Day 39: Pahautea Hut to Hamilton via the Mahaukura Track (10 km)

Saturday, January 7

This morning I had planned to take the TA track backwards to the campsite around 6 or 6:30 am, but clouds surrounded the hut and it didn't look very nice out, so it was a little difficult to motivate myself to get going. After eating breakfast and taping my broken pole as best I could, I still wasn't positive which trail would be the best to take out of the forest. It was hard to know which one would end at the place with the best chance of running into someone going to Hamilton.

Perhaps it was a good thing I was so indecisive. A couple from Auckland that had stayed in the hut were in the common area of the hut and I asked if they had any idea. The lady had walked almost all the trails in the forest and was positive the Mahaukura Track to Grey Road would be my best bet. It was a Saturday and lots of day hikers park at the parking lot at the end of Grey Road. That trail was a few kilometers longer than the one back to the campsite, so I wasn't super excited about that idea. But she gave me a little pep talk. Telling me I'd make it unless I was extremely slow and that all the trees along the trail make good hiking poles. And I had done Bell Track to the hut. She said the trail from the Cone to the hut was the worst in the park (I wish any of the park information had said that. Just saying a trail is muddy isn't very helpful in New Zealand.)

The weather still hadn't cleared but it wasn't really raining so I decided it was time to go. Mountains are often covered with clouds in the morning. Around 8:30 I started the trail down to the carpark. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't ever as bad as the last bit of the Bell Track. When I got to Pirongia Summit, it was still veiled in clouds, but I climbed the lookout tower anyway. After making it over Mahaukura Summit, I ran into a couple on their way to Pirongia for a day hike. We talked for a bit and I told them what had happened with my pole. They were from Hamilton and had parked at the parking lot I was heading to. They offered me a ride if I was still there when they finished their hike.

There were some steep down climbs, but the weather cleared and the views were spectacular. I ran into a lady from the U.K. and talked to her for a bit and ran into three girls about my age on a day hike. I talked to them for a bit and they also offered me a ride to Hamilton if I was still in the parking lot when they finished.

After talking with them the trail got considerably easier and I passed a few more groups of people. The lady in the hut had definitely been right! I was beginning to feel a lot better. Around 3 or 3:30 I made it to the carpark. Nobody was there, but there were plenty of cars in the parking lot. And I felt like one of the people I had seen on the trail would be down soon. I sat down at a picnic table and tried to clean my feet as best I could with the water in my extra water bottle. There was some unavoidable ankle deep mud today and I figured the cleaner I looked the easier it would be to get a ride and the less mud I would get in a nice person's car.

After sitting around for maybe 30 minutes the three girls were the first ones to walk out of the forest. I asked if it was still ok to get a ride to Hamilton and they were more than happy to give me one. As I was putting my backpack in their trunk the couple I had first run into saw me and were glad I had a ride. They were ready to give me one too. Everyone is so kind here!

Two of the girls live in and work in the Hamilton/Cambridge area. They both work in the medical field. And the girl who was driving was living in Hamilton on a working holiday visa. She's from Canada and does graphic design. She found a job doing graphic design in Hamilton. They were so nice!

It's about an hour drive into Hamilton and they asked if I'd mind stopping for ice cream. Never say no to ice cream! We went to Duck Island Ice Cream and it was delicious. One of the girls had paid for all our ice cream before I had even gotten to the register. I cannot even believe how nice everyone is here. I got a rum raisin flavor and buttered popcorn (sounds weird but it's so good - I don't know how Ben and Jerry's hasn't thought of it yet). It was by far the best ice cream I've had in the country. Maybe the best ice cream I've had in years!

We sat in a park next to the ice cream shop to enjoy our ice cream and they dropped me off at the hostel I stayed at a few days ago. The wifi was still as good as it was before. I washed my muddy clothes, got some fresh food to eat for dinner and booked a bus ticket to Waitomo for tomorrow. I was fast asleep after that. The Pirongia Forest was exhausting for me. I hope the whole South Island isn't like Pirongia! It was ok for two days but a month or two of that kind of hiking could get exhausting.

Another fun down climb. The chains were really helpful!

The last few kilometers of the trail were like this. So nice and flat!