A Dangerous Business

Date: 17th February 2024

Start: Fern Burn Hut (km 2640.5)

End: Roses Hut (km 2657.1)

Distance Travelled: 16.6 km

Total Distance Completed: 2503.6 km

Song Currently Stuck in Head: Maroon by Taylor Swift

Number of Skinks on Trail: hundreds

It’s been a while since my last long but slow day in trail, the kind of day where there aren’t many kilometres to do but you know it’s going to take all day to do them. That’s the vibe I had waking up today, watching Destroyer and Zilla leave early as they began the first of three climbs standing in between us and the shelter of Roses Hut. I had hoped to get away at a similar time to them, however there was a bit of a delay in packing up, eventually closing the door on the hut at 8:30.

Each of the three ascents was only around 500 m, but they were all steep. Very steep. It took all of 5 minutes before I had to shed a layer despite the coolness of the morning. It is worth noting that Oli would not be coming with us today as he’d be doing one of his trademark “back and forth” days, speeding to our destination and then coming back some way to take Maria’s pack. The 5 remaining members of the squad took things very slowly, a mixture of sticking at the pace set by Paul and Maria and numerous photo shoots hosted by Team Camera. Although I was under no obligation to stick with them, I did think it would be for the best. I don’t like being left behind so it would be unfair to them if I darted ahead. Besides, a slow climb means less pain on my body.

Some switchbacks would’ve been really nice about now, but I don’t think the ridge we were scaling would be wide enough for them. Guess that means I have to go straight up. Pole after pole went by. I thought I could see the top but never quite believed it; I’ve been fooled by too many a false summit in my time. In this case I needn’t have worried, a DOC sign marked the top of Jack Hall’s Saddle.

Now for the worse part, getting off this saddle. Early views of the track down did not paint a pretty picture.

Steep it may have been, but it was at least grippy. That doesn’t mean I trusted it to hold my feet the whole way down though, not in the slightest. I knew going slowly was the best and safest way to get down, but this was agonisingly slow and I couldn’t stop thinking about what ridiculous hour I’d show up at the hut tonight. I’m sure I’d still have enough sunlight to get there before dusk, but I’d probably not have the time to properly relax before bed. Oh well, at least these sort of days are a rarity.

The bottom of the track was the tiniest of stream crossings, the other side being a much smaller but just as steep climb over another hill. This is where my patience broke as I got hut fever, just wanting to get to Highland Creek Hut as soon as I could to take a break from this trail. I pushed ahead of the main group, manoeuvring around the twists and turns of the track to at last lay my eyes on the hut and the location of a well deserved lunch break.

The others soon caught up and we ended up staying there for an hour. I made the decision to push over the next 2 climbs solo, knowing Team Camera would stick with Paul and Maria. Climb number 2 began immediately after leaving the hut (spoiler alert: the terrain around here is very hilly), following a fenceline up a ridge.

At the very least, the views were pretty cool. Looking back at where I’d come, I could see down into the valley below. It seems weird that I was seeing all this in the middle of what is a farm.

No sign welcomed me to the top of the second climb, an unremarkable hill in a sea of similar sized hills all covered in dry tussock.

The track, however, was anything but unremarkable, and certainly living up to its reputation. I’d heard stories of some trampers doing the entire thing in a single day and wondering if they spent too much time determining if they could do it and not enough time questioning whether they should. I’ll likely never understand why some hikers choose to do stints like that. Going as quickly as I can over rough terrain doesn’t motivate me in the slightest. What does motivate me is the promise of a nice spot for a rest break by a stream before the final climb of the day.

Team Deutsche (and Matt) arrived 20 minutes later, Paul now sporting a brace on his right knee. These descents demand a lot out of them and that’s coming from someone in their mid 20’s who is trail fit. I left the stream feeling good as I was right on my expected pace for this section between Highland Creek and Roses Hut. A late finish it’ll be, but not extremely slow. The climb up from the stream did not make me feel good, but I was happy with the view from the treeline. Sure it was the same old valley I’d seen for the last few hours, but now there was a crazy Swiss mountaineer in the foreground. Oli was patiently waiting for us to reach him here and would now take Maria’s pack to the hut. I carried on, now rising up some lovely switchbacks and along another fence line, stopping only to book a campsite in Arrowtown for tomorrow. This was by far the easiest climb of the day, only taking an hour to reach the top.

The descent wasn’t so bad either, relatively speaking. There were still some steep bits, and now that I could see the hut I had to try my hardest not to rush down and risk hurting myself. A trail runner spooked me halfway down (I was listening to a podcast and didn’t hear him approach), but that was the only notable part of the descent. Internally doing a little jig when reaching the bottom, I set about walking the final kilometre on flat ground to Roses Hut which even from afar I could see was looking rather full.

We’d collided with a NOBO bubble and a group of trail runners spending the night at the hut, but thankfully there was still a free bed for myself. I took a few minutes to catch my breath and then frantically got dinner sorted whilst the rest of the squad rolled in.

Just under 11 hours on trail from Fern Burn Hut to here. I was exhausted from the physical effort I’d put in all day but satisfied that I’d managed to do it. Don’t quote me on this, but that might be the last major climbing day of the trail. There’s still a bit to go, but after Queenstown the trail does flatten out somewhat. With any luck I won’t have anymore 1500+ m ascents in my way. Knowing my luck, there’ll still be a couple rough slow days in there, just without any crazy amount of climbing. At this point I reckon I can cope with that.