Day 125: Birchwood Road to Top Timaru Hut (2503-2525)

Monday, April 3

I woke up around 7. I ate and packed up as everyone woke up. Yesterday I had to try pretty hard to keep up with Jen, Alex and Bart, so I wanted to leave a little earlier than them.

I left around 8:30 but I think Jen, Alex and Bart left shortly after. Around 10:30 I made it to Tin Hut and it started raining. Tin Hut seemed to be a private hut open to TA hikers. It wasn't amazing but it was a wonderful lunch stop. Especially because it helped me avoid the rain.

With the rain, the temperature was dropping. Since I wasn't hiking and was waiting out the rain a bit, I started to get chilly. I pulled my sweater and rain pants out of my pack and put them on. Bart arrived and then Alex and Jen arrived shortly after.

Jen and Alex made their falafel. They both bought powder that mixes with water, then they cook it in their pots. I think with butter.

Shortly after it started raining, I left Tin Hut. It was about 11:45. When I was just out of view of Tin Hut, I ran into a NOBOer from California. He said there might be 20 minutes of snow on the saddle. Brrr. I told him there was a Hut with some other hikers a few minutes up the trail for him to look forward to.

The walk up and over the saddle was much easier than I thought it would be. It was a decently wide 4 wheel drive track with switchbacks almost the entire way. I don't know if I'd want to drive on it, but it was easy to follow and walk on.

When I made it to the saddle, it was veiled in clouds, but I was just glad the snow and rain had stopped. The snow had melted since the NOBOer was up there.

The walk down from the saddle was really nice. The orange markers stopped. I found that a little odd but the trail was easy to follow. Between the generally easy-to-follow trail, looking at my gps to see I just needed to stay on the same side of the river, and spotting cairns every now and then, it was no problem.

I arrived at Top Timaru Hut around 3:30. It was a 6-bunk hut and a NOBOer, Oliver from Belgium, was there. He said three hunters were there also. I could see their packs on three of the beds. I really didn't want to sleep in my tent, but there were only two beds for Jen, Alex, Bart and me.

I took off my pack, put some layers on and got water. Bart arrived as I was starting to pack my snacks for tomorrow. Jen arrived shortly after. And Alex shortly after her. Will and Hugh, two of the hunters, arrived and I talked with them. They were from Hawea and the other hunter with them was from Auckland. They were looking for red deer.

I made my fancy ramen and fish packet dinner and Will and Hugh gave me one of their sausages. They had been helicoptered in this morning so they had lots of food and drinks.

After dinner, Will tested his gun. He had fallen on it earlier in the day, so Hugh ran a bottle or something to the other side of the river for him to aim at. It was fine.

I started to pack up my stuff as best I could. It would be a full cabin. If the hunters didn't mind, Jen and I would try to squeeze into a bed and Bart would sleep on the floor. It was going to freeze overnight and we really didn't want to be out in that if we didn't have to be. Jen and I slept opposite ways, feet to face, so we'd have a bit more room.

Some of the people in the cabin snored really loud and I felt bad for Jen. Her head ended up by the hunter that sleep talked really loud. He even yelled out at a few points. But at least we weren't out in the cold. The cabin was new and really well insulated. In this part of the country, fires can easily spread. Because of that, all the new cabins are extremely well insulated to make up for their lack of fire places.

A view from the trail earlier in the morning.  

A bit of the 4 wheel drive track.  

The view from the overcast saddle.   

Top Timaru Hut.