Legs and Borders

Today was the last push before town and it worked out much better than I expected. I got out of the hut just after the sunrise making sure not to wake up the others which I most likely did anyway. Trail was following the rocky river bed with few crossings in between and was mainly going up. I've reached the Red Hills Hut before the midday and decided to take an alternative path to the Red Hills Car Park going alongside the official TA route, it felt like descending into a Carcassonne game board. After about two hours I reached the road leading to St Arnaud from which I took a short hitchhike to town. I got picked up by Steve, he was a retired marine officer living in the area. Steve was blasting Miles Davis in his red sports car. He dropped me off in the city centre and jazzed away making sure I was alright. Here I checked in at the Alpine Lodge which (luckily) was full, it allowed me to get a 20$ camp spot rather than 65$ bunk bed. They had a quirky rule to not give people camping...

"Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It's the best part of the day." George Allen Sr. Last full day of the Richmond Ranges section, tomorrow if everything goes well I should stay in town for the night. First portion of the day was a long climb along the Wairoa river with many crossings throughout the way. Water was freezing cold. The sun didn't show up in the valley until late morning so my feet got quite numb. Eventually I've reached Top Wairoa Hut where the trail departed from the river and started to climb towards Mount Ellis. Once there the steep rocky descent begun. I slid two times on the wobbly rock and landed on my butt. I was low on food, my energy levels weren't great and my body needed those calories to keep up the pace. At 3pm I've reached Hunters Hut and decided to push to the next one as that would put me in reach of St Arnaud, the town where I could get my next r...

New Year's Day. The views day. Today trail has been passing through the most scenic part of Richmond Ranges and probably some of the nicest landscapes on the entire Te Araroa. The weather also couldn't be better. I had an early start from Slaty Hut and reached the ascent to Little Rintoul Summit around midday. For the next two climbs and descents the surface was a scree of various sizes but generally getting smaller as I went through it. I didint mind walking on this kind of terrain especially when it was dry, but it could get a bit.. wobbly. Couple of people were really taking their time here, making sure they go through it safely. After climbing Little Rintoul it was turn for Mt Rintoul standing proudly at 1731 metres, the highest peak on The Araroa in Richmond Ranges. It was a really cool looking mountain, and to be fair the whole area was stunning. The descent from here was a very fine scree, you could slide on it ...

Weather was still bad in the morning after the rainy night. I've decided to make a move around 8:30, it was foggy but the rain and wind stopped almost completely. Trail was overgrown and full of water all the way to the Browning Hut, the views were getting better and the weather cleared completely with sun showing up every now and then. From here it was the stream crossing gamble. Normally the eight crossings ahead would be an easy task but today after 40mm of rain, they all turned into a roaring monsterosities. Few hikers decided to wait for a day and let them drop down at the Hacket Hut just before this section. I've decided to push on after meeting a Nobo hiker who told me that the water was around waist level at most. The streams were daunting nonetheless, trail was jumping across the same stream several times with only short intersections between. I took it slowly and eventually managed to go through all of the crossings. I changed socks...

First day of a traverse through one of the main highlights of The Araroa, Richmond Ranges. After leaving Pelorus Bridge trail was going on the road and the bicycle path for the first few hours until it eventually turned into the bush and went its own way. Track was pretty well maintained and not muddy which was a welcome change. We went past first few huts and it looks like they will become a staple on the trail from now on. People on the GPS app I'm using are posting the times to get from one hut to the other which is quite handy. Huts vary in size and facilities they provide. Smallest ones so far were 6 bunks with a toilet and river water access. The Rocks Hut I'm staying in tonight is bigger, it can fit 14 people with more space on the floor if needed, it has big kitchen area and a flushing toilets which is unheard of, especially at this elevation! And we are quite high already at over 800 metres, with the highest point in this section bei...