8km Day : 1055km Total
Ides of March 2015
-40.830917, 175.306189

The fog that enveloped the ridge yesterday afternoon had cleared by this morning and I had some fine weather to hike in.  As expected I woke up with sore legs and took some ibuprofen with my breakfast. 

Nichols Hut

The ridges this morning were smooth with easy trails to walk and amazing views to appreciate.  I took a very slow pace because I only planned a short hike down to the valley floor.  Far enough to get off the tops for tomorrow’s expected rain, but short enough to give my legs a rest.  The slow pace also gave me plenty of time to soak in the views.

On Mt Crawford I had mobile phone coverage which I used to inform friends and family of my revised expected completion of this section of hike.  I also changed some accommodation arrangements while I had the opportunity. 

Once below the treeline it became a steep descent down to the river.  This descent was not as difficult as I had expected considering how steep it was.  But there were still several places had to be careful not to lose my footing.

I arrived at Waitewaewae (YTYY) Hut early.  The log book showed that a group of eleven people stayed here last night, but I was still a little surprised when a hiker from Auckland named Dave showed up this afternoon.  He was the first person I had seen in two and a half days.  Dave is hiking a circuit around the Southern end of the range. Starting and ending at Otaki Forks.