Oct 15 day 45. National Park 0 km.

Turns out I need to take a couple of unanticipated zero days to work out the river transportation. A large segment of the trail is impassable because of a collapsed bridge, so the best (only) strategy is to put in the water at Wades Landing and canoe all the way to Whanganui (about 160 km after a 50 km hike). I’ve been working with Gavin at Yeti tours, who is incredibly helpful and he connected me with Cory from Canada, a thruhiker I have been trailing for weeks. He arrived at National Park today, wants to zero tomorrow, so I’ll wait and hike out with him to Whakahoro where we meet up with Gavin and the canoes. Today was a good break for me– went to the Park Inn for breakfast, the Macrocarpa Cafe for coffee, and the train station for lunch. In that time, I polished up my opening chapter to the Pennine Way book, and sent it off to Granta. Here’s hoping they like it. This afternoon Cory came in, we got acquainted– interesting guy. The hostel is crowded with adventurers, people on gap years seeing the world, retired people on gap years seeing the world. There is a wonderful hum and buzz in the kitchen area while each prepare meals and talk about their day, plotting out the next. Such anticipation. Also met back up with Sophie and Pierre who just finished the Tongiriro Crossing, so it is old home week for the Te Araroa thruhikers. Just need Teddy, who is still back in Auckland. Spent late evening in Schnapps Bar with a German man who is working in Australia, a German woman mathematician, and a Portuguese engineer. All are touring around for a few months. Zero days can be strange–not just the lack of a backpack on my back, but also that weird insouciance that comes with skipping work. Long distance hiking becomes a job– not in the boring quotidian ways some jobs can become, rather the walking is what defines being, so not walking, or strolling in Tevas between places that have food and coffee seems the ultimate indulgence. Those who save their money to go to spas etc. miss out on real luxury. Breakfast seated in a chair with a back is more delicious than all the luxuries such places offer.

Oct 14 day 44 Whakapapa Campground to National Park 20 km 9:00-2:00

Today was all about the trail. It was also about my usually wrong preconceptions. Here in the middle of the national park– Tongiriro/Ruapehu– are a large number of trails catering to an equally large number of tourists. I started this morning from Wakapapa Village on a trail that led to a hut and also to a campground not far from the other village serving the National Park– felicitously called the National Park Village. It was only a 20 km hike and I left (late as I had big breakfast) because I assumed (!) it would be like walking a sidewalk. Most of the trails around Tongiriro are graveled, 5 ft wide, with nary a root or mud hole. I left the village on such a trail, in a damp misty almost rain, winding through young forest with regularly spaced informative signs for the nature hikers. It was a bit cool, so I hiked with some pace and was rewarded in a short while with some beautiful walking across alpine bogs. The Pennine Way taught me to appreciate bog hiking, particularly on well-designed well-drained paths. The trail then led into beautiful scenes of Ruapehu (were it not for low lying clouds), including long stretches on boardwalks to reduce impact on fragile flora. Then came the moment when the trail split, one fork leading to Whakapapaiti Hut and the other to Mangahuia Camp. Although, like Robert Frost, both seemed equally inviting, clearly the direction to follow was the hut and not the camp (the latter went on to the National Park village, my destination). Immediately on turning, I found myself not on the bog but in it. Not since leaving Tan Hill on Pennine Way have I found myself is such a bog– no way to tell whether a step was on a tussock or ankle-deep in water or mud. Those conditions prevailed for the next 5 km. I have crossed streams before, but usually not lengthwise. The trail followed yesterday’s rain down the landscape, and I slipped and slid behind it. Eventually I came out at the road, and a short hour on brought me to the village, dry socks, a bed, and some hot food. Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work out the logistics of traveling down the river to Wanganui

Oct 13 day 43 Tongiriro Holiday Campground to Whakapapa Campground 35 km (track official, not what happened) 7:15-2:00

