Around 5:30 last night two Americans showed up. They had hiked the alpine track in the yucky weather. They came in dried off and we fixed them a cup of hot tea. Shadow and I were so excited to see someone other than each other and Americans to boot. It was a nice evening talking before we all crashed for the night. The wind continued to howl and the rain poured, but by morning the skies had cleared. Having missed all the views yesterday, one of the hikers climbed back up Mt. Rintoul with us this morning. The climb up Mt. Rintoul and Little Rintoul was slippery due to frost on the rocks from freezing temperatures last night.
Today was the section we have looked forward to the most in the South Island. 8 miles of above tree line hiking. Our patience to wait a day for the weather to clear paid off. The hiking was no tougher than the Whites. Lots of up and downs, but when the views are this good, it doesn't matter how hard the terrain is to hike. A record number of goats were seen today and a falcon eating a mouse for dinner. We reached Slaty Hut 2 hours before the expected time. Toward the end of our day, the clouds rolled in and the temperatures began to drop. A toasty hut with a nice fire tonight. Everyday we have calculated and recalculated the amount of food we have left versus the expected days we have to the next time. Everything is measured and counted to precise amounts. There's a fine line between eating too much and coming into town with an empty food bag versus eating too little and carrying food into town.
We throughly enjoyed today and wished there were more hiking like this on the Te Araroa trail.
P.S. Sending good thoughts your way Bob and Mimi.
View of Purple Top.
View from Mt. Rintoul
Shadow watching a goat.
Mt. Rintoul
Little Rintoul
Break spot on Ada Flats.
Country Mouse and Shadow
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