I left Miranda and headed for Thames. The first thing I did was purchase a tarp to shield my poor tent from the relentless rain. I went to the visitors center then I made some phone calls back to the US that had been on my to-do list. I stopped into Cafe Melborne for a bite to eat, I ordered coconut pork sliders and chips (fries). I drove 20 minutes to the DOC center near the Kauaeranga Kauri Valley trail for some info about the trek. I booked a spot at the service hut on the trail for the night and drove down to the trailhead.
I loaded my pack with what I needed and set off at around 5pm... Before the trail even began, I had to cross the river. The recent rainfall had brought the river up pretty high and even though I found the shallowest part I could, it still went halfway up more shorts. The next part was uphill over slippery, muddy rocks and through the forest. I went up a few sets of stairs and continued climbing. Then there was a massive set of stairs that really kicked my booty. It went alongside a set of rail tracks that was used back in the early 1900's to transport goods into the valley and to haul out the timber that was being logged at the time. At the top of the stairs I realized I forgot my booking number for the hut. I didn't want to turn back for it after going all this way and I really hoped that the hut warden would be able to understand or be able to somehow look up the reservation. This worried me for the rest of the hike.
The trail kept going up and up. It was difficult to enjoy this hike because I knew I only had three hours until dark so I wasn't stopping to take pictures or to even take many breaks for that matter. My pack was quite heavy and I was only wearing my Teva sandals because of the blisters -not the best combination for hiking. Although the sandals were okay since a lot of the trail was wet and muddy. I stumbled upon a small campsite and a sign near it said Billygoat Basin. Wait a minute.. I looked at my map and saw that this campsite was on the second portion of this trail's loop. I had taken the wrong trail. Instead of going to the furthest trailhead and starting on the Webb Creek trail, I went to the first trailhead I saw and was now making the loop around from the other side. This side I knew was an hour longer and much more strenuous. So now instead of it being a 3 hour hike, which I figured was doable and I could certainly make it by dark in maybe 2.5 hours, it was going to be more around 4 and all uphill. Excellent.
I kept up a quick and hurried pace and came to a dried up creek bed that had been gorged out by the water. But this creek bed was made of clay and was very slippery. It was hard to maneuver, most of it you had to climb up with your hands and knees, and I ended up slipping and falling, which was not very fun. This trail was kicking my butt and I had created all these stresses for myself: leaving too late so I was rushed, accidentally taking the longer and harder trail, and forgetting my booking #. Though frustrated, I kept going and going, putting one foot in front of the other, and reminding myself that there was going to be an end to this challenging night.
More rocky and slippery terrain, I finally made it to the hydrocamp, which was just a rest stop area at the Y in the trail that goes either to the Pinnacle hut or takes you down the Webb Creek trail, the side of the loop that I should've came up. So now I knew I was an hour away from my destination. And it was 7:30. I kept the hustle up, only stopping to catch my breathe and take a drink of water. I finally, finally made it to a sign that said the hut was 10 minutes away. And I could see it through the trees. Hallelujah! I was SO relieved. I could also see the Pinnacles up a little further too.
I made my way to the hut and arrived at 8:30, just before it got totally dark, thank goodness. And this hut was not what you think of when I say, hut. This place was a compound. A cluster of big buildings bunched together in the middle of nowhere. It also had a helicopter pad. It had multiple outhouses with running water to wash your hands, and a big walkway into the dorm rooms where there were nice bunks with mattresses and a few other big rooms attached. This place could hold 80 campers so it was quite big and was much better than what I expected.
I met the warden, Lester, and told him I forgot my booking #. He didn't have my name on his sheet and I thought oh crap. He said he hadn't updated his list in a few hours so I was hoping once he did, my name would be there. He actually had computer access way up in the valley and soon found my name on the reservations. What a relief. I went into the kitchen to heat up some dinner. Even the kitchen was awesome. It was a huge room with lots of counters, stove tops, utensils and pots, tables with benches, and even a wood stove. You could seriously live at this hut it was so nice.
I sat down to eat and struck up conversation with a couple from Texas. They were super nice and we shared our stories and they also gave me a lot of good tips on NZ. We were next to a group of younger guys from Germany (surprise surprise). The warden commented on the big dinner they were having and they explained it was basically free. This was because they found all the food in the dumpsters of grocery stores. They said it was all good food but because maybe it was a day passed the expiration date, the store threw it out and that the world throws away about 40% of the food it produces. It's crazy to think about and so they were just taking advantage of a fault in the industry. It sounds gross, but hey free food.....
I talked some more with the Texans and also an Englishman and headed off to bed. What a day.....!
