Day 92: Easy Peasy

January 10, 2020

Kilometers: 2196.9-2215.1

Hamilton Hut to Harper River Campsite

We slept in until 8 today. I could have slept longer but the noises of the others packing up in the hut and the sunshine shining into the window next to my bunk forced me up. We were in no hurry at all with the easy day ahead of us. We were still on the trail right before 9. 

The day started with many river crossings through the Harper River as we made our way downstream. It was cold this morning and the water was freezing. My feet were numb not long into the day. The water wasn’t as clear as normal either. This made the crossings a bit harder as we couldn’t always see where our feet were landing. 

After a few slow kms due to the crossings the trail turned into a 4WD track. We were able to start moving quicker through the valley. On all sides we were surrounded by huge mountains, some snow covered on the peaks. 

We crossed the river one final time and stopped for a break at noon. We only had less than 4kms to go but the sun had come out and drained us a bit. 

After our break we slowly walked to our campsite, arriving just after 1. It was a nice, short and easy day but for some reason I was unusually tired. Maybe the extra sleep this morning somehow made me more tired today. 

The campsite was not much. It had a picnic table, a well and a toilet. With plenty of time left in the day the three of us decided to walk down to Lake Coleridge. The huge blue lake was further from the campsite than we anticipated but was a nice bathing spot.

When we got back to the campsite I got out the sewing kit. I made a few stitches before realizing what I was doing was not gonna work at all. I handed the shorts off to Charlie who salvaged the job. It still looks kinda ridiculous but I couldn’t care less at this point. 

I then went to take a nap. I was so tired I just slept on the floor of my tent without blowing up my thermarest air mattress. 

This evening there are six of us TA hikers at the campsite. In addition to the three of us there is Janina and Josy from Germany and Tracey from the UK. We had been a day or two behind them for awhile but caught up to them with our big days through Arthur’s Pass National Park. 

I had more freeze dried food for dinner, this time it was beef curry. Although they are so easy to make and there are practically no dishes to do i’m pretty much done with them. I have one left and will not be buying anymore. 

The sandflies chased us all into our tents before 7. Us three guys will be waking up early tomorrow in order to hike the 28km to our pick up point where we will have a shuttle waiting at 2pm to take us around the Rakaia River hazard zone and into the town of Methven for a resupply.