Two thumbs - Royal hut

18km 7hrs

Woke up to the sounds of the NOBO hikers leaving at 0530, I guess they were hoping to get to the car park before anyone was dropped off for better hitching.

There was quite a thick fog so we were in no hurry to leave. With 5hrs to stone hut and additional 2 to royal hut, we were confident that we would complete the day in plenty of time. However, the fog hadn't lifted by the time we reached the saddle so we missed out on any views that were to be had.

Heading down from the saddle we met a couple of hunters camped by a stream who pointed out where some tahr were grazing near the path. Even with their info they were hard to see.

The rest of the morning was just walking through tussock trying not to trip myself up watching the clouds veiling and unveiling the mountains. It's incredible just how much tussock land there is.

We had lunch tucked out of the wind by the stream near stone hut, had a quick look at the place and continued on to Royal hut.

Royal hut is near a stream so I popped down to wash socks, undies and my walking shirt as well as myself. Once that was done there was nothing for it but to lay in the sun while my waking dries on the warm rocks.

We had the hut to ourselves for a good few hours but all but before we had dinner a big group of young people rocked in , they'd all come in from forest creek as they were worried about the river crossings.Leggi altro