words with kitchen

Cloudy. It was cloudy this morning. But we had to move, there was no choice. I could have stayed for another day, but I wasn’t very interested in that.

So we left. Immediately past the hut the climb began. And climb we did. And climb. And finally popped out above the tree line onto the scree slope we’d be climbing for a bit more. Eventually we got past the cloud the hut was in and got our first taste of the view.

Sadly, the top of the mountain was also shrouded in cloud. But in a way that was almost better. It felt like we were on another planet. The rocky ground, sparse plant life, bright, diffuse sunlight, and zero visibility. Was quite nice.

At last we reached the very top. It was pretty awesome. The cloud made it feel like we were above the entire planet. They started down the hill, I stuck around a bit to have a moment.

I don’t remember all I thought about but I was both incredibly happy and incredibly sad I was up there, on top of the last major peak before the finish. Especially after now 6 days on this section I’m rather looking forward to getting back to civilization, but at the same time I wanted to hold onto that happy feeling of achievement for so much longer.

I was also thinking how awesome it was that I was here with the first 2 northbounders I met, after all this time. The last several days with them has been amazing and fun and sharing that summit with them was a highlight of the trip.

I also thought more about what’s next. I still don’t entirely know that. I feel like I want to find a job and go back to work, but I also want to make certain there’s ample room for adventures like this one. No way am I going to be content with sitting behind a keyboard for 40 hours a week for the rest of my life.

I did cry, for the record. Not like I cried when I reached the summit of Bear Camp on Cycle Oregon last year, but I still cried. It was a beautiful moment, and despite not having a view, I feel like it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Afterward, we started what must have been the most technically difficult section of the trail yet. Mount Rintoul has a sister summit, Little Rintoul, and the path between them is incredibly challenging. A while back I’d told my friend Faith, someone who has done her fair share of long hikes and travel, that I didn’t know if I wanted to keep going. She said “it’s just walking”. That was the running joke for the day.

Today was a beast. And then we finally got past the Rintouls and back into merely moderately difficult terrain.

Originally my plan had been to just go from Rintoul hut to Old Man Hut, only one hut down the trail. This was before when I thought I’d spend more time at the summit, when I assumed it would take far longer to cross than it did, and before I’d spent the entire previous day lying in my bed in a hut doing bugger all. So today we pushed on to Slaty Hut. But we got there around 3:15, and the next hut was supposed to only be 3 hours away. So we ate, and moved on. The idea being that if we did this bit faster and had a long day on the tail, we could do the rest of this in 3 days instead of 4. Not only meaning their food supplies would be less stretched, but that we’d get to burgers that much faster. Seriously, all we can think about is burgers. That’s it. Burgers. Give me a burger and a pile of chips.

We finally got out of the clouds to some nice views again.

And then we arrived at Starveall Hut. To find it overflowing with people. And not really any good options around for camping. John and Christine found a spot in the woods, and I pitched up on the helipad, figuring I’d hear a helicopter coming in for a landing in enough time to get out of the way. But one of the people inside ended up sleeping outside, and I thought there would already be people on the floor, but nope, nobody, so I packed up my tent and moved inside. I’m glad I did. It’s windy and cold outside. Inside we have a fire going. Much better.

Tomorrow we head for Rocks Hut, which I’ve heard good things about. If nothing else, there are flush toilets. After several huts with wasp nests in the loo it’ll be a nice change of pace. According to notes it’ll be 8.5 hours tomorrow, but the next 2 huts are only 2 and 2 past that, so we may push on to shorten our last day on this section a bit. The last day is about 70% walking down a gravel road, with little chance of a hitch, but it’s zombie walkable so it’s fine if it’s a long day. Plus: burgers.

The day started with a climb. Big climb. Through forest, so pretty boring, no pictures. Halfway in we stopped at Tarn Hut, which is conveniently by a tarn.

Then up we went some more. Much more. Lots and lots of wasps. They were so thick they’d just run into you. No stings, but it was pretty sketchy for a while.

Then the views started coming.

Up some more we went. More views.

Finally we reached our high point for the day, saw our hut and what lay before us for tomorrow.

You might be able to see it there. It about 5 pixels of white. That’s the hut. That big mountain next to it? That’s what we’re climbing tomorrow. It’s about 450m above us, but the horizontal distance is only about 1, 1.5km. So basically a wall. Should be fun.

It’s supposed to rain tomorrow morning so we’re probably going to stick around here most of the day. Not only is it not a good idea to attempt this in bad weather, we really want to be able to see from the top. It’s the last big peak going northbound, so kind of a final rite of passage. I imagine I’ll cry a little. Or maybe a lot. Hopefully a lot.

Bonus, we saw an owl in the forest.

Tomorrow, or whenever we manage to be able to get up the mountain, should be quite the day. I can’t wait.

Today started off with a surprise. When we went to bed last night there were 3 of us. When we woke up there was a 4th. A kiwi guy had snuck in just after we all passed out (he said he got in at 9:45pm). After some food and pleasant conversation, the 3 of us left from the hut.

