Add New Zealand to your bucket list, well worth the 15+ hour flight (from Seattle) across the Pacific Ocean. Mt. Cook/Aoraki National Park is home to some of the most stunning landscapes I’ve ever seen. These peaks are glaciated and a high-alpine wilderness.
So let’s get you some details to make backpacking to Mueller Hut in Mount Cook/Aoraki come true.
Key Information
Best Season: January to March – summer season with least snow and better chances for stable weather. This post reflects a trip in February.
Location: Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park – 5 hours driving from Christchurch, New Zealand
Permits: Yes. Highly regulated and competitive permits regulated by the Department of Conservation (DOC) for backpacking trips. One night at Mueller Hut is the minimum time I would recommend – two nights would allow for more side trips in the alpine and a more relaxing backpacking trip.
Difficulty: Strenuous (5/5) due to elevation gain via 1900+ steps, 11-km roundtrip.
Stay the night in the valley and start backpacking really early to beat the heat and have more solitude on the trail. Also, will have better choices of bunks to choose from (remember reservations with the DOC).
Mueller Alpine Hut is quite the popular destination for climbers and mountaineers from all across the world – I met dozens of Germans and other Europeans in just a 2-day weekend.
Here is information from my trip to get you started with your planning a hike to Mueller Hut in Mount Cook/Aoraki National Park. Please remember to practice Leave no Trace (LNT) principles and keep this beautiful trail wild for future hikers. This is a pristine and fragile alpine environment.
Trip Report
Endless zigzagging switchbacks with mountain views. I promise they do end…eventually. The high-altitude shrubland and grasses are fascinating and fairly green, even in the height of the dry summer.
This is after 100 steps, they warn you have “just” 1810 steps left. The path is very well maintained and steps paced appropriately.
Focus on the prize, deeply breathe in the mountain air, and bring a lot of water. You will wish you had lots of water. A water filter would be helpful, but there isn’t much flowing water across the trail.
Toward the top of the crest to the hut, your jaw will drop. Feels like you’re right next to the glacier! A massive glacier system that is. There is still some uphill remaining, but the views will keep your spirits high.
Within a matter of an hour, the weather took a turn for the worse when we were crossing the boulder field to the hut. New Zealand weather is changeable, especially the south part of the South Island.
Wear many layers and pack clothing and gear for all conditions. Almost a guarantee that you’ll encounter sun, rain, and snow in one day.
The bright red hut comes into view and you have almost made it to your destination, after a very grueling uphill hike.
Once you get to Mueller Hut, take off your boots and leave by the bright red building. You may see other hiker’s trekking poles leaning next to the hut – also very helpful and wish I had a pair of trekking poles for the hike to Mueller Hut and exploring the alpine nearby the hut. The aluminum/metal structure is built to withstand extreme alpine conditions – wind, rain, and snow loads.
The next day, you can leave your heavy pack in the cabin or tent and do an epic day hike to nearby boulder fields and mountains.
Get back to the ridge just above Mueller Hut for sunset. The experience of seeing golden light hit the summit of Aoraki/Mount Cook will stay with you for a lifetime.
I tried to capture the moment but it is more amazing in-person! Glacier-fed lakes and rivers are in the same view. That’s a whole lot of landscape eyecandy.
Be Prepared: Carry the 10 essentials with you and extra food/clothing/water in your daypack. You never know what the weather will be like and can change within minutes at this altitude. Pack a windbreaker shell jacket, it is very windy and you won’t want to miss the fleeting colors.
If there’s one thing I remember most about backpacking in this alpine paradise, it was the stunning way the sunsets illuminated the glaciers and peaks. Golden light juxtaposed with a vivid blue sky and dark rock. Untouched by humans.
One of my favorite backpacking trips and I cannot wait to head back to New Zealand and explore more of the beautiful alpine of Mt. Cook/Aoraki National Park.
Should definitely be on your adventure bucket list when you get to the South Island of New Zealand. A truly remarkable alpine area in a country far away from home for many of us.
