Te Araroa (day 62) - Lake Ohau to Martha Saddle / mile 1582

I nearly went through all four seasons today, crossing Ahuriri wasn't possible so I had to take the detour.

It was still raining in the morning, I put my wet underwear, pants, socks and shoes on, ate porridge I cold soaked overnight and hiked out. Next couple of hours were a mixture of rain and wind. Wind would dry my clothes, rain would make me wet again, it happened several times. Eventually weather stabilized, but it was quite windy until the whole day.

At around midday I started to see Northbounders, few crosses the river yesterday and camped on the other side but the ones trying to cross today couldn't do it, everyone was taking the detour to the bridge few kilometres downstream. I reached Ahuriri at 1pm, checked both recommended crossing points, but the water would go above my knees immediately after stepping into the river and my trekking pole would disappear while trying to check the path. Water was all muddy, current very strong. It was impossible to check how deep the river was even one step ahead. I decided that it was too risky to cross and started to make my way downstream to the bridge.

It took me over an hour to get there, trail was going through the farmland, I had to jump couple of fences to move forward. Farmers put warning signs about private land and trespassing but there was no other way through. Bridge itself was closed for traffic and fenced off, it wasn't the best planned detour but it worked. Other side of the road up the river had some traffic and I managed to get a hitch half way through with a pair of hunters going to the mountains for the weekend.

I hiked from here another 7 miles until 6pm, went pass the Tin Hut which wasn't even marked on the map, one hiker was staying there tonight. Eventually I stopped a mile before Martha Saddle, it was quite windy but I managed to find a semi-sheltered spot and wedge the tent well enough so it wouldn't fly away at night.

Weather forecast was looking good for tomorrow. I was planning to get through this higher section and sleep somewhere within reach of Wanaka city the day after.