Day 111: Bealey Hut to Hamilton Hut (2183-2198)

Monday, March 20

Sam, Lauren and I woke up around 7. When Sonya woke up she realized a mouse had gotten in some of her stuff, but not her food. They said they heard the mice crawling over their packs during the night.

The three of us left around 8:15 and listened to the next chapter of Malala. We came across Lagoon Saddle A-Frame Hut. We stopped to take a snack break inside to avoid the sandflies. It was a tiny but really nice hut.

Sara and Sonya showed up and kept walking. It was only 5.5 more kilometers to West Harper Hut. We left a little after Sara and Sonya walked by. They stopped at West Harper Hut to make lunch so we saw them there.

The hut had to be one of the oldest ones I've seen on the trail! And I'm glad we didn't plan to stay there. There was a gap between the floor and the bottom of the wall in some places so I'm sure mice had a blast in the hut at night. And the bunks looked like they could fall apart if you laid yourself down with too much force.

The sandflies were crazy so we kept walking to Hamilton Hut, which was just over 4 kilometers away. Sara and Sonya told us the hut was known as the Hamilton Hilton, so we expected it to be pretty nice. There were some scenic views as we walked, and I got a two-point fall for landing on my butt.

We went over a wire suspension bridge and then over one that was a bit nicer because it had a wooden plank bottom instead of the usual wire.

We made it to the hut around 3:30. It was really nice. It had a bunk room and bunks in another areas of the hut. Some bunk beds went up three high (I was really excited about this, but I guess there was a hut with three-high bunks in the section between Boyle Village and Arthur's Pass that I didn't do). The hut also had a radio to call the Arthur's Pass Visitors Centre and someone had come back and left their placard for finishing the TA on the fireplace. Sara and Sonya arrived shortly after us.

As Sam and Lauren and I unpacked, we listened to an episode of West Wing Weekly to go with a West Wing episode we had watched.

A Swedish couple showed up. They worked as doctors. Then a nice older Kiwi showed up. Since it was early, Lauren and Sam and I walked back to a little side trail we had seen earlier going to Mirror Tarn.

When we got back to the hut, a pair of Taiwanese sisters were there and Karolina showed up. I met her in Tamaranui and again right before going over Waiau Pass.

People just kept arriving all night. Nadine and another girl walking the TA showed up and we started making dinner. Then Marjolein showed up with Simon! They had been hiking together for awhile. Right as it was getting completely dark, another girl showed up who I think was walking the TA. Some of the other TAers recognized her.

I'm really glad Sam and Lauren got to meet Marjolein. They had heard a lot about her as we'd been hiking. We talked for a few hours and caught up, although we'd been keeping in tough on Facebook and knew roughly what was going on with each other. It was really good to see her.

Finally it was time for bed in the nearly-full cabin. The cabin is close to a few trail intersections, so it must be used a lot. Last night some people hiked out from it and stopped to talk to us at Bealey Hut. They told us multiple people had to put up tents.