Day 1 | Rocks Hut, almost like coming home

I had a few things left on my To Do List, so it wasn’t the earliest of starts.

T gave me a ride up the Maitai Dam, and it says something of the progress of my integration with Nelson since my return that I had two other unsolicited offers.

The immediate weather forecast wasn’t too great: showers, but the sky wasn’t looking too bad from the valley. The temperature didn’t encourage T to linger.

I have not warmed to the walk up to Dun Saddle. It’s a decent climb, 800 m or so, on a slope that doesn’t allow just casual strolling, particularly when I am wielding a pack carrying 12 days’ food, along with an ice axe and crampons. No tent required, of course; there are plenty of huts along the way.

Nearing the saddle, it started to snow lightly, huge flakes, although nothing settled. It was cool, but I was well rugged up, and movement kept me warm.

I needed my headlight for the last 20 minutes, clearly I wasn’t making speedy progress. I was overtaken by darkness.

Ideally I’d prefer the easy, but longer amble up the Dun Mountain Walkway, an historic tramline with a horse-drawn tram gradient, but for various reasons it’s been closed for most of the time over the last few years since I arrived in town. First a slip, then tree felling, then building a predator-proof fence, then more tree felling.

Not surprisingly, there was no one in the hut, just a forlorn weka, investigating all the sudden noise. I have a feeling there will be plenty of solitude on this trip.

By 7 15 pm, I was tucked in bed.

Temperature in the hut: 5° C.

A guide to the night’s accommodation: Rocks Hut