I woke up at 4 something, early even for me, so I made coffee and hung out. Malween woke up and packed up real quick so we left on the early side. After an hour of walking and talking about literature and philosophy, Malween realized he forgot his pack cover at the hut, so he dropped his pack and ran back. I kept waking slowly, so he could catch up, but also not standing still.
The track went through some really dark almost creepy forest. It was colder than its been and the wind was blowing the trees around. Because of all of the rain the day before there was a ton of mud. It was just cold and slippery everywhere.
I was honestly getting sick of the mud and slipping. I took a couple breaks and eventually Malween caught up, muddy sections are much better with a friend to laugh at it with!
Lunched at one of the view points.
Luckily the way down wasn’t as slippery, but there were a silly amount of steam crossings, I’d walk through one, rinsing off all the mud, just to climb up a muddy bank on the other side, just to walk through another stream, washing off the new mud. Rinse and repeat.
We made it to Makahika outdoor pursuits center, and grabbed the only cabins available (the advantage of leaving early) and got a ride to Levin to resupply.