Te Araroa day 88 – Almost flat
February 28th 2017
middle of nowhere - Boyle Flat hut
25.2 miles
Total distance: 1289 miles
I was having some weird dreams again and I woke myself up twice by snorting. But I didn't wake up when Julia called my name, apparently 3 times. When my alarm went off I called over and she was pleased I had finally woken up because she was raring to go. Everything was super wet of course, and looking out of the tent we were in a big cloud. We packed up before the Canadians which was unusual!
It was mostly flat today and we wanted to put some miles in to get us into town a day earlier than originally planned. We had a whole bunch of river crossings first thing which numbed our feet to match our already numb hands from packing up. We could see the sun and we just kept focused on heading towards it so we would warm up.
We crossed the river a few times, but nothing was above knee height and nothing was flowing fast, so other than being a bit cold we didn't have any problems. The trail followed the river and dipped in and out of the forest before turning into a 4wd track and we had a few miles of easy walking along a beautiful golden valley. Once we were in the sun it was boiling hot and there was barely a cloud in the sky. The river crossings became refreshing and the shade of the trees was a welcome relief from the sun. What a difference a few hours can make.
We walked continuously for 5.5 hours to make it to Anne hut for lunch. I was so hungry by the time I got there but still couldn't face eating any tuna so had a plain wrap and some biscuits. Anne hut was one of the nicest on trail so far, probably one of the newest too, but we still had over 10 miles to go so we didn't hang around for too long. We did manage to dry out our tents, sleeping bags and shoes in the intense heat under the porch, while we sat inside where it was nice and cool.
We hiked out and within about 20 minutes we had to cross a river again. Gone were the nice dry feet. The trail weaved in and out of the forest, there were little steep ups and downs, river crossings, marshy boggy areas. The sun was hot and I was sweaty. Julia was off out in front and I felt like I was in a race to try and keep up with her which I hate feeling like, so I hung back a bit, photographed some butterflies and kept to my own pace. We had a brief moment of boardwalk which was a nice break from the bog and the rocks but it didn't last long. We had plans to get to Boyle Flat hut and then reassess to see if we wanted to go 3 more miles. I found a bit of a second wind and either I sped up or Julia slowed down, but I managed to catch her up.
When we arrived at the junction to the hut I was done for the day, my legs hurt, my feet had been wet nearly all day, I was really hungry, it was 7:20pm and it already felt damp outside, so I said I wanted to call it a day at the hut, so we did.
I was so hungry I inhaled a tuna tortilla and ate the rest of my biscuits and chocolate. The Canadians arrived and there is another couple staying in the hut. Another couple are camping outside the hut because he knows he snores loudly, so out of respect for everyone else he has chosen to camp. Which is nice.
It was a long day and I feel like more should have happened, but we mostly just walked a lot.