the next few meters of elevation through grass and low-growing terrain, the path turned into a very steep gravel path.

After the gravel part, the path then turned into a rock climb on a ridge. This was really my most challenging tour to date, but I was thrilled and really enjoyed the next few meters of altitude.

I also discovered snow and a very pretty plant on my way, which is certainly somehow related to our edelweiss.

And after 3.5 hours I made it! Well, almost - the summit of Mount Aicken can be seen in the background. I only walked to the first summit because I ran out of time and started too late to actually walk to the summit. However, this is just as high as the peak I was currently standing on and so I honestly didn't care that it wasn't the summit because the view from here was just amazing!

Then we went back down the whole way and I definitely wanted to see the waterfall up close. I only met two people on the whole way. I was very, very happy to have taken this route.

The view from the platform was OK, but I definitely wanted to see the waterfall up close, so I climbed over the parapet and hiked a little cross-country to the waterfall. I have to admit that these few meters of elevation took a toll on my thighs, even if they weren't that much.

Up there I met a few other rascals and a nice English lady took a few photos of me in front of the waterfall.

What a fantastic trip. And Fridolin-Christopher was still fine when I returned. I then chatted to a local because I really wanted to pet his doggo and that was a really wonderful end to a really great adventure!

With that in mind, stay wild my loves!!!

Feel hugged,
Your Britta