Day 11 - Rocks hut to Hacket hut

I arose to cloudy weather, but no rain. The clouds had parted and the sun was shinning. I said my final goodbyes to Kat, as she left the hut first, and slowly one by one the rest of the crew departed. I was the last person to leave. I left our little sanctuary in the mountains and began my walk.

The trail was soaking wet, and I was happy to have my goretex lined shoes to keep my feet dry. There were several crossing within the first 20 minutes that would not have been passable in yesterday's flood. It wasn't long before I caught up to Justin. He was taking off his shirt when I walked up to him and I had a laugh. Justin likes to hike half naked - cause he gets too hot - so I've given him the trail name "nude boy".

After passing Justin I hiked another few hours before reaching an open zone where no trees could grow. I spotted Dan and Vincent sitting near a rock enjoying lunch so I decided to stop and join them. The views of the richmond range were spectacular, and it was a good taste to what we had to come. Vincent carried forward on his own, and Dan and I took off together for the rest if the trail.

We eventually made it to Browning Hut. A small hut where we stopped for a short break.

We carried on, crossing the first real water crissing on Te Araroa. It was knee deep with a pretty hefty current. It wasn't long before we Made it to hacket hut, and to my surprise the hut was full. Harry and Mary, The German couple I met on the Queen Charlotte was here, as well as another German couple, and aussie couple, a Dutch Couple, Dan, myself, and eventually Justin showed up, and later on a French couple showed up. Packed hut to stay the least. I camped outside under the stars and had dinner with all my new friends. We stayed up late infront of the camp fire and I drifted to sleep studying the bright southern sky above me.