Friday 11th January, 2019.
After yesterday’s early morning rain we were determined to get up early and get some clear skies so that we could hike Roy’s peak. 330AM our alarms went off to no sound of rain, only stars in the sky, winner!
Eagerly awake and ready for the hike ahead to got up, caffeinated, dressed and ready to rock…
…only to find we were locked in the campsite!
Genuinely couldn’t believe that gates were locked and we could get out, it just wasn’t meant to be.
Annoyed, we camped out in front of the gates and went to sleep until someone came in to unlock them and start work. About an hour later someone else came behind us ready to leave and guess what?
They approached the gate and just lifted the padlock. Turns out I hadn’t tried to lift it at 345AM and just assumed we were locked in. Embarrassed and now even more annoyed we headed for the start of the trail an hour and 15 minutes later than we wanted.
The car park already had 30+ cars in it which is why we wanted to beat the crowds and get there early, doh!
This hike is one of the hardest hikes I’ve ever done. A relentless dirt track that just never seemed to end. About 2 hours in and after water the sun rise and the sun rays peak through the clouds we started to pass people walking down back to their cars.
Turns out we had timed it perfectly. People had hiked for sunrise and already started to make their way back down before we had summit, result!
After about a 3 hour slog of walk, stop, cry, scratch a bite, cry, walk we made it to the summit to see an incredible 360 panorama of snow capped mountains, beautiful lakes and more mountains.
The descent was just as bad as the ascent. Gruelling on the knees but we made it down in a couple of hours and just before the sun was at its highest and strongest.
Unfortunately I think we both managed a little bit of heatstroke and dehydration in the process and it wiped us out for the rest of the day.
Roy’s peak, you were beautiful, but my god you were difficult!