Day 84: Valleython

January 2, 2020

Kilometers: 2004.9-2047.2

Waiau Hut to Boyle Flat Hut

Two older kiwis staying at the hut got up at 4:30 this morning. They sat in the dark with headlamps on and talked over coffee. Uhh hello this isn’t a Starbucks and the sun won’t be up for another hour, what are you doing? This disrupted the last few hours of my sleep. 

We were on the trail right at 7. We had a long but relatively easy day ahead of us through valleys. The sun hadn’t made its way over the mountains yet when we began. 

I knew we’d be having many stream and river crossings today so accepted the inevitable wet feet. Making no effort to cross and keep my feet dry allowed me to go fast through the obstacles. My legs felt great and I got pretty far ahead of Charlie and Peter, this led to me hiking most of the day alone up in front. 

As the sun rose I walked down the valley listening to and finally finishing “Sapiens”. I’ll need to download some new books the next time we get WiFi. 

The first 15kms flew by and at about 10:30 I sat down for first lunch. Knowing today was our last full day before resupply I tried my best to eat all the food I had left so I wouldn’t have to carry it. I figured Charlie and Peter would catch me but after a twenty minute eating sesh they still weren’t in sight so I kept on trucking. 

The next 11kms to Anne Hut started much of the same. The mountains in the distance got closer. The track became a 4WD track, which meant even faster walking. 

I arrived at Anne Hut at 12, right at the same time as two other trampers who would stay there for the night. We talked as I ate and waited for Team Belgium. Charlie and Peter ran out of fuel again (because they eat noodles for every lunch) so I waited for them to finish borrowing mine before I started off again. 

I left at 1 with 16km left in my marathon. The trail very slowly climbed a few hundred meters up to Anne Saddle. At the top I rewarded myself with the only snickers bar I had for this section. Can’t believe it made it this far. From the top I was able to jog and quick walk back down to the river bed. There were a few huge downed trees with many limbs. Climbing through them I felt like a jewelry criminal contorting my body through a complex laser alarm system to get to the huge diamond like in the movies. 

As I arrived at the river it began to rain. It was the first time it had rained on us during the daytime on the South Island. With only a few km to the hut I opted to not put my rain jacket on. My upper body got soaked from the rain and my lower body got soaked from the long wet grass i was walking through. 

I arrived at the hut five minutes after 4. There was a nice older kiwi couple there who I talked with for awhile. I ate another snack and headed down to the river for a bath. It was raining and freezing cold water but feeling somewhat clean was needed. 

I had a freeze dried meal of Mexican chicken, which came with a side of nacho chips. It was too spicy, I rate it very low on the freeze dried food power rankings. I also donated my extra dinner to the hut for someone else who needs it. We are getting out of here tomorrow and I will be eating something greasy, not instant rice.

After dinner an American hiker my age showed up to the hut. I found out he lives kinda close to me and he hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018. We talked about our experiences hiking in Shenandoah and the Great Smokies. 

I loved crushing a bunch of kilometers today. It feels like the last two weeks we have been held to days with lesser distance, which has been mostly due to the terrain. It was nice to get out early today and put up a big number. 

Tomorrow we are waking up early again to finish the last 12km of this section. We need to pick up our food resupply boxes and we will also embark on a shoe finding mission. It may prove difficult as it seems there is about three cities on this whole island.