After a night near Wanaka our next hike would take us into Mount Aspiring National Park just to the northwest of Wanaka. We repacked our rucksacks and stopped for an early lunch in Wanaka, enjoying our food on the lakeside beach before heading out towards the trail head.
The road to the trail head winds along the shores of Lake Wanaka before heading into the Matukituki River Valley. Even although we had driven this route several times, it is always beautiful and in early summer the valley was a brilliant shade of green. After fording a couple of streams we arrived at the car park and started our hike up the valley.
The trail follows the Matukituki River, the clear water of the river was a beautiful turquoise in the bright sunlight. After a short distance the valley started to open up again, we walked through fields of cattle, and of course sheep as we made our way up the valley.
We passed the Rob Roy Valley where we had walked previously, and were able to enjoy the view up towards the glacier. The snow on the Rob Roy Glacier seemed the shine in the early summer sun, which bode well for the bigger glaciers we were hoping to catch a glimpse of later in our trip.
For much of our hike to Aspiring hut the track followed the river bed, making for a gentle climb up into the upper valley. At one point we climbed away from the river, and from the small rise we had great views up the valley towards the mountains of the Snowdrift Range in the distance.
The hill also gave us a good view of the lower valley that we had walked along.
Continuing on we left the farmland behind us and after crossing through a marshy field of long grass the stone building of Aspiring Hut came into view. We dropped our packs in the hut, happy to have managed to get two mattresses in a separate loft in the bunk room.
After getting settled we decided to head down to the river to look for fish and cool our feet in the river before dinner.
The water was far too cold for paddling, but sitting on the warm stones by the waters edge was the perfect place to enjoy the views and watch the clouds moving over the peaks higher up the valley. We eventually returned to the hut for a quick dinner and an early night ready for our hike up to Cascade Saddle the next morning.