Te Araroa Pt. 16

Day 82

Day 82, 7 Feb 18

Woke at 7 for an early start but still ended up starting at around 9 or so. The original plan was to stop at the first hut. The new plan, however was to head to the second one because the first one had no fireplace. In the end we were so slow we stopped at the first hut.

The journey up was pretty hard going. We averaged at a little more than 1km/h. We ended up doing the journey in about 6 hours rather than the suggested 4. This is the first time I actually exceeded the suggested time. They were meant to be exaggerations to deter people who overestimate themselves from trying to rush these tracks. Guess they ended up overestimating us.

I can say however that my partner is showing improvement. Cramps, tripping, spraining has vastly reduced but he is still prone to stopping every once and again. Maybe he simply cannot keep up with me. That makes me worry about our food supplies. I have to stretch what was 3 lunches into 5 or even 6 because I did not expect us to be this slow. At this speed we may even need to stay here an extra day.

Regardless, we were lucky that the skies are mostly clear. There are no clouds obscuring our view at the hut although there is a massive cloud layer buffeting the distant peaks. I can see clearly the sea in the distance, small houses and tiny towns, farmlands and lakes, but mostly is the craggy green peaks of the ranges that surround me.

I can imagine another 3 or 4 days of this. The going will be tough. There will be pain. But I'm sure it will be a wonderfully enriching journey.

Day 83

Day 83, 8 Feb 18

Woke up in time to see the sunrise. I was late for the actual sunrise, but the mountains were in the way. Thus the sun came up late anyway. By then the skies were already clear blue. I waited in the strong gusting wind to see the sun gradually rise above the mountains, then appear behind the clouds.

We took our time today because we only had 5km to go. But these were some tough kilometers. At first it seemed pretty normal but then gradually we encountered obstacles. Fallen trees, overgrown shrub, long stretches of mud, loose eroded soil. Then the terrain changed gears. Long, long descents followed by a long, long ascent. In some places the track went around boulders, over fallen trees, or through somewhere that forced you to perform some acrobatics to get past. Going downhill is much harder than going uphill just that you don't pant and sweat as much, because you have to constantly worry about where to place your feet and fight against simply tumbling down. Of course at the end of the downhill we had to go back up. Long, long ascent. Finally we reached the hut. I hoped we could be alone just like yesterday, but soon we had new arrivals.

Tomorrow will be a long and tough day. To be honest this stretch has been a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I sort of imagined it to be like Tongariro. We move at a snail's pace and sometimes the frustration is real. I really hope we can finish this without any major hiccups. Looking good so far.

Day 84

Day 84, 9 Feb 18

The past few days have been such a flurry of activity. Details seemed to have slipped out of my mind so quickly. I am only left with vague memories of a harsh tramp across the Ranges.

Luckily I took enough pictures to be able to reconstruct the specifics. Today we went from the second hut whose spelling I cannot remember, to the fourth one, Nichols Hut. We set out early, but not the earliest.

The first part was pretty much all on the exposed ridges. As we got higher and higher it got colder and colder. I believe we managed to summit a peak that lay some 1.4km above sea level. It seemed way higher due to the clouds and the wind. In fact if I didn't know better I would have estimated it to be at least twice the height of Tongariro. Tomorrow we will have to climb one that is even higher.

There was great scenery all around us. Cloud covered peaks in the distance, the sea and the towns far far away. The very unique alpine flora all around us and the stunted shrubs. It made the tough hike more interesting and a lot less painful. The first section to the third hut, Dracophyllum Hut, was also fairly interesting in its own way. It was through a very peculiar, stunted and mossy forest. We took a long break at this hut for lunch and water. Just as well, because we needed it for the next stretch.

