The day started really cold, there was frost on the ground and the Comyns hut has no insulation. I didn’t want to get out of my sleeping bag. When I did I put on all my layers and had a couple cups of coffee and a cup of green tea.
The NOBOs informed us that the first part of our day was going to involve a lot of river crossings, so we waited a little for it to warm up, but being surrounded by mountains, we weren’t willing to wait until the sun was shining down.
I hiked with Flo 🇳🇿 and Pierre 🇫🇷, the river crossings were so cold! My feet felt like blocks of ice at the end of my legs. The hike was kind of nice but very uncomfortable. At one point I slipped and tried to grab a Spaniard plant to slow my fall. “Shit! Ouch!” I yelled out. Flo asked if I was ok to which I replied “yes, nothing serious, but ouch!”. It left many little bloody cuts on my hand and arm, but nothing deep.
Pierre decided to stop and take a nap on the trail on the way up, so just Flo and I continued up to Clent Hills Saddle where we had lunch and enjoyed some amazing views. Pierre caught up and had lunch and we all hiked down together.
The way down started fine, following the side of the mountain before starting to descend into the grassland again. At one point the grass was really tall and I was ahead a bit, so I crouched down and waited for Flow, then when he got near I jumped up and yelled “damn this grass is tall!”, it gave him a bit of a scare, we had a good laugh.
The trail was easy to follow except for a section where i the trail all but vanished and there was a ton of Spaniard and gorse (spiked plants that are no fun).
After that the trail leveled out and became very deserty, it kind of reminded me of southern Colorado a bit. Funny starting the day so cold, and ending really hot. We got to the Manuka hut and washed up in the cold stream nearby.
