This voice is the fifth member of our entourage, present whenever I feel inferior, but especially vocal on the trail, if I feel I’m holding others back.įrom everything I’ve heard, this hike will be among the hardest I’ve done in my life, with long distances, lots of elevation change, and treacherous off-trail terrain. We’ll see what you’re saying when it’s dark and I’m still trying to climb this jungle. “Happens to the best of us,” agrees her husband Matt, 41. “You’ve got this!” says Agnes Hage, 31, one of the photogs. Pride? Deteriorating fast.īehind me, my companions-an ultrafit pair of American adventure photographers and a sharp-faced Kiwi acting as our unofficial guide-deliver the requisite encouragement. I thud backward, dislodging an extra rain shower from the dripping foliage and a whiff of something like rotten cabbage.

I misjudge a step, slip on a wet root, and my feet shoot forward, friction-free and fast. A cloud of ferns closes in around my knees, obscuring the “trail” beneath. We are hiking an hour outside of Hokitika, on New Zealand’s famed West Coast, when the vertical jungle slams me on my ass. Ivory Lake Hut’s charm’s include 360 degrees of rugged mountain views (photo: Hagephoto) (photo: Hagephoto)Īndrew Buglass demonstrates Kiwi water filtration technique. Cook hangs in the distance from the Dickey Ridge traverse. Senior Editor Rachel Zurer scrambles up gray, cornflake rock on New Zealand’s Dickey Ridge. Mist rolls in on New Zealand’s Dickey Ridge.Ī trio of waterfalls greets hikers as they approach the cliffs below Ivory Lake. The Best Hut in the World (photo: Hagephoto)Ĭlimbing the vertical jungle up New Zealand’s Dickey Spur. Receive $50 off an eligible $100 purchase at the Outside Shop, where you'll find gear for all your adventures outdoors.

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