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CLINTON Hut is set in the goblin forest at the edge of what used to be a lake, now taken over by sphagnum moss into an eerie swamp of carnivorous plants. The sky was perfectly clear last night giving spectacular views of the Milky Way running above the valley of towering mountains.
Getting up early, I followed the short boardwalk out to the helipad to see a fine mist hovering over the silent swamp as the sun rose behind the mountains. The thick carpet of sphagnum moss was almost florescent in the stillness of the morning.
Leaving the hut, we followed the Clinton River upstream along a long glaciated valley of moss covered goblin forest bounded by kilometre-high walls of rock on either side. The valley climbed very gradually until the final two hours when the track moderately ascended negotiating its way around spectacular streams cascading down the mountains until we reached the Mintaro Hut, nestled on a rise at a bend near the head of the valley. Aside from the early morning hint of mist, there was not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind the entire day.
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