Te Araroa Trail – Day 128

Thursday March 14, 2024
Distance/ Total: 15.0 km / 9.3 mi

Camping down low next to a river and a lake, we woke up with everything wet again this morning. We slowly got around and started on trail about 7:50am.

The trail started by climbing upwards and following the Greenstone River upstream. We soon reached the bridge over the Greenstone River, crossed, and continued up the valley.

The trail was a gradual uphill climb on the sidehill with lots of ups and downs. The going was slower than we anticipated and we stopped about 10:00am for breakfast.

Continuing on the trail continued climbing and we reached Greenstone Hut before noon. We went inside to sign the log book and were greeted by the hut warden on duty. He was inviting and pointed out the weather forecast for today – rain starting in the afternoon and getting heavier overnight then clearing in the morning.

We reviewed our schedule and made the decision to stay in the nice warm, dry hut for the afternoon and night and continue on in the morning. We took the opportunity to dry out our gear before the rain started and I was able to get caught up on my blogs.

Six other hikers arrived through the day that were hiking the 4 day Greenstone-Caples track. Shaun and I were the only TA hikers here.