The forecast was really bad, heavy rain, snow at higher elevations, and lots of wind, the worst of the weather was supposed to be in the am, so we considered leaving late and just dealing with it, but that left us getting out of the woods on Christmas Eve with no idea where we would stay.
Then the owners of the Makahika outdoor center offered to give us a ride to where the TA leaves the Tararuas and told us they are hosting a Christmas dinner for TA hikers and we could hike north and end up there on Christmas Eve. Between that offer and the weather we decided to take a zero.
It rained hard that morning. The afternoon wasn’t bad, but then we got a hail storm that evening, it almost made it feel a little like the Christmas season back home!
Merry Christmas, Pete!
Merry Christmas!