A Dangerous Business

Date: 5th December 2023

Start: Kaniwhaniwha Campsite (km 808.1)

End: Pahautea Hut (km 816.4)

Distance Travelled: 8.3 km

Total Distance Completed: 813 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: Fernando by ABBA

Feet Status After All That Mud: completely dry!

We have a new shortest day record! It may have been short but it was definitely not a boring day. It took me 4.5 hours to do those 8.3 km, so I’ve got a lot to talk about.

First things first, another weary early wake up. The forecast was saying the best weather would be in the morning so Vicki, Sonja and I figured we should make the most of it and get going early. We farewelled the campsite at 7:40, diving straight into the forest.

There were a couple semi-sketchy bits, but for the most part the first two-thirds of the summit track were really nice. We were all in a good mood too, despite knowing what was to come. But that didn’t matter right now, we just focused on the climb.

This is precisely the kind of walking that I love to do. It was a cool morning, plenty of shade from the trees, and a well-graded track. Looking at Far Out made it seem like we were only 90 minutes away from the hut. Perhaps if we were fitter, less risk averse, and carrying less weight it would’ve only taken us 90 minutes. But not for us, because with around 2 km to go to the summit, the mud started.

As an added bonus the climbing also got steeper and the track just generally rougher. Each step was carefully thought out, grunting our way up the mountain as we balanced on small foothold and tree roots. The mud occasionally tried to feast on our shoes, but overall I don’t think it was any worse than what I’ve had to go through so far. It was very slow going however, and I k ow that if I had been alone I would’ve had a much worse time coming up here. Waiting a day to go up with Vicki and Sonja was definitely the best move.

Towards the top the trees began to thin out, small birch trees offering brief views out into the rest of the park.

The fact we were getting any views at all was a nice surprise. I was expecting a constant drizzling of rain all the way up with the mountains shrouded in clouds. Instead we could see far into Waikato on all sides, making for a nice reward for all the mud we had to trudge through.

Towards the top a couple other tracks converged with ours as did some small sections of boardwalk. From some of the blogs I’d read I thought this boardwalk would take us all the way to the summit. I don’t think I need to explain what happened next.

Some sections felt like they’d been placed there arbitrarily, as they’d end right where a pool of mud would be. But with not very far to go to the hut now, none of us cared all that much, soon arriving at the summit.

Well and truly the highest point I’ve reached on trail so far, it was getting pretty chilly up there so we didn’t stick around for long. The hut was only 600 m further on, but a sign stating it’d take us 30 minutes to get there proved sadly accurate. Probably the roughest and slipperiest section so far, each step had to be carefully placed, although without the stress that had plagued me on similarly slippery sections on the Dome. I can attribute most of that to having company with me. It also meant that the last bit went by quickly, the three of us rolling into the hut at 12:15.

By all measures it was a short day of tramping and we could’ve potentially gone on, but huts are great so we’re staying here. This is the second hut built on this site after demand for it surged during the 2000s. The new hut is very modern, with two bunk rooms, several tables for eating and relaxing, toilets, sinks, everything you could want from a hut. Except a fireplace. That would’ve been nice as even in the middle of the day it was a bit chilly inside.

Throughout the afternoon the weather got progressively worse, first with a band of cloud covering everything and then a light but firm rain beginning to fall. Inside the hut was very comfortable, sympathetic to the other hikers still on trail. Destroyer had got here before us, Maud – a hiker from France – arrived about an hour after us, followed by a Swedish couple opting to camp, Jazz Hands coming in at 4:30, and a large group of 5 coming in an hour after… and then Lupi, Snacks, and Ron arrived too. All of them were soaked, a mixture of rain and mud coating their bodies. If my maths is right there were now 16 people in the hut which thankfully has capacity for 20. I did enjoy the peace and quiet when it was just the five of us, but this is still the least populated but I’ve been in; the other 9 I’ve stayed at were all on Great Walks.

Thoughts now turned to what our plan for tomorrow would be. It’s 5.4 km to the trailhead, with signs suggesting it could take anywhere from 3-5 hours to complete. Most hikers report a ridiculous amount of mud on the way down, both deep and slippery. And there would now be a tonne of traffic heading down that track tomorrow morning. It’s a fairly easy road walk afterwards, but I don’t want to wait around for too long tomorrow morning. Might be another early start, made harder by the cold temperatures at this altitude. Maybe we could ask Search and Rescue to give us a lift down on their helicopter?

It may have been a noisier evening than I was anticipating, but I still had a lovely time talking with people about their day and other business. After I did the Milford Track in 2017 I fell in love with New Zealand’s hut network, spending a great many hours in the months and years since then researching them, their facilities, their history, and how to get to them. There is something really beautiful about the absurdity of walking into a forest or up a mountain to a building that you then share with both friends and strangers. They might be more spartan than some of the huts you can find in Europe, but I’m content with what the Kiwi’s have done with theirs. So, with the rain still falling outside, I made my way to my bunk, finished writing this blog post, and got to bed with a mixture of dread and anticipation of tomorrow’s trail.