Mueller Hut is a popular overnight trip in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park that gives you amazing 360º views over Hooker Valley towards Aoraki, and across to the icefall on Mt Sefton. Falling asleep in the hut (or tent) to the sound of summer avalanches on the other side of the valley is certainly an experience you won’t forget.
Length: 5.2km one-way (but don’t be deceived, that includes about a 1,000m climb)
Time taken: overnight tramp to Mueller Hut, 4-5 hours up & 3 hours down. Although crazy fit people who like to punish themselves can do it in a day.
Difficulty: there is a very well-made track with steps to the half-way point at Sealy Tarns (between 1,800 and 2,200 – accounts differ). Then a route with markers up the boulder and scree fields to Mueller Hut.
In late summer (my trip was early February) this is a steep but relatively easy route with little snow (dependent on the year and weather conditions). However at other times of the year, or with adverse weather conditions, you would definitely need alpine experience (e.g self-arrest with an ice axe or good route finding skills) to go further than Sealy Tarns.
Facilities: 28-bunk hut, bookings are essential over summer season, $36 per person. In season Mueller Hut has: gas for cooking, lighting, mattress (bunk beds in multiple rooms), tap water, and two long-drop toilets separate from the hut. Tenting sites are also available, without bookings, but only for those who don’t mind very rocky ground & wind. Or who really want that perfect Instagram photo and don’t care about a good night’s sleep.
Cue: Training Montage for Mueller Hut
My 2016 started off with a message from my friend, Grace, saying “Happy New Years Alice! Soooo Mueller hut … ?” It had been a trip that we’d been wanting to do for a while, but we’d always been a bit cautious about attempting. The route above Sealy Tarns can be precarious if the conditions are poor or deteriorate, even in the summer months. Some of Grace’s friends who had done it recently said that the snow was melting – we were a go! There were only two free spots when I booked the last weekend in January a few weeks in advance. My advice would be to get in early!
I’d researched the tramp quite a bit with Grace and had heard about it from others. I knew that I was in for an uphill journey with many, many stairs (thanks Libby & Ariel!). However I also knew there to be beautiful views that made the effort worth it. I naively took one step class at my uni gym and followed my sage Mum’s advice to find some tall buildings at my new university and climb them with a full backpack (once), but that was about the extent of my pre-hike training. Oh what a surprise my body was in for. My opinion of stairs was about to be changed, forever.
– 2021 update! My year started with my friend Grace asking me “Mueller Hut?”. I had a strange sense of deja vu. This time around I brought my husband, Matt on his first trip up to Mueller. I’ve popped in some new, higher-quality photos, but have left the text the same. –
How to get to Mueller Hut trailhead
Mt Cook Village is at the end of State Highway 80. The road there is beyond beautiful in-and-of itself (if you’re lucky enough to have good weather). The drive takes you past a picturesque lavender farm that covers the rolling hills. The farm is definitely worth a stop when the lavender is flowering (late summer/autumn). Lake Pukaki, which the road hugs most of the way around, is also stunning with its glacial blue water. (The photo below is legitimately how blue/clear it is). From the turn-off from SH8 it takes about an hour (with some stopping time) to get to Mt Cook Village. The village is literally just a collection of various accomodation options and an I-site. I would recommend that you top up with petrol and groceries before you head in, as there aren’t many options once there. The closest supermarket is at Twizel.
Grace and I stayed at Unwin Lodge since we already had sleeping bags for Mueller Hut (you have to provide your own bedding). The lodge has one of my favourite views from its main window. We got up VERY early the next morning to beat the sun/heat and drove to the White Horse Hill carpark. The carpark also doubles as a campground and has a toilet, shelter, tap water, and camping spots. It’s another great option to stay the night either before/after the tramp if you have a tent or camper. It’s also the starting point for the even more popular (but flat) Hooker Valley walk. You can alternatively start the tramp from Mt Cook village itself if you don’t have transport. However this adds on extra time that isn’t really needed, so most people start from White Horse Hill.
Tickets and Intentions
You have to collect your hut tickets from DOC (Department of Conservation) at the I-site at Mt Cook Village before your hike. There is a hut warden over summer who checks tickets, so don’t try to avoid paying the fee. Having to go in and physically pick up the tickets (they aren’t posted or emailed to you) gives you the chance to sign the Intentions book. DOC recommends to do this if you’re planning on going above Sealy Tarns/to Mueller Hut. The staff at the I-site can also give you up-to-date information on weather and track conditions. This is especially important as the weather conditions at Mt Cook can change in as little as a few minutes, just like many mountainous areas in New Zealand.
Hiking to Sealy Tarns
Grace and I started off from White Horse Hill carpark while the sun was only just rising from its bed. We had made sure to pack sunscreen and a LOT of water for the tramp. There is no tree coverage once you start climbing, and no fresh water available until you reach the hut. The first section of the track is shared with the Kea Point Track (a nice 15 minute detour). It’s deceptively gentle, lulling you in to a false sense of fitness. Grace and I actually realised we’d forgotten our tickets about 20 minutes in and so had to run back and grab them from the car. Crisis averted! At least our muscles were nice and warmed up.
