The Mueller Hut Route New Zealand

Heading to Mount Cook Village on the South Island of New Zealand to take on the #Mueller_Hut_Trail There are seasonal restrictions from November to April & bookings are required for the Muller Hut as there are only 28 bunks in two separate rooms, large communal kitchen & a huge outdoor deck at a cost of $36.00 per night PP or $15 PP to camp near the Hut with access to the facilities plus you will need to bring your own food, sleeping bags, flashlight & toilet paper

KeyTip; At no cost i did the hike as far as Sealy Tarns ( 500 meters of elevation left to the Mueller Hut) plus i added Hooker Valley Track to my itinerary so got all the views plus no overnight complications
Also VERY IMPORTANT; you need to register what you intend on doing for the day at the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park Visitor Centre.
So sign in & sign out or it may result in a formal search  

 

The Mueller Hut 1800 meter mark (5900 feet) at Sealy Range will provide you a 360 degree panorama view of glaciers, ice cliffs, vertical rock faces & New Zealands highest peaks

The route starts at the White Horse Hill Campsite & a roundtrip is around 10 kms (6 miles) which should take you under 6 hours for an experienced adventurer.
The hike is considered highly challenging with all sorts of rugged terrain, steep inclines & changing weather conditions to navigate.
  But a really rewarding alpine hike because of the views

As we start, the first 20 minutes are on flat wooden boardwalks through the grass & tussocks then it starts inclining up the mountain & you will feel the change immediately

Weather can change quickly here so always bring extra warm clothes, rain jacket, hat, sunscreen, snacks, water and so on......you know, common sense stuff 😀

The route is marked with poles with orange triangles so look for that plus the path is worn so i good indicator until you get near the Mueller Hut ....which is just straight up jajajaja
. Not sure how good the cell coverage is for GPS (alltrails wikiloc) but perhaps this also

Your safety is YOUR responsibility so be prepared
Choose the right route for you plus have the skillset for it & maybe even bring a distress beacon for a level of comfort

Crossing this swing bridge into the Hooker Valley Track
This trail will give you much scenery of mountains, Mueller & Hooker Lakes ( which if the winter months you might see icebergs) & into the valley.

It was a windy day & i now know why they call it a swing bridge 😁

The Glacial River runs into a lake at the base of Hooker Valley
Footing is indeed slippery here & time is needed to take those baby steps

As mentioned you need to be experienced hiker to make this trek so choose which route is best for you

If your going into the mountains, be smart & check the New Zealand Avalanche Advisory plus the weather forecasts before heading out

Aoraki /Mount Cook 

The original Mueller Hut was built in 1914 & used as a shelter to explore the glacier that is nearby,
plus between 1947-1953 two more Mueller Huts were destroyed by avalanches.
 To present times, new construction was completed in 2003 for what we see today

As i make my way back using the orange triangle markers, was having some photograph fun on the swing bridge & the shadows on the rock face