A HAPPY HOUR HIKE

IT’S 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE… AND THAT MEANS IT’S ADVENTURE TIME

Defeat the Monday Blues

The thing about living in towns like Whistler, Wanaka and Innsbruck is that there’s no shortage of adventurous souls. Everyone you meet has come to these places for the same reason – to live outside their comfort zones, to challenge themselves to great physical feats, to live the life that everyone else dreams of having. Often, lifestyle comes first for these rare individuals and so nightlife employment becomes the obvious means of paying rent. To say that you work a 9-5 in the outdoor havens is almost blasphemous – how dare you give up the prime hours of the day to sit in an office?! Well, sometimes the death of daylight is when the sky looks most alive. Myself and two of my day-job cohorts set out to prove that the Monday Blues don’t mean shit in the mountains and took off from work at the stroke of 5pm for an evening hike up Corner Peak, just outside of Wanaka, NZ. The idea was to get to the top for some epic sunset views and we were not left wanting.

Ascent

The Corner Peak ascent starts about two kilometres down a dirt road. The trickery of this trail is that it lulls you into a leisurely mindset. The road is easy and climbs at a generous pace, until you hit the beginning of the real climb – from here, it’s straight up for about two hours, during which time we gained about 1100 metres.     It was a slog. Our calves screamed at us to stop and jovial conversation eventually gave way to heavy breathing and an inner monologue that chanted “almost there, almost there”. The trail was marked by bright orange poles that dotted the mountainside – a constant reminder of how far we actually had left to go. However, they also served as a checkpoint; a place where we would reconvene and rest, exchange a few words and take in the view. I came to both love and hate those bright orange poles.     However, the view did serve as a constant source of adrenaline. You can begin to understand why people climb mountains; there’s an addiction that comes with the rush you get of being above it all. I kept looking back, finding it hard to believe that the view was real and it helped me to press on – I was eager to see the big reveal at the top.    

The Big Reveal

We were about 100m from the summit when the sun began to slice into the valley below us, creating a warm, heavenly glow. We knew that if we didn’t make a rush for the top, we would miss the best light of the day and so we sprinted the final push. Absolutely puffed, we finally summited the ridgeline and were stopped dead in our tracks. It was jaw-dropping gorgeous.     Now I’m a firm believer that no evening hike is complete without snacks, so we scrambled to the top of a craggy rock and watched the sun go down with ciders and a selection of trail goodies in hand. The sunset gave new meaning to the phrase “the show must go on” and seemed to never end – as the sun ducked below the peaks, brilliant colours continued to flair.

Down, down, down

As if on cue, our previously sweat-soaked tees dried over the short course of snacktime and when the sun was under the cover of darkness, we learned the importance of versatile clothing on an evening hike; the air had become frigid. Our jackets went on and the tees took on the role of baselayers. We kitted ourselves out with hats and headlamps and began the slow descent down the mountain, still in disbelief at the incredible show we had just been privy to.     We arrived back at the trailhead at the stroke of midnight. There was a moment with all of us standing around the car when someone said “I can’t believe we spent eight hours working and then climbed a mountain in a day.” In truth, it felt like my morning coffee at my desk that day had been a week ago. But there’s a beautiful, exhausted contentment that comes with getting the absolute most out of a day and it goes to show that a 9-5 is only as limiting as you let it.   Written by: Jessie Byrne Photos: Colm Keating  

SHOP THE STORY >>>

  Huxley Hike T – $100.00 Estelle Relaxed LS – $120.00 Estelle Cap Tee – $100.00 The Birkby 2.0 – $50.00