Day 52 - Top Timaru Hut to Pakituhi Hut

The hut was full, and I never have any motivation to wake up and get the day going while it's busy with bodies. Instead I slept until mostly everyone left, and then I made my move. Wietse was extra slow this morning, and I sorta made my way out of the hut slowly given him time to join me on today's walk, but by the time I left the hut (10:30am) he was still enjoying a coffee and cigarette on the front steps.

I didn't bother with making a set destination for myself today, as I knew the trail would be slow going and I didn't want  set any expectations. All I really decided was that if I made it to Stoodys hut before 5pm, and if I felt good, I would continue on towards Breast Hill and possibly camp, or push towards the next hut on trail.

I expected the trail to be slow, but not as slow as it was. I sidled the valley for many hours, constantly climbing up steep hills that would require me to grab roots and rocks to pull my body forward. Going downhill was much harder, and I slipped many times. There were more than a dozen river crossings today, and with all the recent snow fall - and now snow melt - the river was dark grey and full of soot, taking away all visibility and sense of depth.

By early afternoon I reached a very steep part in the trail that I didn't feel comfortable with walking down. I threw my trekking poles to the ledge below me, and sat down on my butt to slide down instead. As i started sliding down the hill - with the momentum of my body - I felt something catch on the bottom of my pants, but I was past the point of pulling myself back up. All I heard was the unpleasant sound of fabric ripping. On top of the small hole that my pants already had in them from a piece of glass at the beginning of my trip, was now a rip the size of my thumb to index finger. This is the week of bad luck, but I continued on down the trail paying little concern to what had already been done.

By the time I reached my last river crossing of the day I spotted two female hikers on the other side, climbing across a rock wall to avoid the water. We shouted at each other in poor attempt to have conversation over the rushing water, and what I gathered through their thick czech accents was that they were unsure on how to cross. I pointed my trekking pole at where was safest, but Instead they went further up to try and cross where the river was most narrow. I then yelled at them from across the river not to cross at the most narrow point and instead concinced them to cross where it was wide. I told them I would spot them since they were unsure, and after 15 minutes of patiently waiting for them to reach the other side I found out they had zero experience in the backcountry, were not carrying tents, or even a locator beacon. I gave them some river crossing advice on what to do and what not to do, and also warned them of the 5-6 hour hike and a dozen crossings they had ahead of them. It was 2pm at this point so I told them they would need to keep a steady pace if they wanted to make it to the hut before dark. I'm still quite concerned if they did end up making it, but their are more south bound hikers behind me that would be running into them by tomorrow worst case scenario.

After my encounter with the Ill prepared hikers I continued straight up up up from the valley to the top of the mountains until I reached Stoodys Hut. It was 4pm, and since I was feeling strong I decided to carry on. After Stoodys hut I reached exposed tussock hills and I was quite surprised with how windy it got. I knew that it wouldn't be smart for me to camp up here, and then accepted I would be making the push towards Pakituhi hut, still another 4-5 hours.

When I reached the top of Breast Hill I was surprised with some of the best views on my trip yet. Lake Hawea layed as a massive pool of water below me, surrounded by mountains as far as the eye can see. I pulled out my camera, and by some strange chance of luck it awoke from its deep slumber. I quickly through my tripod on and was able to capture only a couple photos before It stopped responding again. It was quite cold at the summit of Breast Hill, with high winds and clouds all around me. I had signal at the top, so with the small amount of battery I had left on my phone I called Brooke. The cold and windy high point was soon forgotten, as she always brings warmth to my day. My phone died by the end of the conversation, but it was worth it.

When I made it to Pukituhi hut and was very happy to see that there was one bunk left. By the time I made my dinner it was pitch black. Everyone else staying there was from Wanaka or Hawea (non TA), and I was informed that their was some heavy rain due the day after tomorrow, meaning it might be worth it to do another long day to Wanaka tomorrow.

I slept like a rock.