“On a Mish” #201 The Best Way to Start to a New Year (Part Two). Borland Saddle / Mt Burns Tarns. Fiordland National Park. 1.1.2016. Waking up in the wilderness gives you a feeling like no other. The fresh air and bird song is at its best, and you feel like the luckiest person alive. The normal morning routine will be replaced with nature’s blessings, and a sense of peace brought on by simply being in the outdoors. If you combine all of this with New Years Eve, then you have the recipe for the best start to a new year possible…
I got to the edge of the forest and began to gather wood for the last campfire of 2015. After stocking up I returned to my camp with a bounty of burnable materials, and I was set for the rest of the year. The billy was fired up and, after cooking up a feed, I had a solo toast to a year that had provided plenty of adventure, and a ton of experience.
While I sat by my fire on a soft patch of tussock having a cheeky whiskey, I watched the sun retreat behind the uplifted Fiordland land for the last time before it was time to open a new calendar. This was the perfect way to end a year and soon it would be the best way to start a new one. But before then it was time to retreat to the warmth of my sleeping bag.
Early-ish the next morning I was up and on the move through dew-covered tussock with the plan to get to an unnamed peak east of my camp. Starting the New Year in an epic spot is one thing, but adding in an adventure to the top of a Fiordland Mountain is about as good a way to start the year as possible. Hello 2016!
The mountain I was aiming for (Peak 1528m) stood tallest on a ridge that eventually ended up down by Lake Monowai. The going was easy at first, but then got increasingly more difficult as I went. At one point the ridge narrowed to a single knife edge slab of rock. I had to shimmy my way along it with a leg on either side. A tumble here would be your last and it would be an abrupt end to 2016. After the exposed section I got onto easier ground, and then the summit.
With the year only 8 hours old, I had already bagged a Fiordland Peak. The view was magic, made even better by the fact that the clouds had the day off. To the east I could see a tiny bit of the Southland Plains, and then by swinging around to the south I could see a distant Hump Ridge. Everywhere else was endless peaks of perfection with no sign of mankind. I had achieved everything I had set out to do, apart from getting my self back to camp and then back to Tuatapere, and an afternoon shift in the Humpridge Track Office.
My return journey back along the ridge went without incident, although the narrow section seemed a little bit tricky without the draw of getting to the summit pushing me on. A couple of scratches on my legs later I was on my way, and then back at my campsite which thankfully the local Kea had left alone. My damp tent was packed up in a jiffy, and with that my New Year’s Camp was almost over.
On my way back down, I bumped into a hiker who had had the same idea of starting the new year off with a mish into Fiordland. After a chat about how awesome Fiordland is and how smart we both were to be seeing it at this time of the day, and of course this time of the year, we parted ways. I wasn’t far from my car, so I really took my time and took in as many breaths of Fiordland air as possible. This was truly the best way to start the new year and I highly recommend a Fiordland New Year’s mish to anyone who loves waking up to a spectacular remoteness like no other…
