New Plymouth

I'm back in New Plymouth, a day earlier than expected on account of cancelling my attempt at the summit. I was simply too exhausted to consider spending another day on the mountain. The AMC (around the mountain circuit) took me through about 50km of incredible wilderness but was extremely challenging. Recent storm damage caused severe erosion to the trails and it was tough-going most of the way. Poor weather made the first two days even harder. Still, the views on the last two days were incredible and made the journey worthwhile. And it truly felt like wilderness because I only saw a handful of people on the trail, and not a single person on the third day. I had an entire hut to myself last night, right up against Lake Dive with a phenomenal view of the mountain (pictures will come when I can upload them). Truly amazing. I've copied my notes from the last three days below. Incidentally, the equipment that I have brought along has served me very well.

Today saw good weather and I decided to hurry through the last section of trail so that I could make the 4:30 shuttle. After a relaxing (and beautiful) morning at the Lake Dive Hut, I hit the trail and saw people for the first time in about 36 hours when I arrived at the Dawson Falls Visitor Center. I grabbed a quick bite of real food there and then carried on. About an hour and thirty from the end of the loop I met a man from Hamilton who said he would show me the "local's route" back to the visitor center where I started. This route, along "the Razorback" was essentially straight down and was extremely hard on my already sore knees. Plus he was going incredibly fast. I started to get some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my knees and told him that I would need to slow. He offered my some ibuprofen, took my pack along with his daypack, and gave me his walking pole. By the time that we reached the VC my knee was feeling almost back to normal. I think it was just a bit of overuse, nothing torn. It feels fine now, just a bit sore. At any rate, I've decided to change my itinerary slightly and take some more days for rest. Instead of doing the Tongariro Northern Circuit (a 3 day alpine trip), I'm just going to head to National Park (that's the name of a town) and relax and maybe hire a bike for a day. Additionally, I will have another day in New Plymouth, which I'm going to spend at the beach along the Tasman Sea :) I'll be in Wellington by the 25th or so and on the South Island by the 27th.

Tonight was pleasant. I wandered around looking for food until I found a bar that sold food (it was Texas-themed which was funny). I was the only person there so I talked to the bartender for an hour which was good fun. He did a lot of fishing (for fish that I had never heard of) and a lot of hunting (for rabbits). Back at the hostel I've been talking a lot with a guy from Wellington who is spending a month in New Plymouth for work. We met on Monday when I first arrived. So beach tomorrow plus a few errand including the post office.

-Brian

January 19 - Holly Hut

Although the forecast predicted that the rain would be clearing from the area, the rain has persisted, quite heavy at times, throughout the day.

I was picked up from the hostel at 7:30 by Ian, a very friendly Kiwi driver. We talked some about the Taranaki region and he mentioned that dairy farming and oil drilling made it a very profitatable region. I talked to the staff at the North Egmont Visitor Center for about 30 minutes and then fueled up with a pancake breakfast at the cafe there. All the while, rain was coming down in rather heavy spurts.

I managed to hike an hour without rain and was treated to some views of the area at the base of the mountain, but to date have not seen the peak of Taranaki since I arrived in New Plymouth. I only walked 8 km of stream -- er, trail -- today, but it was quite exhausting and the weather is terrible so I have to decided to wait it out here at Holly Hut. The rain persists and the wind gusts are strong.

There was only the hut warden here when I arrived and 4 high school girls from New Plymouth arrived about 2 hours later. The hut warden is a volunteer and is friendly enough, but is a bit strange and really doesn't know much about the trails! The high school girls are -- well, they're high school girls. There is a woodstove here along with coal which is very nice -- it would be no fun to be in a tent right now.

Tomorrow will be a long day and I'm a bit concerned about the condition of the trails ahead. Today was slow going because of slippery rocks and deep puddles everywhere and I fear tomorrow will be the same. Some of the stream crossings are difficult, so I will have to be careful. Hopefully the weather will improve at least.


January 20, Waiaua Gorge Hut

I think today was the most difficult and most miserable day of backpacking I've ever had. The clouds and rain haven't cleared as forecasted and I arrived at the hut completely soaked. The hut is quite nice and I have it to myself so far. It's right at the edge of an enormous gorge (very impressive) and is also supposed to have a view of the mountain. I still haven't even caught a glimpse of Taranaki in two days. Hopefully I will be able to see it tomorrow morning. I'm even considering staying here an extra day and skipping the summit because I'm so sore and demoralized. I only covered about 15 km of trail today, but I don't think there was an easy stretch on it and it took me over 7 hours. Everything is dangerously slippery and my feet often sink a foot or so into the mud that's all around. Much of the walk was along a riverbed which was very impressive (and would have been more impressive if the peak wasn't in the clouds), but very tough-going. The stream crossings were difficult and the rocks large and difficult to move between. Erosion made for some very challenging ascents and downed trees were a pain. The worst part was the approach to Kahui Hut where I had lunch -- the bush was so overgrown that I couldn't see the ground and the ground was uneven and slippery. Just as I arrived at that hut, four New Zealanders (boys + 1 man) arrived from the other direction -- they had no interest in talking.

I haven't seen a soul other than those four at the hut all day, and I suspect I will enjoy my first quiet sleep of the trip. The girls last night were very noisy and kept slamming the doors in the hut. I did enjoy a game of Euchre with them and the warden earlier in the night which was very nice.

On the upside, the sun does seem to be tring to peek through. And I have a dry set of clothes on. I can only hope the weather will improve.

January 21 -- Lake Dive Hut

I ended up sharing the hut last night with two older men from Palmerston North -- one was Maori [I ended up seeing him at the other end of the circuit today]. I had such a hard time understanding their English, so we didn't converse too much.

After getting some excellent rest and sleeping in to 8:30, I was finally greeted with beautiful weather this morning. Not a cloud in the sky and the view was spine-tingling. It almost made the past two days worthwhile.

I had two routes to choose from today, a higher and a lower one, and since the weather was so nice I opted for the higher one. Two people had warned me about bad erosion on this route, but the lower route is known to be the worst on the mountain -- a big bog with no views. Of course, neither of the people who warned me had walked the trail, and I found it to be safer than the trail I walked yesterday. Plus, the views were incredible, especially as I climbed above the bushline. The trail was exceedingly steep [they don't really have switchbacks in NZ], but at least it wasn't slippery or covered in trees. I did run out of water for a bit, but I was able to filter some up soon enough.

Lake Dive Hut has sweet views and it's finally warm outside. I didn't see a single person today after I left the hut, so maybe I'll have this hut to myself.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Maketawa Hut [This later changed]. From there I can attempt the summit on Friday, or it's only about an hour walk to the visitor center where I'm getting picked up. Even if the weather is good, I'm not sure that I'll attempt the summit as I really don't have that much strength left. I will decide later -- for now, just relaxing with excellent views of the top of the mountain and Lake Dive.