Day 37 - Arthur's Pass to Hamilton hut

I woke up late, took a shower, packed my gear and went across the street to the cafe for a mountain house breakfast with a large flatewhite. I sorted out the rest of my Internet and power needs and began my hitch hike out of Arthur's Pass back on to the Te Araroa trail. Since my last attempt at hitching took three hours I had little hope, but to my surprise the second car driving by stopped to pick me up. It was an older Kiwi women with a quick wit and good sense of humor. She laughed at me when I told her I was walking the length of the country, but she kept me entertained for the short ride to my trial head. Right before she dropped me off she told me a story about an axe murderer who was caught in this area not too long ago. I've spent enough time in New Zealand to understand Kiwi humor and I'm quite sure she was pulling my chain, but I went along with it all the same.

When I arrived at the trail a sign stated 7.5 hours to Hamilton hut. It would get me there before 8. The trail started with a steep climb, through a new type of forest that help onto its cold like morning dew sticks to a spider web. The chill revealed my breath, and if I lived in another time I would have questioned that I stumbled into the home of something haunted. But putting my imagination aside I wasn't too fond of this cold, as I have become slightly sick.

It wasnt long before I broke out of the forest to an open grassy top with spectacular views of the mountains.  Small glaciers rested on many of the peaks, and I could tell that the landscape was changing yet again.

The hike today was a beautiful straight forward walk to Hamilton hut. I've acquired a little bit of a cough with all the rainy weather in my last section. It's nothing serious, just a bit of a head cold, but hopefully I can sweat it out in a few hard days of hiking. I passed 3 huts along the way, and one of them was so old and grimy that the inside gave me shivers. Not all huts are luxurious.

I reached Hamilton hut by 4pm Instead of 8, and was glad to have a bit of extra time to relax. Wietse was sitting on the porch when I arrived enjoying a cup of coffee, and since it was the weekend there was a large group of people here as well. By evening the 20 bunk hut was completely full, and people still started showing up. Pretty well none of these people brought tents or sleeping pads, but instead rad filled their packs with booze and who knows whatever else. It's hard to feel bad for them though

I tried to get an early sleep, but that was inturpted by the parents arguing with the drunk students to keep it down. A barrage of swearing and yelling that woke the entire hut up anyways. My earplugs worked to no effect. By 3am I awoke to the sound of someone throwing up on the floor of the hut, and then again a barrage of swearing from one of the parents. Everyone talked the Hamilton hut up to be one of the best of the trail, but it was by far my worst experience on TA yet.

Tomorrow I'd like to make it as far as I possibly can, hopefully Methven. It's quite a confusing section because I need to hitch around the Rakaia River, and there's hardly any information in the trail notes on how to get to the other side. My plan is to hitchhike to Methven, resupply, and take a shuttle from there to the other end, but it's a far hitch and the trail spits you out on a dirt road where camping is not allowed, so I'll pretty much be winging it.