A day started in uncertainty. The Tongiriro Crossing involves some serious altitude, including the edge of the Red Crater at over 1800 meters. There is still snow up there. A lot of it. All advice is not to attempt in bad weather, and my morning started out cold (down at low elevation) and wet, though there were glimpses of sun, and the cloud cover did not look significantly different from a typical New Zealand morning, so off I set. My plan was to get up to the Ketatahi Hut which was about 18 km from the campground and a little over six from the car park. I figured to get there mid morning and would then have a sense of how the weather would play out. If it stayed bad, I’d sleep in hut and wait for morning. The hike went well, long road walk followed by well-designed and maintained paths. As I emerged from the bush and started hiking the alpine tundra the temperature started to drop as I expected, and the wind picked up. I could smell the sulfur from the hot springs nearby. Still, I was well dressed in wind/rain gear, ready for what I thought would come. The trail has been rerouted a bit since I last hiked this track (I’ve already done this stretch twice before, but in summer weather), so I was not sure how close the hut was. The rain intensified and the wind soon got to gale force. It at times actually pushed me off the trail. The last kilometer or two were otherworldly– horizontal rain, freight train wind, and no clear end in sight. Then it appeared (not a moment too soon). The first thing I saw when I got to the door was the hut’s redesignation as a temporary shelter, not an overnight site any longer (because of a recent eruption– after all, this is a volcano hike). I went inside, stripped off wet clothes, and with shivering hands made an early lunch. As I did not get appreciably warmer–the wind by now was bashing the sides of the cabin– I spread out my sleeping bag on the table and crawled in which soon got my body temperature to a better range. Soon the door opened and a French couple came in, also shivering in the cold. They just wanted to see the first blue lake which is a couple kilometers further. Eventually the man did go up, but his smarter partner stayed behind in shelter. Then some Department of Conservation people showed up to work on the hut, surprised to find anyone there in this weather and relieved that we had decided to return down the way we had come. I packed up, headed back into the maelstrom, and could feel the temperature creep up as the altitude decreased. In little over an hour, I was off the mountain and in the carpark (for a day’s actual hiking total of about 24 km), where I met Toby and Gabe, two English tourists who were considering the climb. They changed their mind on hearing my story. As a bonus, they offered to drive me around to Whakapapa Village, my destination anyway, so inclement weather kept me from summiting but, after a great deal of effort, I did end up where I was supposed to be. The rain continued hard all the rest of the day, very glad not to be up on the mountain. After doing laundry at the camp (more to get it all dry than clean) I went to treat myself to dinner at the Tongiriro Chateau, a grand place we usually visit for refreshments on the Georgia Tech Taupo trip, so it was familiar ground. They have a large, old fashioned lounge for high tea, and it was filled with a mass of seniors who were on a north island train tour. All kiwis, voluble, funny, delightful. The kind of people who give aging a good name. This morning, while I was hiking back down the mountain, I thought about Thoreau in The Maine Woods where he climbed Katahdin, though, as most claim, he did not achieve the summit. His description of the mountain is some of his best writing, but I was thinking about how to him Katahdin was a cloud machine, making its own weather world. He did not end up posing at the top for pictures the way Appalachian Trail thruhikers do today, but he experienced the mountain in a number of its weather cycles and in its fury. His was a successful climb, as was mine.

Oct 12 day 42 stealth camp to Tongiriro Holiday Campground 28 km (actually at least 35). 8:00-5:00

What was supposed to have been a walk in the park didn’t quite work out that way. The main path on the 42 Traverse is clear and easy to follow. At some point, the TA veers off to the left– a turn I completely missed, so I found myself much further south than expected or planned. Fortunately I had a GPS app with the local terrain, and could plot my way down a series of trails to get to highway 47– the gateway road to Tongiriro. At first all went well, but each well-made path I chose would after a while become much less well-made and often damn hard to follow. I kept having to readjust, try different paths, and finally made it to a forestry road which, after some more bushwhacking, put me out on 47 about 5 km from the campground. Had hoped for an easy day because tomorrow is up and over Tongiriro in the rain and wind according to the weather service. Will have to stay flexible and just might find myself right back here tomorrow night. The day’s adventures coupled with the hunters last night got me thinking about how we perceive spatial relations in the bush, how different people occupy the same terrain. Guess that might need to be another pointless essay.

Oct 11 day 41 Taumaranui to stealth camp on 42 Traverse 34 km 9:00-4:30

My first equipment failure and it wasn’t my shoes (they keep holding on). The bottom valve of my camelback failed which of course meant a liter or more of water in the bottom of my pack. Made me glad I double bag lots of my stuff, but did have to spend morning with a wet ass. Took my time leaving Taumaranui as I had 20 km highway walk which I was dreading. Also, since it is a long time before resupply, I am as packed with as much food as will fit. I wanted to get a big breakfast which I did at the Bakery Cafe. Not as cool as Anna’s but it was open and had wifi. The morning walk was uneventful, and around 1:00 I got to a little town called Owhango. Just a couple of streets, but a really nice organic/local cafe, so I stopped and also had a big lunch, so I just had ramen for supper. It was one of those places that just made you smile. I seriously thought about adjusting my itinerary and camping nearby, but it was still early, the weather was good and I was finally going to get off the road, so I pushed on. Had really great afternoon jaunt up and down hills and over streams on the 42 Traverse jeep road. Later in afternoon, I found a spot just off the trail on a bed of moss, set tent, cooked, ate, got organized and crawled in. Later I heard a rifle shot and a bit later another one close by. Half hour later came a loud rustling up through the bush and soon emerged the hunter who was looking for his partner to help with the deer he had killed. We talked a bit, his hands were red with blood. Later, he walked back through with a big dog and his friend who he apparently was able to convince to carry the deer– a fine day for all but the deer.

Oct 10 day 40 Taumaranui Zero Day

I had hoped to get new shoes today, but the outfitter only sells heavy hunting boots. The shoe store had the perfect shoe, but not even close to my size. Looks as if I’m going to have to get another 200 km out of my torn up North Faces. Apart from the original parting, they have showed no further deterioration, so here’s hoping they last to Whanganui. I on the other hand have been showing further deterioration and opted for a rest day before diving into the many miles through the national park (which will include the Tongiriro Crossing, eventually followed by a boat from the Bridge to Nowhere I hope all the way to Whanganui). Slept in, watched some stupid television, found myself laughing out loud at some inanity, then morning in coffee shop trying to write, afternoon re-supplying and planning the next bit the trek. Had an unusual dinner. Down the street from my motel was a place called RSA “Returned and Services Association.” Similar to the VFW in the US, the RSA is one of the oldest veterans associations in the world, founded by soldiers returning from Gallipoli. It is a club, but they let me sign in as a guest and I had a good meal in interesting surroundings–large families with multiple generations eating together. It was an odd, but pleasant way to spend the evening.

