No swimming out of my tent this morning, though within a km or two I made it to a pristine spot right at the south end of South Mavora Lake. Ah, well. Rest and food in a mossy sandfly divot is better than collapsing from fatigue on the trail.
Today, I made it another 23km/8hrs up the Mavora lakes and rivers to Boundary Hut. Every hut I've stayed in has a slightly different layout, and this one has an indoor tap!
The walk today was my favorite yet, though the weather was overcast and most of it was on a foot-bruising 4WD (large gravel/torn up) path. I stayed mostly in the woods along South Mavora Lake. The views I did glimpse were of incredible, rugged mountains guarding the sides and head of the valley I traveled through. There were plenty of singing water fowl - including Canadian geese, of all things. There were also two folks in sea kayaks out on the lakes. I think we each gave each quite a surprise since it seemed like such a quite morning in such a remote spot.
After the deceivingly small southern lake, I crossed a very sturdy suspension footbridge over to the incredibly popular Mavora campground. Ok, so maybe this wasn't such a remote spot. However, as soon as I got a few km north of the campground, hiker population dropped to just me, again. North Mavora lake is stunning. I know I've said that a lot so far, but this is prettier than Milford Sound and more aesthetically pleasing than anything I've seen so far. It's also incredibly serene. I'm just starting to relax into this hike, and this is the most peaceful I've felt in a very, very long time. My body and mind are adjusting to the rhythms of waking up each day to mind-blowing splendor, and this kind of scenery makes it so easy and appealing to mimic the deep wells of strength, beauty, and peace by which I am surrounded. Sounds cheesy, but it is what it is.
I followed the 4WD track for 10k along the lakeshore while the blustery winds drove some clouds in from the west, and then, both I and the track turned into yet another stunning valley for the last 6k. With the wind at my back, I wandered along the foot of a ridge, well above the very serpentine river that carved out this particular valley. Though rain threatened, it rarely fell. The rays of sunlight that occasionally escaped the racing clouds did provide quite the dramatic lighting.
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