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...