Once you reach the Sealy Tarns/Mueller Hut turn-off, it’s not long before the climb begins. My Mum had done this tramp a long time ago when the steps were made with gigantic railway sleepers (which they still are in parts), but otherwise they’re mostly manageable. You travel up a gut in the hill-side, climbing step, after step, after step. Cursing the weight of your pack and the fact that you hadn’t done more step classes at the gym. A large rock jutting out of the hillside (you can see it from below) made a great spot to rest and break up the climb.
Once you come out of the gut, the track slightly flattens out at times. (I mean this comparatively, it’s still uphill, don’t get your hopes up). The views from here on start really coming into their own, if they weren’t already. It’s not too long from this point until the last little climb to Sealy Tarns. The tarns alone might not be worth it (they’re quite small), but the view that’s reflected in them certainly is. This is roughly the halfway point to Mueller, but from here onwards it gets harder with no track.
There is a picnic table at the end of the Sealy Tarns viewpoint. One of the best spots for second breakfast that I’ve ever come across. The view is just amazing. Immediately below you is the terminal lake of Mueller glacier (the ‘gravel’ in the lake is actually just covering the ice left behind by the glacier as it slowly melts). Beyond that you can peer across into Hooker Valley with the river glinting in the sun and the icebergs floating in its own terminal lake. And the icefall on Mt Sefton (in the above photo with Grace walking past the tarns) is just something else.
Sealy Tarns is the turn-around point if the weather conditions aren’t playing game. Or if you’re not comfortable with heights, route finding and/or scree slopes/boulder fields. If there is snow or low cloud/fog at this level, and you aren’t properly experienced, I would also not recommend going further. It gets much steeper and losing your way is not really an option. The markers for the route are 200m apart, so if visibility is bad you’re much more likely to get lost.
Hiking to Mueller Hut
The track up until Sealy Tarns is very wide and well-defined, but above the tarns it’s definitely a route only. There are orange markers or poles in the tussocks showing you the way – but no track. Boots with ankle support would be very beneficial for this section of the tramp (and poles, if that’s your thing). Once you’ve zig-zagged up a way, the tussocks give out to a boulder field, before you reach the foot of a steep scree slope. My favourite quote from our trip was “Sorry Grace, I almost head-butted your foot” – it was that steep.
You pretty much want to go straight up the slope and slightly to the right, sticking to the orange markers. When Grace and I did this in late summer there was an obvious route to follow, worn out by the more adventurous soles come before us. It was steep going and unstable underfoot. I wondered how we would go coming back down the next day (not that bad in the end). For me this was the hardest part of the tramp. In winter (if you’ve made it through the snow-covered boulder field without falling through the snow into a hole), this slope would be very intimidating. If you lost your footing, it would be a steep slide down to the rocks at the bottom.
After you’ve vanquished the scree slope, you’ll reach the skyline ridge. There is a relatively large flat area which is perfect for a rest. Then you turn the corner around the ridge and head south towards Mueller Hut.
When Grace and I arrived at the ridge, there were quite a few day-walkers recovering from the scramble up the scree. We passed an older Japanese couple who had slowly but surely inched their way up the scree slope. Everyone resting on the ridge had already passed them on the way up. So when they finally scrambled up the last few feet to the ridge, it was to cheers and a standing ovation from all of us gathered. Tramping can often feel like a solo activity. But sometimes you’re reminded of the fact that you get to experience these amazing views and emotions with other like-minded people and it does feel more like a community.
There are some rocks jutting out from the side of the ridge towards Sefton that make for some great photo opportunities. You start to feel like you’re really in the mountains from here on in. During spring and summer the sun softens the snow and ice, setting things in motion. Avalanches crash down the other side of the valley and echo off the faces of the surrounding mountains. Grace and I sat for quite a while to listen and soak in the views. While also attempting to daintily eat our melted chocolate snacks. This is also where we should have reapplied sunscreen, especially where our pack straps had rubbed off the previous layer. But we didn’t. Be smarter than us.
Once you’re ready to move on, turn and head south to follow the ridge around on it’s west side (Mueller glacier side – opposite to the side you’ve been climbing up). Again keeping to the orange markers and rock cairns. It’s about a half hour from here to Mueller Hut, staying below the ridge and hopping across rocks and boulders. This is where Grace and I spotted our first pockets of snow that had survived the hot summer, hiding in the shade of small ridges. If you go earlier in the season there is likely to be a lot more snow.
You’ll soon be able to see Mueller Hut. It stands out easily amongst the rocks (or snow) with its bright red corrogated iron. There’s just one last small up-hill push to reach it. The hut is on stilts with metal steps up to the deck. It looks odd in summer, but in winter the snow layer is often at or above the wrap-around deck.
Fun fact: Sir Edmund Hillary opened this Mueller Hut in 2003 after avalanches kept wiping out previous huts! (The current Mueller Hut is in a much more secure position.) It lies in the shadow of Mt Ollivier; the first real mountain that Sir Ed summited (following a different, and much more difficult, route that the one Grace and I took that afternoon I’m assuming).
