Wednesday February 7, 2024Distance/ Total: 16.3 km / 10.1 mi I had my first wild animal encounter in New Zealand last night. About 2:00am I heard some rustling outside my tent that woke me up. I grabbed my headlamp and fiddled with it to get it on. I looked around and couldn’t see anything. I laid back down and listened […]

Tuesday February 6, 2024Distance/ Total: 22.0 km / 13.7 mi Camping by the Travers River last night meant I woke up to a wet tent this morning. I wiped everything down, packed up and hit the trail about 7:20am. From John Tait hut it is a 1000m (3,300’) climb to the Travers saddle. The climb up is 8.5km (5.3mi) long […]

Monday February 5, 2024Distance/ Total: 24.6 km / 15.3 mi I’m taking 1/2 day off in St. Arnaud today to get my post updated, and take care of some bills and tax paperwork. I got up and had a cup of coffee and finished off my Tim Tams cookies from last night. The restaurant opened at 8:00 and I was […]

Sunday February 4, 2024Distance/ Total: 17.8 km / 11.1 mi There was a nice cold wind all night up on the ridgeline where I camped. It rained into the evening and even alerted some on the tent. I stayed nice and warm in the sleeping bad though and had a great nights sleep. I struggled getting around in the morning. […]

Saturday February 3, 2024Distance/ Total: 14.3 km / 8.9 mi The hut was pretty quiet this morning. I was the second person up and carried my gear out to the porch to pack it up. The rain was supposed to start even earlier today and I had a longer distance to go. I started up the trail a little before […]

Friday February 2, 2024Distance/ Total: 6.9 km / 4.3 mi Today and tomorrow are planned Nero days. It’s supposed to rain pretty heavily this afternoon so I want to get to the next hut before the rain starts. I was on the trail before 7:00am and the trail was pretty easy overall. It started with a short climb up to […]

Thursday February 1, 2024Distance/ Total: 17.1 km / 10.6 mi I was up and on the trail by about 7:00am this morning. The Mid Wairoa hit was down in a narrow valley with steep mountains on both sides. The trail followed the valley upstream. The trail was mostly cut on the side of the mountain, but rocks and steep cliffs […]

Wednesday January 31, 2024Distance/ Total: 15.2 km / 9.4 mi After the climb up Little Rintoul and Mt. Rintoul yesterday, I’m going to take it a little easier today. The 2nd hut up is on a stream and supposed to have a good swimming hole near the hut. I’m planning to hike there by mid-afternoon and take the afternoon off […]

Tuesday January 30, 2024Distance/ Total: 18.3 km / 11.4 mi Most of the other hikers in the hut decided to get up a 5:15 and hike up to see the sunrise from the ridgeline. I decided to stay in bed and see the sun when I got there. I was up and on the trail about 7:00am and enjoyed the […]

Monday January 29, 2024Distance/ Total: 19.9 km / 12.4 mi I was up and on the trail a little after 7:00am again today. The trail from camp climbed up about 200’ to a nice lookout into the Richmond Range. I stopped at the top and ate my breakfast while enjoying the view. The trail started getting pretty overgrown and at […]