Oct 9 day 39 Waihaha hut to Taumaranui 40 km hiking, 10 km ride 8:15-6:15

A ridiculous day. Started out slow as Jan, the Czech thruhiker in the shelter was sleeping in. I tried to be quiet (hard to do when you are opening and closing all those small bags, etc.). Still, got off at 8:15 with unclear goals. Was pretty sure I was not going to stop at the next hut and was thinking of camping at the road end. The forest was once again amazing, as was the trail along the side of the Waihaha River. Even though there was a lot of up and down, I made good time, passed the first hut just after noon and found myself at the road end just after 2:00. Cockiness got the best of me, and I decided to take a shot on making it to town before dark. Headed off down the road making good time through some pretty farmland. Got to a 40 km day with 9 more to go when a farm worker who had just finished his milking shift offered me a ride for the last bit. My head said don’t “yellow blaze” (an Appalachian Trail term meaning riding instead of hiking) but my legs said take the ride. Taumaranui is a decent sized town where I can do some good resupply and I hope get some new shoes. Found a cheap motel and some Thai food, and early to bed with very tired body.

Oct 8 day 38 Ngaherenga campsite to Waihaha hut 34 km 7:15-5:15

Whew, what a day that was. Started out of the camp fairly early in a cold misty rain, followed the Forest Trail bicycle path for most of the morning. You can see where a lot of trail building money went, that path is amazing: graveled, well drained, bridges. Made for a good morning, but soon enough the TA veered off and much of the rest of the day was ridge hiking. There were supposed to be many points to see Lake Taupo and Mt. Ruapehu, but in the rain I couldn’t see a km in front of me. What I could see were amazing trees, as the trail wound through old growth forest, with lots of Totara trees which are overwhelming, just the place one would expect to meet a Totoro. Was feeling good and hiking well so decided to try for the Waihaha hut. Glad I’m here now, but probably should have stopped and tented earlier. In the last four km I had to ford a stream and do a couple vertical ups and downs, both slippery and steep. Finally caught up with Jan, another thruhiker I’ve seen in some lodging logs. Tomorrow I should cross the 1000 km mark– one third through.

Oct 7 day 37 Mangaokewa road to Ngaherenga campsite 36 km 8:00-4:00

Al, the transport guy, picked me up at 7:15 to head back to Mangaokewa road to start the day, but because they are strengthening a bridge, we had to do a detour around the countryside and passed one of the many farm airstrips I have been hiking past all these weeks. I was always curious about them as they did not seem to be the kind of airstrip a wealthy farmer would set down on. Turns out they need to fertilize all that steep pasture land and the only way to do it is by air. We came up on one in full operation. A specially equipped single engine plane roars up a rough, short, steep landing strip. At the top is a loading truck that gets about two tons of fertilizer in its hopper, the plane spins around, gets reloaded and takes off, all in less than a minute. The pilot uses GPS to determine where to drop, takes a couple minutes and is back for another load. The man offered to take me up for a run, but I was just too damn chicken. Al dropped me off for what was a long, not particularly interesting road walk to Pureora, which is the start of a long mountain trek. Leaving the flat farmland behind tomorrow and should be able to see Lake Taupo and Mt. Ruapehu early on if the weather holds.

Oct 6 day 36 Te Kuiti to Mangaokewa road 22 km 8:15-1:15

Slack Pack– never did that on the Appalachian Trail, but did today. Since there were over 60 km of hiking without camping possibilities, I decided to stay two nights in Te Kuiti, walking out this morning to do the first section of 22 km, then was picked up by Al at the other end. Only carried a light pack with water, snickers, and rain gear, so I thought it would be a walk in the park. Much of the walk was beautiful, always in sight of the Mangaokewa stream. Had some difficulty early on as a bridge on the trail opened out on three unmarked options. Collating all the information I had didn’t resolve the question, so I spent 45 minutes trying each one, and of course the right choice was door #3. I then hiked on at a good pace, but for some reason could not make good time. One day I will understand that. The latter part of the day was pasture bog hiking, with a lot of ambiguously marked paths. Adding a bit to the stress of slow progress was the complete lack of cell service which I would need to call Al when I got to the other end. You can imagine my relief when, on emerging from a recently logged wasteland, then crossing a green pasture, I could see his car parked just past the gate. On ride back to town, he took me around a bit of the county, hoping to catch sight of the airplane spreading fertilizer on the steep hills. We rode up past the landing strip and saw the loading equipment, but the wind was up so the planes were down. He dropped my back in Te Kuiti mid-afternoon, so I did laundry and worked over my resupply as there is a long stretch ahead in the bush.