The next stretch became much much harder and taking way longer than estimated. We reached the hut pretty close to sundown. The route was forest all the way and totally unlike the first one. In this forest the chance of getting lost was real, and there were many branching paths that led to nowhere that made it worse. Sometimes after one person gets lost and leaves a small trail, others who are not paying attention will follow, creating a track that looks pretty "official" though it leads nowhere. The sunset was amazing though and I regret not getting any pictures of it.

Day 85

Day 85, 10 Feb 18

It rained in the night. The forecast had told us that correctly, and it also suggested that it was imperative that we make it down the ranges by today. There was to be gales for the rest of the week.

Started out late. Guess we were a little overconfident. The track would put us back in our place soon enough.

First was a climb up Mt. Crawford, at 1.4km above sea level but a few metres higher than the one we summited yesterday. Thus it was the highest point of the entire trail. As usual, at that height were spectacular views and cold winds. The wind was not as cold as before but it was a lot harsher due to how exposed we were up there. I got a slight headache from the sting.

After some distance on the ridge we because our descent. There was supposed to be some 1240m of descents today, and I'm sure that that figure is inaccurate. It was slow and painful and took a lot longer than expected. Gravity should help you to go faster, but no, it merely damages your knees. Very slowly, we got to the Waitewaewae Hut. A sign along the way graciously pointed out the correct pronunciation of this word: "Y-T-Y-Y". Some others who had been at Nichols with us today morning were already there. They felt that no weather was bad enough to get them to move.

With only a few hours left till sunset, we decided to risk it anyway and set off after a quick water refill. Whether this was a good idea or not I cannot say. Fate has a way of turning my bad decisions into good ones. Anyway at that point it didn't seem like a bad decision anyway. However the track soon degraded into a harsh forest tramp. The timing on the notes were definitely impossible. The track also seems to have been diverted and changed due to some slips and storms destroying a chunk of it. We made it to a flat area beside a small creek which looked like a campsite and stopped there for the night, because the time estimate given by the sign ahead told us we would reach the campsite at 11pm.

Day 86

Day 86, 11 Feb 18

It rained the whole night. Everything was wet. My poor decisions on the previous day have somehow ended up with a happy outcome. It was fine that we pushed on, but it was also great that we decided to stop here and not keep going. This was a good spot to camp, and there would be no exit until midnight if we pushed on yesterday.

I was having thought of putting the trail on hold and going home yesterday. Today I woke with a sense of certainty that that was what I was going to do. I was going home. How I arrived at this conclusion I cannot recall. But I can remember having no doubts or regrets about it any more. Feels weird.

The tramp that followed was the most boring, slow, frustrating, and mind-numbing section of forest I ever tramped. The trail was some makeshift path that has fallen into disrepair. Something had happened to the old track, which according to the notes, was not too bad. We were diverted to a half-formed, poorly maintained thing that has fallen into disrepair. It was neither a track nor a trail judging from the acrobatice you were force to perform.

To make it worse it started raining and would not stop for pretty much the whole day. Everything that dried up last night became wet again. Everything that was wet got wetter. The mud, now rejoicing at the gift of rain decided to share their joy with us and gave us friendly and warm embraces.

Finally we rejoined the original track which was an old tram track. An old tram track! It was like a driveway in the forest, and everything became really nice and easy going from there. Made it out, then hitched to Otaki and bussed to Wellington. I originally planned to keep going but my friend was done with it all.

I am not sure how much we skipped there. I definitely felt guilty about doing that. There was plenty more ahead and we just ignored it all. I actually wanted to do some of the trails in town such as the Escarpment track or those down the beaches. What happened to my will? Where is my determination? Why have I become so defeated?

Thoughts

This was one of the highlights of the trail, I think. The scenery up there were divine. We were always among or above the clouds, and the wind swirled them around the peaks and sometimes blew them right into our way.

However, it was also pretty tough, and it brought about sighs of defeat. I would have been fine, except that my friend has started suggesting that we skip the other alpine track down in the south. That was a no go for me. I would rather go back and come back properly healed than to do a half minded job and finish it for the sake of doing it.