Day 17: Upper Travers Hut to Blue Lake Hut

18.8km, 8.5 hours.

Had a great sleep at upper Travers hut. The sign said 6 hours to Upper Sabine hut. It was another misty low cloud day, breaks in the cloud revealed snow up on the mountains which got me excited to see!

I knew we needed good weather for Sabine Pass/saddle but we went anyways. Spurred on by the fact the two doctors were doing it so I figured if they're ok with it, i am more so because i knew I'd be in good hands if anything went wrong.

I hiked up towards a wall of towering rocky mountains with their tops covered in cloud. I could hear kea flying above while the water was teaming down the ravines in the mountains. I had wet feet within 15 minutes of starting.

It was straight up the mountain, climbing within an hour of waking up certainly is a rough start to the day. Again I just keep in my head, orange marker to orange marker. I made it to the top of the pass in an hour and a half. Seems ok but then I look and i had only gone 1.5 kilometers in that time. It was a steep climb in the clouds. Unfortunately we couldn't see anything over the pass but the valleys of avalanches of rocks and those tall yellow prickly flowers made for a surreal scene that I was walking amidst.

Walking alongside Tim chatting he mentioned his pack is starting to feel light. We did a shake down of his 20+kg pack in Havelock to try and get some weight out. I said 'did you ditch more things?' 'no, I'm just used to the weight now, feels like a school bag now'. Dying. Man i love this guy. It's like he's accidentally stumbled on the TA but in the most prepared way.

Back down into the tree line it was a 4.5km steep downhill descent made very difficult in the pouring rain. Slippery rocks, slippery tree roots, slippery logs. Every footstep for 8 whole hours was placed with calculated precision for fear of slipping or tripping. Successfully made it to West Sabine Hut in just over 4 hours. Always a good feeling when you beat the DOC time and that was with limited visibility and rain. I joked with Chris in the hut that maybe that extra 2 hours are for admiring the views if you got it.

We all had lunch together at the hut and met this Australian/German guy from Nimbin. He was as odd as you can imagine and I'm pretty certain he's not legal.

Eight kilometres and 3 hours left to hike to Blue lake hut alongside swollen rivers and the greenest mossiest forests Ive ever seen. Everything was vivid green and moss on absolutely everything.

I hiked through so many avalanche zones today and walked across riverbeds of giant fallen trees that had just been ripped out at some point removing the orange markers. It was like a natural adventure playground. It was navigating the trees and boulders that made me then back and look and laugh. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing and also clambering over. It was a big day of concentrating.

Out of the forest and the valley opened up into another world of towering cliffs with waterfalls and boulder fields we climbed across. The sun came out for the first time so I stopped and Conny and Jennie caught up to me. the three of us sitting there enjoying the view and taking photos. We had 2 km to go but we were so enjoying the moment.

As per usual the last few kilometres to any hut is uphill out of river beds or for visibility sake. This was straight uphill. Knowing I'm almost there makes me charge up the climbs but this one was never ending and I refused to let it beat me. I finally arrived at the hut with Chris and as we sat there taking off our wet smelly shoes and socks before entering the hut, Chris asked what sports i play. Hiking and a bit of indoor soccer and gym. 'hmm' he commented 'i was wondering because girls are fit!' Ill take that. Certainly feeling fit at the moment, the body just works right.

The hut was full because of the rain meaning those in it last night couldn't move on. It was a little overwhelming having so many people there. I think I was one of the very few who spoke English as their first language, i felt like i was in Europe somewhere. We may have to take a rest day tomorrow if it's still raining.

I've been wanting to see the Blue Lake for years. There's no way I'm leaving without seeing it in all it's glory.

Ren x