Woken just after 5 am by birdsong echoing around the sheltered inlet of the lake. Dozed until 6.30 as another civilised 9am start today
Breakfast was another treat - bagels with a variety of spreads. Mine - savoury, then sweet - smoked salmon and cream cheese, followed by boysenberry jam, and plunger coffee - magnifico! Rob presented me with my phone which he had plucked out from under the hut. Phew! We then said our goodbyes to Rob as we wouldn't be seeing him again until the end of the hike.
Today's hike was taking us up to the ridgetop and an overnight stay at Panekiri Hut. It was only a short hike of 7.6 kms, but estimated to take between 4-5 hours, with a steep climb of 600m. Bring it on!
We set off just after 9am, with the track climbing steeply directly behind the hut. The track does flatten off in sections so you can enjoy walking through the beech, podocarp and kamahi forest. The forest changes after passing through 800m into cloud forest whiere you expect elves and fairies to appear from behind the next tree - magical. A cool change was building. Low cloud rolled in, bringing with it mists that swirled around the trees creating silhouettes and shadows. I was loving every minute of it.
After about 3 hours of hard climbing, we reached a clearing where we stopped to snack. From here, we could look back over the lake to our lunch spot of yesterday, feeling accomplished. On a fine day, you can catch glimpses of the east coast of NZ from this ridgetop, but Mother Nature was intervening and we had no such luck.
By now, the group had spread out over a long distance with the last person nearly an hour behind us. Callum was happy for me to take the lead group on. We followed the undulating ridgeline track towards Panekiri Hut. This was completely different to anything I had experienced before. Here, the dense vegetation of the forest clings to the mountain ridges and cloaks the valleys. And how many shades of green could I describe to you - forest green, moss green. fern green, lime green, asparagus, teal, emerald.............there would be at least 50 shades of green!
Today's hike was taking us up to the ridgetop and an overnight stay at Panekiri Hut. It was only a short hike of 7.6 kms, but estimated to take between 4-5 hours, with a steep climb of 600m. Bring it on!
We set off just after 9am, with the track climbing steeply directly behind the hut. The track does flatten off in sections so you can enjoy walking through the beech, podocarp and kamahi forest. The forest changes after passing through 800m into cloud forest whiere you expect elves and fairies to appear from behind the next tree - magical. A cool change was building. Low cloud rolled in, bringing with it mists that swirled around the trees creating silhouettes and shadows. I was loving every minute of it.
After about 3 hours of hard climbing, we reached a clearing where we stopped to snack. From here, we could look back over the lake to our lunch spot of yesterday, feeling accomplished. On a fine day, you can catch glimpses of the east coast of NZ from this ridgetop, but Mother Nature was intervening and we had no such luck.
By now, the group had spread out over a long distance with the last person nearly an hour behind us. Callum was happy for me to take the lead group on. We followed the undulating ridgeline track towards Panekiri Hut. This was completely different to anything I had experienced before. Here, the dense vegetation of the forest clings to the mountain ridges and cloaks the valleys. And how many shades of green could I describe to you - forest green, moss green. fern green, lime green, asparagus, teal, emerald.............there would be at least 50 shades of green!
We reached the hut at 1pm. No views from here as the weather continued to deteriorate and just as the last person arrived at 2pm, the rain came down. Warmly ensconced in the hut with a fire, I spent the afternoon chatting, reading and devouring the cheese platter. Walking Legends have negotiated with DOC to keep some non-perishable supplies in the hut, so Callum needed to bring up only a few items for dinner. We had carried out own sleeping gear and essentials for 1 night. I also carried my cider supply. A large group of students and 2 teachers on a Duke of Ed hike arrived during the afternoon. We almost had to put up the full-house sign.
The rain continued falling steadily throughout the night....................
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| Panekiri Hut |
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