Day 79: Men on a Mission
December 28, 2019
Kilometers: 1912.4-1944.1
Porters Creek Hut to Alpine Lodge in St Arnaud
Town was only 31kms away. A town with only one restaurant and one general store, but a town nonetheless. It was the biggest town we’d be in for about a three week span. We got up at 6:30 and we’re out right at 7.
We hadn’t slept great. Peter started the night on a hut mattress on the floor because he is too tall for the bunks. However, a mouse chased him up to the bunk next to me. From there he snored the rest of the night. Not just snored though, I want a Guinness book of world records official to come judge the loudness of his snoring. He may be the world record holder for loudest snorer.
The trail started on a ridge that quickly descended to a river. The sun still hadn’t risen over the mountains. We were determined to make it to town as quickly as possible so we walked fast.
For the first few hours we walked next to the river, sometimes up on a ridge, sometimes down on the banks. We eventually crossed it.
From the river crossing we had a few big climbs to the last hut on the Richmond Range track.
The last kilometer to the hut was through a bog. We could see the hut the whole time making it feel even further away.
I arrived before 10am and signed into the intentions book. We took a 15 minute break and were off again. From the last hut to the highway we had three climbs, each one longer and higher than the last. Although it was 7.5 kms with some big climbs we did it in just under two hours.
When we got to the top we could see a road for the first time in a week. This excited us and we quickly made our way down the 4km mountain bike trail to the road. On the way down Charlie and Peter secured a lift into town from a mountain biker. They took my pack with them.
For the last 8kms into town I walked/jogged. I made it to the alpine lodge at 2 and the guys had a pizza waiting for me.
The lodge didn’t have anymore rooms except for their emergency room, which they wouldn’t rent out to anyone until 5 or 6. We hung out on their lawn and drank a bottle of Champaign until then. Eventually, we were able to get the room and talk down the price a bit.
As we were checking in Charlie’s friend Meghan met us. She is from Belgium but is in New Zealand for a wedding and decided to hike the next few days with us.
We all went to dinner at the alpine lodge restaurant and had huge burgers, making good on my pizza and burgers comment from yesterday. They were delicious.
After dinner we went back to the room and taught Megan how to play euchre. We have a fourth player again, even if just for a few days.
Tomorrow we will be taking a zero day here in St Arnaud. Although it’s a very small town it is the largest one we will be in for quite some time. We also have some celebrating to do. We plan on celebrating Christmas, finishing the Richmond Range, Charlie’s birthday (which is on the 30th), and a pre new year celebration.
The Richmond Ranges are finally done. This was the longest section of the TA and generally regarded as the hardest part of the trail. That holds true from our perspective. The last six days have been extremely difficult. It seems as though we have been nonstop ascending and descending huge amounts. My phone reads that in the last five days alone we have climbed 32,400 feet. That’s like climbing from sea level to the top of Everest plus three thousand feet, minus the whole winter-cold-death zone-Sherpa exploitation stuff of course.
We are happy to have this section behind us but we know there are still many more challenges ahead as well. The South Island has been a completely different beast than the North Island but also much more rewarding at the same time. This is the type of hiking I came to New Zealand for. The South Island has absolutely not disappointed.