It’s Christmas and I suddenly miss the snowfall and the chill winter so much, that’s why this time I would share one of my favorite places for trekking in Queenstown — Lake Alta track.
When you look at the picture, you may think it is in the middle of the winter, but actually, it was springtime.
Even though I did go snowboarding in the Remarkable ski field the whole winter, I never noticed that there is a track on the side of the building that leads to Lake Alta.
Well, not until my friend had a day off and we wondered we should do anything for fun, somewhere that is near the town, it must be short, yet breathtaking and it immediately came to mind — Lake Alta.
It was a gloomy day, there was rain in the forecast, which explained the reason we were the only one on the track.
Despite the spur of the moment, we still dropped by the DOC office to get more information, they did warn us about the rain, but it was still doable, we also grabbed a map just in case.
Lake Alta is a glacial lake in the Remarkables, standing at 1,800 m above sea level. As far as I know, there are two ways to access it. If you have more time and enjoy the change of scenery, I would recommend starting at Wye Creek track, and then following the track to lake Alta which takes 5 to 6 hours one way. However, if you are in short of time and still want to have a great adventure, then take the shortcut like us, starting the track at the Remarkable ski field at the elevation of 1,600 m.
From Queenstown, follow Franston road and then turn right at the roundabout, the road to the Remarkables is quite a scenic ride, with a lot of lookouts that have amazing views over the basin.
We made some stops along the way to admire the stunning vista of the town below, with lake Hayes on the right and Lake Wakatipu on the left. Though it was a long ride, it was all worth it.
Since it was the end of October, the skiing season was over. There were only a few cars in the parking lot.
We started to walk uphill and get to the ski field building. It looked like there were some people in the office.
Following the track behind the building, the track began from here.
As we were walking along the chairlift, the clouds were lifting up, and we could see the sun for a while, everything was shining under the sun, which was quite a treat to the eyes.
Just when it started to get a bit warmer, it got dark again and there were a lot of black clouds coming in, we told each other to brace ourselves for the rain.
At first, we thought it was quite flat, but we realized we were just being tricked by the track that was heavily covered in snow. It was a constant uphill climb, the ice slowed us down a little, but everyone was excited walking on it.
The thought of the coming rain helped us speed up a bit as we did not want to get caught up in the rain.
We did not know that waiting for us was the snowfall. Blowing snow made for poorer visibility as we passed the rocky part.
When we reached the lake, it started to snow heavier but the view was amazing, everything was totally frozen.
We couldn’t see any signs when we were near the lake, I just recognized the mountain behind the lake as it looks similar to the poster.
Approaching the lake was another problem though, the track was blanketed in snow, it must be nearly 1-meter deep.
I felt like I was Elsa in “Frozen” and ready to sing “Let it go”. LOL.
Climbing on the biggest stones, we took a deep breath and tried our best to take in the fresh mountain air, we felt like we were on top of the world, well technically we were almost on top with the Double cone at 2,319 m.
Later, I found out that lake Alta was also known as “Dimrill Dale” in “Lord of the Rings”, so if you are a fan, don’t miss this place if you visit Queenstown.
I would recommend Lake Alta track to anyone visiting Queenstown, especially if you miss the winter and like to see the snow. It took us almost 2 hours for the turnaround and the track was not hard at all.
Short and sweet! That’s what I got for this track.
As I almost daily scroll through Hive, I learn about many different and beautiful travel destinations. And then, my mind and heart asks me visit all of them one by one..haha..:) I wish I could do that also one day! Thanks you for sharing this and your related part of the story, loved it! :):)
It's the same for me browsing Hive every day! dreaming of visiting different places LOL.
but that's the first step isn't it? we dream it and then make it come true.
Thanks for stopping by and happy holidays!
It looks really peacefull..perfect location for hiking❄️
Yes it was, nobody was around, only us on that day.
Thanks for checking it out. 😀
wow i really like the last photo with you and the sun shines on you its really magical!! what a beautiful place to enjoy Queenstown!
Yeah, it was stunning.
we were lucky to capture that moment, it is magical 😍
Đẹp quá c ơi. Trải nghiệm tuyệt vời thật ạ
Yeah, ở mình ít hiếm khi thấy tuyết, nên mùa đông bên đó chị đi chơi tuyết ko à haha
Thats a really amazing shot here. Kind of like Welcome the sun and hello world:
Yeah, I love this one too.
