Reflections on Welcome Flat Hut
June 4th, 2009
Last weekend I had the opportunity to hike the Copland Track and stay near the Welcome Flat Hut. I’m so grateful to Ryan and Elizabeth for inviting me to come along.
It was a bit of a drive, and then a bit of a walk off Hwy 6.
I had such an awesome time. My legs are still recovering from all that fun.
I’ve been on several back country canoe trips. But this was my first back country hiking trip. Whoa. I missed my paddle and seat in the stern.
A list of thoughts and reoccurring jokes, numbered but in no peculiar order.
- Always be prepared. (So glad we had tents and bed rolls.)
- First come first served: Cabin sleeps 31. There were 76(-ish) our first night. Guess who slept outside.
- Tabarnouche! Tabarouette!
- Pack envy is like the opposite of penis envy. “Look how small his package is! I’m so jealous.”
- 17 km is one hell of a portage. (Fortunately, canoe is optional.)
- “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with “w”
- Men have landed on the moon more than once.
- The plane took off! (Set-up) (Pay-off)
- Stopped at Hoki Vegas for kūmara chops, on the way to Christ Vegas.
- “We don’t need to stop. My bladder is an iron fortress.”
“Really?”
“No. It’s a sand castle. Please stop.” - The dangling rhetorical modifier “something as” can generally be resolved with “sliced bread”
- A toiletry kit consisting of “toothbrush, toothpaste” is easily lost
- Know where your toothbrush is, it may preserve your sanity
- Check your car for “fan tail” birds
- My gluteus maximus is lazy and does not support my knees
- To squeeze your butt more when you walk: swing those hips!
- (Which looks dandy in ladies pants.)
- I don’t like the drugs, but the drugs like me. (the anti-inflammatory variety)
- You need not carry litres of water if every stream you cross is potable.
- Camel backs, securely affixed, are not useful for sipping from a stream. (Maybe just the straw part….)
- I am very impressed by anyone who can recite Lewis Caroll’s jabberwocky by memory.
- Delicious powdered mashed potatoes are possible. (It helps to use goat feta, salami and herb spices.)
- When your body wakes you up to tell you something, you should just take care of it quickly. (For example: “Go pee,” or “You’re cold.”) You will not sleep well enough to justify ignoring whatever your body woke you up about.
- Crazy 8’s and we’ll identify the rules as the cards appear and get played.
- There was a great big moose.
- I miss the promise of a camp fire, inherent in any Canadian camping trip. No fire = the damp cool I’ve come to associate with New Zealand winter.
- A sing-along will restore your soul. Maybe not the souls of hikers over-taking you on the trail.
- There is a time and a place to suck hard on a vanilla tea bag. (Brings new meaning to the verb “teabag,” but don’t tell her I said that.)
- It was a cracker of a day.
- Be nice to the hut warden. He might just be a volunteer, home-sick American who has only been on the job 5 nights.
- This is a leaf of the poopooa fern. It is only ever found lying on the ground, in a wet semi-decayed state.
- There is no place so remote you might not run into someone who grew up near you. Steven from Georgetown, ON, it was nice to meet you.
- Consider wind and tree shelter before you pitch your tent.
- Keep your head above water, unless you like the sound of amoebic meningitis.
- Seeing someone with a 40 of Canadian Club made me a little home-sick.
- There are those who avoid suspension bridges. I take solid construction for granted.
- When you are certain you dropped something further back on the trail, check first to see if your backpack caught it
- When staying at a holiday park, a midnight trip to the loo should include bringing the key to the room.
- Do not begrudge the photographer, you’ll be grateful for pictures later.
- Photo ops decrease as the sun sets.
- Hiking in the dark is fine, but not ideal when you’ve already been hiking all day.
- I’m not as young and spry as I used to be.
- When the gimp takes a head start and sets the pace, he should move like he’s still trying to catch up.
- Found sunglasses + staff + camera – warm clothes = impromptu silliness.
- Do not yell back, “Car,” when all you see is “the bridge the car drove across.” It might be a damn large bridge, visible from a great distance.
- Joseph Campbell would love that 100m from the car park, the trail leads through a wide, icy river, knee high deep. The adventure begins.
- Naturally, the river was also the final obstacle before returning home to cars and iPods.
- I have an aversion to walking through mud. I will always look for away around, even though I know I’m going to have to wade through a river in the next hour.
- I take for granted that the car will start.
- I’d do it again. But I would aim for during the week, as opposed to a holiday weekend.
I’ve posted several pictures to a Picasa web album.
[I have yet to completely grok the WordPress gallery and bend it to my desires. In the meantime, I'll share them with Google. Why not give more of my life's content to my friends at the GOOG?]
Tags: camping, hiking, New Zealand
Posted in Spotlight | Comments (5)
June 5th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Woah !! Sugoi photos !!!!
but man, that frosty window …. eeeeek.
takes me back to memories of camping in yoho in august. yes its still cold in canada all the time. in fact they think we might get snow in calgary today or tomorrow. go calgary go !!!
miss ya buddy.
June 13th, 2009 at 6:31 am
… and #51: “Do you concur?” “I concur.” “Damn, why didn’t I concur?”
June 13th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I most certainly concur!
June 16th, 2009 at 12:01 am
#52: Someone, (not me) learned that a sleeping bag will not contain fart stench.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:32 am
All I could think in seeing the second photo of you with the glasses, stick and mountains in the background is “Joel is a rock star camper!” and then actual laughing out loud… Soon there will be Canadian camp fire camping! SOOOOON!