“On a Mish” #111 Head in the Clouds (Part Two). Bowen Peak(1631m). Queenstown Area. 4.11.2011. There is no feeling quite like standing on top of a mountain. With the clouds swirling around you, you get a sense of altitude and satisfaction like no other. If you do it for a while it becomes something that you want to do repeatedly. If your head is in or near the clouds, then in my mind you must be having an epic day or maybe be a little bit lost!
I had noticed the cloud cover on the way up the track, but I hadn’t put much thought into it being an issue for me on this mish. I was more concerned with the snow depth, which was impressive considering it was well into spring. The many feet hiking up Ben Lomond had cleared a path up to the Moonlight Saddle but from the saddle I was off track and fighting my way through deep drifts and buried tussock patches.
I wasn’t far from the summit when the world went white. With snow underfoot and now clouds all around me I was a little disorientated, but also determined to get to the top. At one point I realised I must have undercut the top and was now heading down the other side. A quick direction change had me standing on the summit of Bowen Peak with views of the inside of a cloud.
Because I had gone a little bit off track on the way up, I thought decided to point my head in the direction of what I thought was towards the Moonlight Saddle. I expected to come across my steps in the snow and then simply follow them back to the Ben Lomond Track. Somehow, I missed my steps and ended up on the Moonlight Saddle Track, a couple hundred metres down from the saddle on the wrong side!
As I hiked back up to the saddle, I had time to think about the difficulties of hiking off-track with your head (and the rest!) in the clouds. Even though I very close to the hustle and bustle of Queenstown, I was miles away from the safety of population. I had thoughts of what ifs on my way down. A lesson was learned and thankfully it didn’t involve any injuries or me getting completely lost. After getting back up to the saddle I had a downward wander back to the safety of Queenstown and thoughts of the day I got a little bit lost with my head in the clouds…
