Woke up early this morning and hit the road. I had to get to the edge of town and then start hitchhiking to get me out to the trail. Traffic was pretty light so it took a while but after about 20 or 30 minutes a guy picked me up and off I went!

Being the completionist that I am, I asked to be dropped off where I left the trail, rather than where the trail turns to head up into the hills a couple kilometers down the road. This meant some highway walking and some extra distance, but doesn’t matter, I needed it!

39km to Mavora Lake and it’s all gravel all the way. For the TA section, the official trail departs the gravel road about 15km in, but the trail notes say a lot of people just stay on the road and join back up later. I did that and I’m glad I did. I had about 3km of tussock to get through near the end and I could have gone farther and would have done nearly anything to avoid it. It was bad. Ugh.

Anywho, I’m in camp. Had some food. Long day. Very hot. Very little shade. And very little of interest since it was all gravel.

The southbounders I came across all said tomorrow is all really pretty and easy. Given that it’s a long day tomorrow, I’m looking forward to both of those things. Hopefully it’s not too hot!