The trail finally broke on to a ridge line today, and my, what a view! The trail all around Martin's Hut was a morass of mud, but we eventually hit a series of grass-covered hills. Flax, lumps of grass, and white feathery/lacy lichens abound. I caught a spectacular view of both the coast that I've been hoofing the past couple days and my first snow-capped mountain sighting. The mountains are still a little faint and hazy, but man those ridges are awe-inspiring. While Sam & Ann have been trucking way faster than I have the past couple days, I met my first SOBOs today - folks from DC and Calgary!
Between balds, we hiked through the coolest looking woods. Knobbly trees with clumps of moss formed a dense but not impenetrable looking maze, and the entire forest floor was covered in sunburst-looking mosses. The morning wooded section was really wet and slippery. The poor footing combined with the elevation loss made my knees a little wimpy, and my toes joined in complaining since this was the first day with any real ups and downs.
By the time I hit my second gravel road (Merrivale), I was pretty tired. I still had ~8km to go to the nearest hitch. (It is time for a resupply, after all.) I got a ride with a farm hand into town. There was one town in either direction, so I took the first ride I could get on the highway. If no traffic is headed from Tuatapere back to this section tomorrow, I might skip the intervening, water-less 30km with indeterminate (or unallowed) camping that's scheduled for tomorrow.
I got into town just before 9. I'm holed up in a very pleasant and very empty hostel. I managed to sneak into the grocery store just before they closed for my resupply, and I'm now happily eating an entire box of those frozen mini eclairs. (Happy New Year!!) The mud and little pebbles from the past couple of days have made me start thinking about finding some Dirty Girl-esque gaiters. Hopefully, conditions will clean up a bit.
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