Te Araroa Trail – Day 97

Monday February 12, 2024
Distance/ Total: 24.2 km / 15.0 mi

Pippi, a hiker from the UK, had set up a shuttle for us this morning at 8:00am. I was up at 6:00am and packed up before 7:00. I went down to the kitchen and made some coffee and ate some cereal and Tim Tams while waiting for our ride.

We reached the Windy Point trailhead at 8:45 and once again it was windy. I put on my wind jacket and headed up the trail. The trail joined the Hope-Kiwi Track and followed the Hope River upstream.

It was a pretty easy hike with a very easy grade through the trees and meadows along the river. I reached the Hope-Kiwi hut about 1:00pm and stopped in to eat lunch. The trail had a few stream crossings and I took off my wet shoes and socks to dry while I ate.

After eating my shoes and socks were still a little damp, but much better than before. The trail from the hut went across a large meadow and then followed along the Kiwi River. This area was a muddy swamp and my shoes were wet again. I rinsed them off at the next river crossing as I started to ascend up to Kiwi Saddle.

It wasn’t a big ascent and I soon reached the top. The trail stayed in the trees and on occasion I could see Lake Summer through the trees. I continued on for another few kilometers. I soon came to a suspension bridge across Three Mile Stream and noticed a nice flat spot under some trees as I crossed the bridge. It was about 5:30pm so I called it a day and decided to take advantage of the great campsite along the stream.

As usual the sandflies were hungry and I applied insect repellent as soon as I stopped. I setup my tent, collected water, and was able to eat outside tonight. I finished up and climbed into my tent for the evening only letting in about 10 sandflies tonight.