Wow! That was a good night’s sleep.

The joy of having a hut entirely to yourself.

And having so little in my pack, no tent for once, only a couple of days’ food to go.

I’m wearing all my clothes, well, the dry ones: a beanie, two layers of thin wool around my chest, one thick one over all that, that’s my hoodie and then my soft cell jacket, and my long trackies for my undercarriage.

That’s all good to stay warm in this coolest of huts for a while but I needed to change over to my wet walking clothes from yesterday. I leave the strip and swap till the last moment, lower bits, like my boots, first, then as soon as I was standing shivering totally encased with the dampness I was out the door, just after 7 30.

Fully light outside it was really attractive walking, the ground all mossy, black trunked red beech forest, blue sky above. The track wanders through forest for the most part on the way to Morgans, the valley reasonably wide so not much climbing to get around gorges.

After Morgans I abandoned the track for a while, just walking along the open river flats. There was plenty of low grass, nibbled by the deer if the large number of deer tracks was indicative, oh, and some boulder hopping and river crossings.

I knew that there were a few crossings later in the day on the itinerary so there was no point in keeping my boots dry.

It was a big day in distance, around 26 km, even if it was almost all flat. I had my sights on Sabine Hut for the night, then Mt Cedric the next day.

I waded the Sabine River to cut 20 minutes off the day, no need to go upstream to cross on the bridge, my boots were already soaking, and arrive just on dark. At the hut a lively and cheery crew, five people, one arrived later, quite the difference from my solitude last night.

Actually I’m looking forward to my own bed, and fresh food, tomorrow night.

+++++horizontal rule+++++

A guide to the night’s accommodation: Sabine Hut

Good view, from Sabine hut, Lake Rotoroa, Nelson Lakes National Park
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