Day 44: Bog Inn Hut to Waihaha Hut (985-1003)

Thursday, January 12

Today was a short but wonderful day. We all woke up around the same time and hit the trail sometime around 8.

When we went to bed last night, we could hear little critters scurrying around the hut. But they stopped after less than an hour and came back for less than an hour in the morning around sunrise. They didn't bother us or any of our belonging so that was a plus.

All morning the forest trail was perfect. There were a few slightly muddy spots, but compared to what is normal for the TA it wasn't muddy at all. Around 10:30 or a little after I caught up to Julia, Puff Puff and Kristen taking a break at Weraroa Summit. There wasn't a view because it was surrounded in brush, but it made it a nice place to stop for a break (if there's no brush it probably would have been very windy).

By the time we made it to the summit, we were over a third of the way done with our planned hiking for the day. We decided to stop in about 7 kilometers for another break before the last little uphill to Waihaha Hut.

Puff Puff, Julia and Kristen hike a little faster than me, so I saw them again at our designated break spot. On the way I passed a really nice potential campsite with a bench and a fire pit. The trees were covered in bright green moss, like I was in an enchanted rain forest, and some of the trail had bright purple flowers lining the sides.

One thing that surprised me was how many fallen trees there were on the trail. Since it wasn't a muddy or really dense forest they were usually easy to get around, but as I listened to trees groan and creek with the breeze I wondered how much longer they had until they fell as well.

In the early afternoon we made it to our second break spot, ate some snacks and continued the last two kilometers to the hut. There was a tiny portion of really steep downhill before our break and steep uphill after our break, but it wasn't covered in sloppy mud so it was really manageable.

We made it to the hut before dinner and it was great! The last hut we stayed in had almost only TA hikers staying at it recently. This one was used about half by TA hikers and half by hunters and other hikers. It had 10 beds and all kinds of useful items around, like condiments, pots, soap, firewood, axes and a saw.

A little after we arrived two Kiwi women on mountain bikes came by the hut. They tried going a bit further up the trail and Julia and Kristen jumped into a swimming hole by the hut. Puff Puff and I thought it looked really cold (we were right) so we didn't go in, but they embraced the cold water and jumped in again.

When we were all back at the hut two Canadian TA hikers came by a little after 5 pm. Everett and his father Jeff were hiking the trail together. They talked with us for a bit and then continued. They wanted to make it to the next hut before dark so they could make it to the town of Tamaranui tomorrow.

About 15 minutes after they left, a bearded American walked up. His name was Dave and he was hiking the TA with his identical twin brother Mike. We all talked with Dave until Mike showed up too. It had began raining so we'd all definitely be staying at the hut tonight.

We ate and talked. As it got darker we sat around the table in the hut and got in our bunks. Puff Puff read the seventh chapter of Julia's book on Captain Cook to all of us, and we all really enjoyed it. Soon after that we were all ready for bed. What a wonderful day!

The pretty purple flowers I've been seeing next to the trail.

Made it to the 1000-kilometer mark! One third of the way done!

Our nice break spot by the river before the final uphill bit to Waihaha Hut

Julia and Kristen follow Puff Puff over the log and across the river to continue on the trail.

A photo Kristen took of me going up some vertical trail.

Another photo of the nice trail for today.

Puff Puff reading to us from Julia's book in Waihaha Hut