There are also campsites to pitch a tent, mostly on the east side of the hut. However they looked very rocky and windy from what we could see, even if some sites had a small rock wall built around them as a windbreak. They didn’t seem like they’d be very comfortable. I was very glad we’d booked a night in the hut (and hadn’t lugged a tent and bedding up all the stairs).
Grace and I were some of the first people at the hut for that day, having started the hike so early. We claimed a pair of bunk beds (one with a window facing Ollivier). After lunch we took a nap to recover some of the sleep we’d missed that morning. Once we were feeling a bit more refreshed (and other people had started to arrive noisely) we got up and decided to tackle Mt Ollivier. Just because our legs hadn’t done enough climbing already that day. It’s an optional side trip up above Mueller, but definitely worth it if the weather is nice. It’s only an 1-1.5hr return, and pretty straight forward. Although Mt Ollivier isn’t really a mountain so much as a big pile of rocks. So be prepared for lots of boulder hopping.
The route is what you make it. Grace and I followed the ridge up but there aren’t any tracks, so follow your nose. The true summit of Mt Ollivier is a bit further than you think (across a small saddle and marked by a rock cairn). You’ll lose sight of Mueller Hut, but the views are amazing. On a good day you can see Lake Pukaki to the south and look down to check on your car parked at White Horse Hill carpark in the valley far below. Don’t go further than the summit without mountaineering experience. The drop offs get pretty intense and the rocks get more unstable.
We spent our evening at Mueller Hut watching the sun set on Aoraki and the Southern Alps, pointing out constellations & shooting stars, and playing card games with some lovely German and Finnish ladies. Grace introduced me to her special hot chocolate (addition: Canterbury Cream). These have now become a staple of my tramping trips. We were up there for a Sunday night, but the hut was quite busy. There were a few beds spare however. We’d watched a helicopter land and airlift a tramper out who had been having kidney problems, along with her companion.
We feel asleep to the sound of avalanches across the valley and while that didn’t exactly lull us to sleep, we slept well (despite the snorers, there’s always at least one in each hut) after having had such a big day and staying up late talking & stargazing.
The next morning I wrote in my diary:
“The mountains are unreal. I walked outside this morning for sunrise and had to blink it all into focus again. They are so unbelievably majestic that you could easily convince yourself that the glacier-filled peaks are just some sort of Hollywood trick; a backdrop or a green screen. You get used to them, forget where you are and then all of a sudden remember and look around in awe as if it’s the first time you’ve seen the mountains.”
We had a leisurely morning, in no rush to confront all those stairs again (my knees aren’t friends with going downhill). Grace cooked us up a beautiful porridge concoction with condensed milk and nectarines, and we watched everyone from the hut rush off down the track. When we eventually followed the way back down wasn’t as bad as I was expecting (even the scree slope), and it went really quickly. The worst part was actually the last half hour, where my legs were shaking and the only thing keeping me going was the weight of my pack pushing me down onto the next step.
The car was a welcome sight when we finally arrived back at the carpark, all hot and sweaty compared to the glamorous, perfumed tourists arriving to walk the Hooker Valley. I felt sorry for how I was assaulting their nostrils.
We made sure to have a good stretch of our legs before hopping in the car and heading back out to SH8, where Grace had left her own car. The day was picture perfect with no wind and barely any clouds in the sky, so as we drove around Lake Pukaki the blue water called to us until our sweaty bodies couldn’t resist any longer. We pulled over and hopped into the lake for a swim. It was glorious. And cold, but not as icy cold as usual for Pukaki – whose waters melt from the glaciers we’d just been up in at Mueller Hut and Hooker. The cold water was amazing on our sore muscles, and I felt infinitely better and almost human again, after having had a rinse and a change into clean clothes.
Grace and I parted ways at the Mt Cook turnoff – she headed back to Queenstown and work, while I headed to Christchurch, study, and a job interview. It had been a beautiful escape from reality for a few days, amazing weather, jaw-dropping scenery, and lovely company to top it off. I couldn’t walk properly for the next few days, and couldn’t go down stairs normally for a week. But Mueller Hut was certainly worth it.
Aoraki / Mt Cook is such a special area and it remains one of my favourite places in New Zealand. If you have any questions about this trip, or this area, please drop me a line!
Safety
As always, please stay safe when you’re out exploring. Follow the Outdoor Safety Code:
- Choose the right trip for you (read my article, talk to DOC, read other blogs!)
- Understand the weather (as I mentioned above, it is very easy to get turned around in adverse conditions)
- Pack warm clothes and extra food
- Share your plans and take ways to get help (have an emergency beacon on your person – check out my post on what to taking tramping here)
- Take care of yourself and each other
We were lucky enough to have picture-perfect summer weather (and got massively sunburnt). Keep this in mind when planning your own trip as adverse conditions (even in summer) will mean a much different adventure, particularly above Sealy Tarns!
Stay safe and get outside!
Thanks again Grace for such a lovely trip! I’m so glad you’re back in the country again.
Let’s go wandering.
I love this! Such a good read. I can’t wait to give this one a go! Hoping to take my young son up…. know it will be tough but we are up for a challenge 😍
Thanks Jen! Glad you liked it 🙂 When are you planning on going up?