Day 40: Bog Inn Hut to Waihaha Hut

Distance today: 21km

Distance total: 1142.3km 

Time hiked: 8h 56min

Time total: 339h 28min

A clear spring night at 900 meters... Yep, it's chilly, however not as cold as I thought it would be. 

Still, I only throw my stuff into my backpack and off I am, back into the mystical, mossy forest again.

The track is a really nice on (with unfortunately no panoramic views at all). A bit muddy in the beginning but it's getting drier and drier. 

It would even be a bit boring if it wasn't for the many fallen trees, which need to be either climbed over or circumnavigated. 

It might sound a bit ridiculous but if you have to do the latter, it's sometimes not that simple to find the track again, especially if it's a large tree (apparently a French girl got lost doing so in this forest a few weeks back and had to be rescued. When I heard about it in Auckland, I was thinking how can this happen but now I can understand it a lot better).

Anyways. A sad sight to see all these giant trees lying around.

Shortly before reaching the hut, the trail drops nearly vertical down to a river only to climb back up on the other side. All is extremely strenuous, however very grippy and with all the roots you can hold on not a big deal and actually a welcomed change.

Waihaha Hut. Once more a great hut and it seems that I've it for myself once again. With dinner cooked and eaten and the stove slowly but surely heating up the hut, it's time for planning the next two days:

It's 7 hours to Hauhungaroa Hut and another 2 hours to the road (as per the sign outside. Of course, this is always just a very rough estimate. It really depends on the condition if the track). 

From there I have to bash the road for 32 km to Taumarunui. This is probably gonna take me 8 hours.

Although I really love the huts, I'll probably skip the Hauhungaroa Hut and continue all the way to the road. 

Reason: weather is expected to turn nasty tomorrow afternoon and won't improve that quickly. So better go as far as possible and out of the forest as long as it is dry.

But that's just the plan. Let's see how it's gonna turn out tomorrow.

Oh and btw: 1002 official TA kilometers hiked :o))))