Day 57: Land Of A Thousand Streams
December 6th, 2019
Kilometers: 1500.1-1532.8
Moto Rimu Hut-Makahika Outdoor Pursuit Centre
We woke up around 7:30 this morning, a little later than usual. The wind had been howling last night and it had rained on and off. In fact, the wind was so strong that one of Alex’s tent poles collapsed more than once in the middle of the night.
It had appeared that I had been the only one who had slept well.
We all broke down camp somewhat slowly as it was cold and gray outside. The top of the hills surrounding camp were covered in a thick fog.
After a breakfast of a few granola bars, and just before 8:30, we set off. This was the second straight day of just over 30 kilometers of walking with our heavy packs.
We started the day with a climb along a road back up to 500 meters, where we left the road and joined a tamping track.
The track descended over 300 meters in the first two kilometers down to the valley. The track was very muddy but not very steep near the top. As the trail got steeper, the mud gave way for dryer ground with better footing.
Once we reached the valley floor, we were met with the first of many stream crossing on the day.
By this point, Peter and Alex were a bit ahead of Charlie and I so we tackled the streams together. Charlie managed to make it across the streams without getting wet. On the last stream before we stopped, my foot slipped and went halfway into the water dooming my shoes for another day of wear and tear.
Just before 11, we rejoined a short road and found a spot to stop for a few minutes.
Alex and I had some crackers and peanut butter and a snickers bar before continuing on.
Right after our snack, we came to another river crossing where Peter slipped of a rock and soaked both of his feet.
We continued along this path known as Burton’s track for 7km to reach our lunch spot.
We stopped at the Tokomaru Shelter for lunch and the hiker log revealed that Matthew had pushed and made it here the night before. He left a note for us saying he would be staying at the Outdoor Pursuit Centre that night, our intended campsite.
The shelter was on a gravel road and we were able to make good progress towards the Makahika Track. Along the trail, Charlie and I spotted a dam just off the trail and investigated.
Shortly after the dam, we found the beginning of the Makahika Track, which was a climb up 300 meters over the course of just under 7km. The track was in decent shape despite having some very muddy stretches.
After two hours of hiking, we reached the Horowhenua Lookout, where Charlie and I found Alex and Peter and we had a snack.
Unfortunately, the view from the lookout was ruined by the tall brush and cloud cover. However, less than a kilometer ahead was a much better viewpoint with a clearer view.
From that viewpoint, we had a steep drop back down to the valley, where we had many more stream crossings.
After a few more kilometers of navigating along the banks and through muddy patches, we left the forest.
We reconnected with the road shortly afterwards and Charlie and I slowly made our way to camp.
The campsite was spectacular. We stayed at the Outdoor Pursuit Lodge and the owners brought us beers as we arrived.
The facility had a hot shower and they were even kind enough to print off the weather forecast for the mountains for us.
We were able to determine that we will need to take the next two days off in Levin as the weather is too severe to attempt to climb the Tararuas.
For dinner, Alex and I had rice with salami and pitas which was just fine considering we would have real food the next two days.
It will be nice to have a few days off and avoid the worst of the weather before climbing the fearsome Tararuas.
-Ethan