I might have woken in the dark at 7 am, but went back to sleep for two hours. My throat was sore for the first time in years. Body sore as well.
That needed a quick re-jig of my itinerary.
Rather than smashing out another huge day, I could spend the day in the hut to recover. There wasn’t any rush, but big rain was predicted for the following day, so I now might have to stay three nights.
I had a vague plan to visit both Bobs and East Matakitaki Hut, but having been to both at least half a dozen times over the years, there was no imperative.
I had the four-bunk hut to myself. Plenty of soaking firewood was scattered across the ground after some trees blew over nearby and someone had chainsawed them into lengths. In any case, I had six days’ food remaining, plus a couple of emergency days.
So I spent the day chopping up the log rounds and stacking them inside to dry the sodden lumps, then wandered down to the river to remind myself about the crossings to the start of the Burn Creek Hut track. It looked quite doable considering it’s the middle of winter, but for once that wasn’t my objective. Actually, the river seemed quite low.
I cracked out 17 km yesterday, but only managed 5000 steps today.
It’s now evening, so I hope the rain concentrates its pounding tomorrow and clears quickly.
A guide to the night’s accommodation: Downie Hut
