Te Araroa Trail – Day 106
Wednesday February 21, 2024
Distance/ Total: 29.1 km / 18.1 mi
Another great night of sleep in the tent. It was a cold night last night and I had condensation on my tent I had to wipe off this morning. Some of the other hikers complained of frozen tents, but mine was fine.
The trail today is about 25km of roadwalk and 4 km of trail. The gravel road is a well maintained road leading back to the north end of Lake Coleridge. There was very little traffic and as we continued down the road, very little shade. We started out cold and a constant breeze kept it from getting too hot as the day progressed.
About 7 km from the Lake Coleridge Lodge the trail left the road and followed a farm track and then a sheep trail along the south end of the lake. There were a few hills and some steep side hill trails leading to another gravel road.
We followed the gravel road toward Lake Coleridge Village and it turned off and dropped down the hill to a pine tree Arboretum created by the powerhouse manager in the 1930’s. There were over 160 different conifer species in the reserve.
Soon after leaving the arboretum we reached the Lake Coleridge Lodge and were greeted with an ice cold Coke and homemade cookies. I had a bounce box to pick up there with my last pair of shoes and more of my medicines.
I spent the afternoon packing up my medicine for the rest of the TA and washing my clothes. They offered fries and waffles & ice cream and I bought both for my dinner there tonight.
