Mount Ben-Lomond, Queenstown

The Hike

Last time I was in Queenstown, I went to the Skyline Luge and rode the go-carts, but since I had just returned from the Milford Sound Hike, there was no apetite to venture further.

This time, we gave it a try. Not really “on purpose” as we weren’t quite sure what was up on the Skyline (and I didn’t plan overly well), but we went up for a few rounds of luge-ing in our hiking gear and once we found the trail head, we decided to give it a crack and see how far we’d get.

Turns out - quite far!

We both went up to the saddle, but from there I did a 1h sprint up to the peak and down again by myself as the track gets significantly harder (scrambling, snow, mud, narrow paths) after the saddle.

But even up to the saddle, the views were stunning - very much reminded me of the beauty I saw on the Milford Sound hike. I guess it figures - Fiordlands is right next to Queenstown - same sorta area - dooh.

High Points

The views were amazing. Going up all the way to the summit, the scrambling and snow-hiking really added a nice challenge to things. But probably the best thing of all is coming down all the way, looking up the mountain and thinking “just an hour ago, I was all the way up there”.

Low Points

It is exhausting. All in all, the hike is only 5KM each direction, but goes up continously. Panting & sweating galore!