Not the biggest of days but in the end I’ve decided to soak up my spare day by just advancing one hut down the valley, and tomorrow getting to the next, Morgans.

So it was a shameless hang around this morning, for once it was light when I popped out of my damp sleeping bag, I’ve found up at 980 m on a cool morning I can move quite slowly when the opportunity arrives.

Not a cloud in the sky and I wonder if I should have stayed back over the saddle and done yesterday’s energy expenditure a day later. Then again, sometimes it is special to have an atmosphere of mystery up here in the mountains.

Then I looked back at the clearly discernible David Saddle, with the big bluffs that were skirted, any mystery about my route was immediately dissipated.

The track in the Upper D’Urville valley gets little use, and goes through some great mountain beech forest. Easy walking.

Eventually, after lunch, I get to the swing bridge where there is the track up Moss Pass, eight hours says the sign pessimistically, it’s clear that more boots are putting that track on the itinerary.

It’s less than an hour from the swing bridge to the hut and for once I might be able to dry my sleeping bag and do some washing. Tomorrow another shave on a second short day.

I’m back in a more visited part of the Nelson Lakes National Park but perhaps I’ll have this big 16 bunk hut to myself. A major contrast to the confines of last night.

All is quiet except for the sound of the river flowing close by.

You get a more immediate brush with nature in your tent, but I must be getting soft, avoiding more dampness and enjoying a solitary time in a big hut.

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

A guide to the night’s accommodation: George Lyon Hut

great setting beside the D'Urville River | George Lyon Hut, Nelson Lakes National Park
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