Te Araroa (day 52) - Deception River to Bealey Hut [Goats Pass] / mile 1374
Challenging day walking up the Goats Pass, jumping the boulders and crossing the Deception river all the way to the top. Many river crossings happened today, and you would have thought that if you are walking up the river they get progressively easier. But not in this case. As it turned out Deception river doesn't have much space while flowing down from the Goats Pass, so it gets quite deep and the current is very strong. So much so that after a day of rain, this area is impassable. At the top of the pass there's a hut you can find here a CB radio where you can contact Doc about the river levels. Some people got stuck in this hut for three days during wet weather, waiting for the water level to drop. Many turned back and skipped this area completely. I was lucky enough to arrive here in good weather conditions and could climb this fairly challenging and quirky section of TA. Goats Pass is all about walking and climbing on boulders...