We were able to capture the moment when the sun showed up, then it was covered by the clouds very quickly after that. 😂😂
Luck is part of live and makes situations like these even more valuable if you are able to take advantage of them 👍😀
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Núi ở đây không có cây xanh à chị
uh, núi đá với cỏ bụi, mà tuyết qua ko thấy cỏ đâu hết 😂
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Ren thấy tuyết rứa mà bạn kiểu không hề lạnh 1 tẹo nào luôn á. Thích ghiaaaa. Mà có lạnh lắm k hè. Chứ ở đây mới 16 thôi là teo bu ri rồi. Hihi
lạnh chứ, nhưng mà mặc ấm là được à, cái này mùa xuân nên trên núi còn tuyết thôi, chứ ko lạnh như mùa đông, với lại đi leo núi nên nó cũng ấm người haha
Chắc lạnh khiếp lắm chị nhĩ
uh nhưng mà mặc nhiều lớp với đi một hồi cũng ấm người 😂
với một người không thích mùa đông như em thì sẽ cảm thấy hơi đáng sợ hic hic
haha có thể, người ko thích lạnh sẽ hơi sợ, chứ chị thích thời tiết lạnh lắm 😂
ơ sao nhìn chị mặc quần áo mỏng thía
haha mặc mấy lớp ỏ trong á, quan trọng là mặc nhiều lớp chứ ko phải mặc dày 😁
ở việt nam em mặc 3 4 cái nhiều khi vẫn thấy lạnh hic hic
Có thể ở ngoài Bắc mình lạnh buốt kiểu khác, năm ngoái chị ra đó đúng gió mùa về cũng rét run 😅
Merry Christmas!
What a wonderful Lake during winter...
Thanks 🥰. Actually,it's spring time in New Zealand, but the lake is still frozen though.
Soon, it will be Summer!
C thích leo núi nhưng chưa bjo leo với tuyết như này, sợ lạnh nên toàn leo vào mùa hè. Năm rồi leo Taranaki có tý tẹo tuyết trên đỉnh thôi mà đã lạnh tê tái giữa mùa hè rồi
Haha em tưởng ngưòi thích trượt tuyết ko sợ lạnh 😂
Sợ lắm cô ạ, trượt tuyết thì vui với nóng chảy mỡ luôn. Chứ leo núi tuyết thì vất vả hết hơi đấy.
Công nhận lúc trượt tuyết tượng sưng sướng lắm mà cũng vận động nóng cả người 😆
Ước gì SG cò tuyết rơi chị nhỉ 🤣
haha, SG mà có tuyết chắc mình nguy đến nơi rồi 🤣
Cảnh đẹp quá chị, Snowman cũng thế 😂
cảm ơn em, haha snowman ko tìm thấy gì để làm mắt mũi luôn 🤣
c chụp đẹp quá, nhìn thiên nhiên mà đã mắt, nhiệt độ ở đó là bao nhiêu ạ :o
Cảm ơn em, mùa xuân nên ko lạnh lắm, khoảng 10 độ. Trên núi nên còn tuyết á, chứ ở dưới cũng mát 😀
10 độ nhưng có tuyết á c :o
Ở miền bắc Việt Nam giờ cũg 10 độ c ạ, lạnh run😢
uh năm ngoái chị ra HN đúng lúc gió mùa đầu tháng 1 cũng lạnh teo, nhà có máy sưởi sẽ đỡ hơn, còn ko thì chồng áo ấm vào 😂
huhu ở đây chắc nhà đại gia mới có máy sưởi thôi c, nhà bình thg hay nhà có đkien cũng ko có, ngta không quan tâm cái đó cho lắm.
uh chắc vậy nên mọi người thấy lạnh hơn bình thường dù ở trong nhà, ở mấy nước ôn đới nhà ai cũng có máy sưởi nên nó ko sợ lạnh. 😐
Amazing sceneries and images!
We got to wait for winter here to see much snow, and it is still a long drive to get there :)
Thank you for sharing!
It is amazing indeed.
One thing I love about winter is we can play all the winter sports 😁
Omg 2.319m is so high! Thank you for sharing the amazing views with us! I love the picture with this snowman, its too cute:)
Thanks. Actually, we did not get to the top as we did not have proper gears.
Though the frozen lake is near the top, we're far from experienced hikers to do it.
Yes, it seems really hard to do this. But i think your view was amazing!:)
I think I can't inspire if I stand there 😛
What do you mean by "inspire"?
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Sometimes, last minute improvisations are the most successful ... Let's fully enjoy what nature has to offer :-) Happy New Year
That's so true LOL,happy new year!🙂