A steep descent down to the river and then up up up up. About 800m of climb to get to the top of Mt. Ellis. The climb started off steep but flattened out the closer we got to the top. The wind also increased significantly. Like a lot. Fun times. But the views from the top were amazing. And there was cell reception so we checked the weather forecast.

We arrived at the midway hut for the day, after a really awful boulder field we had to descend through. Had some lunch. Contemplated the section ahead. The notes talk about it being extremely challenging. The TA website has a warning up about it saying there are places where handholds and footholds are hard to come by. Needless to say, we’ve been worried about this section for days.

It was, by far, the easiest hard section on the trail. And absolutely beautiful. It’s possible someone had been through doing some work on the trail since the notes were published and the alert went up, but really, it wasn’t that bad at all. It was challenging. But it wasn’t terrible. It had some nice trail side drops. But I never felt afraid of my footing. And I’m afraid of heights, so a 50 foot drop about 18 inches to my left would normally terrify me but I didn’t really feel any amount of fear on these spots. There were a couple of times I slowed down because awkward footing combined with steep drop meant I should be careful, but I wasn’t afraid at all, just cautious.

A section that was rated as 4 hours and very nasty, took us about 3.5 and was thoroughly enjoyable.

And at the end, a beautiful swimming hole. Ice cold, but it felt so good at the end of today.

Tomorrow starts off with a huge climb, and some descending and more climb. Should be fun.

Today was pretty challenging. Lots of up and down, various terrain types, including a large terrible boulder field and some squishy boggy goodness. Oh and some steep rock sidles hanging over cliffs for good measure.

Last night Christine and John (just2hikers) showed up and we’re probably going to be pacing each other all through this section. Today we walked together all day which was fun! It was nice to have someone to talk to on the trail for a change.

There was a bit of rain, and a lot of great views.

The hut we’re in for the night is situated in a really great place and has an amazing view from the porch.

Anywho, not much to say really. Tomorrow is going to be very long and very difficult. I’m glad I’ll have someone to commiserate with at the end of the day. People say tomorrow’s section is the hardest part of this section, and definitely the most dangerous. DOC has a warning up about it due to erosion damage making footholds hard to come by in places. I’m a bit nervous to say the least.

My pack is so heavy.

So.

Heavy.

But I did manage to cram everything inside it! I was expecting to have to have stuff hanging off the outside to get all of the food in. But nope, it’s all inside.

Today started off fairly boring. Road walk. I half heartedly tried to hitch but really wasn’t making an effort at all to do it so I didn’t get picked up. Once I reached the track I stopped, sat my pack down, ate a bar, and had a rest.

Just before this is found the laziest farm animals around, they were all just laying down in the shade. Sadly, I think the sheep are the cancer ward, many had large lumps on them and one had some really odd fur. Poor things. Glad they’re resting then.

Then for the next 45 minutes or so I had a crisis. Do I go? Do I turn back? I’m scared. My pack is heavy. Is it ok if I turn back? What about just one more night, I’ll try again tomorrow?

Eventually I talked myself into going. And about 5 minutes later, I regretted that. But I kept going.

Up first was a 500m climb or so, which nowadays isn’t even really a thing. But with 10 days of food my back I felt every step.

Slow and steady.

Finally I make it to the top and I set my pack down again and have a rest. This time there was no convincing to get me going again, I was just worried about time.

While it was on the ground I noticed some of my packs straps weren’t tight at all. When I picked it up and adjusted things, a world of difference. I finally understand what all of the adjustments do and now the thing is so comfortable on my back. My hips still complain though.

On down the trail. Lots of descent today. Climbing is getting to be not a big deal generally but descending still sucks.

And every impact with that extra weight is torture. I keep telling myself that my food is actually less weight than the amount of weight I’ve lost. My legs aren’t listening.

Back up and down a few more times and some really nice views along the way.

Finally I arrive at the hut. It’s newish. Nice. Has screens in windows. Only 6 bunks but nobody was there and still nobody has shown up.

I looked over my notes again and I think if all goes well this section will be 8 trail days. Which is handy because I can divide my 2 blocks of cheese easily for that, I know I have extra food so if I get hungry I can just eat some more. The candy is going to be the hard part though. I’ll want to eat all of that. Gotta ration it a bit! But at the same time, it’s heavy, so I should eat it now to make my pack lighter!

Looking at the notes, Mt. Rintoul is on day 5. Top Wairoa to Mid Wairoa is on day 3. DOC has a warning out for that section but says there’s an alternative. Hopefully I can figure out what that is. The hut book has a little greetings, NoBos in it and talks about that section being harder than Rintoul, so who knows. I’ll see in a couple days anyways!

I’m sure Upper Travers Hut was neat and everything, but last night’s hut was pretty well situated. I mean come on.

Fun fact: there’s a water taxi from the other end of the lake that would have picked me up and taken me to town if I wanted. This hut is basically a zero walking hut if you really want. There were a handful of people taking the water taxi out this morning, myself almost one of them, but I think most of the folks at the hut were walking at least part of the time.

The trail today was mostly easy. I was able to blast down it and even up it when it had its ups. There were a few places with storm damage, some of which was old and had had the trail cut through it, and some which was newer which had to be worked around, under, or over.

At one point on the way up to the high point for the day there was a good half kilometer or more boardwalk, which is the first boardwalk of any length I’ve seen along the trail. Of course, I’m actually off trail right now, but whatever, I do what I want. It was neat though, and there was a little rest area at one point with a really great view.

About half way in there was a really nice hut, with quite the view. I stopped for lunch and had my first bowl of ramen for a while. I wasn’t sure if I had enough fuel left to make pasta with so I just boiled some water quick and dumped in a package of ramen. It was actually pretty good, I must say. There may be a few more of those going into my pack for the next section if I can find some.

After that I screamed down the track. It was a mix of rooted horribleness and lovely smooth track. Makes me wonder who put “well graded track” in the DOC brochure for this trail. Every time I came across a particularly gnarly section I would say “well graded track”. It’s all good though. Got to the carpark in record time and got to see a lovely view of a different lake and the town of St Arnaud.

One of the folks from the hut last night, one who took the water taxi in, was hanging out at the carpark, so we chatted for a bit. At one point I thought he mentioned giving me a ride into town, it was another 1.5 hour walk down a pretty ugly road to town, but then he disappeared. I waited a while to no avail. Fortunately, it looked like 3 cars were about to leave the carpark so I started walking down the road, figuring one of them would pick me up. Sure enough, a trio of Germans did! Their English wasn’t good so we didn’t have much conversation, but I got into town so that was good.

I had called a place from the carpark to see about rooms and they wanted $75/night for a dorm bed and $180/night for a private room. Whaaaaaaaaat. I called another place and I got a private room for $50/night. Much better. Tomorrow I’m going to try to clean my pack and my shoes. So much mildew. It’s disgusting and I just can’t take it anymore. Spending the time and whatever money might be required will be a worthwhile investment to improve quality of life for the next stretch, methinks. And the next stretch is gonna be a tough one, so I’ll take all the quality of life I can get!

What a day.

I’ve been anticipating this day for literally months. Worrying that it would be too hard for me to do, the weather too bad for me to even attempt. The trail notes make mention of crampons and ice axes and that made me super concerned.

The first part of the day for me was to walk from the hut up to the “informal campsite” up a ways. But on the way there the trail goes past the old Caroline Bivvy which is a tiny tiny tiny little shelter that’s very old and is to be removed because of the new Waiau hut where I stayed last night. I stopped in to say hi and sign the hut book. Last night I’d considered continuing on past Waiau hut since I’d gotten there so early and Caroline bivvy was one of the places I had been considering. I’m glad I didn’t. It’s tiny. It’s kinda gross. And there’s no toilet. But it is historic!

Afterward I continued on to the campsite. The trail was decent until it wasn’t and then I got to the campsite. It’s little more than a clearing along the trail where someone made a makeshift fire pit, but it would have been a pretty good place to camp in a pinch. I stopped here and had a rest, unloaded some extra weight I was carrying and started the climb.

Finally, I arrived.

Absolutely stunning. The weather could not have been more perfect. Cool. Clear. Dry. And surprisingly only a very light breeze at the top. I climbed up to a little peak right next to the top of the pass and just hung out there for a while, taking in the scenery, and what I’d just done.

Sadly the descent was awful. And so was the route from Lake Constance to blue lake hut. But I’ll leave out the details of that.

Blue lake is cool. The clearest water on the planet it is claimed. I haven’t gone over to the lake yet but from above I could definitely see pretty deep into it. Pretty awesome.

I’m at the hut now and it’s full of people. Many not TA hikers. Since the latter portion of the day put me in a bit of a crappy mood I’m hiding in my bed trying not to be grumpy.

And trying to think about the amazing accomplishment today was. Months I’ve been anxiously anticipating climbing this pass. And I climbed it like I was out for an afternoon stroll. And the reward at the top was so good. So good. Wow, what an amazing feeling.

I remember when Keaton said to me that he was proud of me way back when we were in Queenstown. And I’m proud of me too. I looked at my notes yesterday for the pass and one of the things it said was “if you’re reading this from the top of the pass give yourself a high five”. I almost backed out this morning, not gonna lie. Looking up at what I needed to climb from just past the campsite I felt pretty intimidated. But I pushed on and did it and I’m so glad I did!

The weather forecast I got yesterday morning said there could be snow above 1000m. I met the hut warden at the top of the pass and he said that wasn’t the case. The weather for the next several days is supposed to be great.

Tomorrow I am set to cross Travers Saddle, which is a nearly as difficult climb and descent as today. There’s a hut along the way about 3 hours from here where I might stay or might decide to get into St Arnaud using a different route. I’m fairly certain I’ll be leaving this hut, not that it’s bad but just because even on a rest day I can do some distance and the distance to the next hut is pretty trivial.

Proud of myself. Today was huge for me. I think I’ll sleep well tonight.