Day 71 | Lake Ohau
23 December 2022 | 20°C | 35km
“No way I am going to walk 35km after todays long day” is what I said the previous evening when looking at the map. The day starts easy though and in no time we have 10km done before reaching the river. THE river is the Ahuiriri river, a major crossing, that we read about in the trail notes but also heard about from about every southbound hiker that crossed our way. An Austrian girl we met on the way to Wanaka said it was totally doable and that water reached to her hips roughly. Good to hear as she was roughly my height and not a 1.80m guy.
It looks easy when Phil is crossing. It’s not that easy for me. The first few meters are pretty easy but the current picks up once I’m roughly 5 meters in. Wow, how strong it is! I am struggling to keep balance, and keep my feet on the ground. I know I have to lean forward against the water, but I feel that once I lean forward my feet will lift off and I will I would start floating. And then it happens: my feet lift off and for a few seconds I start swimming. I swallow some water, try not to panic and manage to get my feet back on the ground again. The trick is to get a solid stand by pressing each heel against a big rock. Also, crucial: staying focused as it is quite a long crossing.
Once I am at the other side, I quickly change my wet clothes and we head on. We briefly chat with Catherine, a northbound hiker who sits beside the trail having lunch. She tried to cross the day before in the afternoon, but felt it is too sketchy and thus decided to take the bridge about 3hrs further down the road.
We make good progress while the trail climbs steadily despite the weather before the last climb not looking promising: rain clouds ahead. We decide to continue towards the saddle but a small doubt arises once we hear a thunder. Was it the right decision? Now we have to push through! Luckily, after a bit of rain, the sun magically comes out again. Why do people go up mountains? Because of the joy of getting to the top. At least that is the strong feeling I have today when crossing the saddle.
It will still be a long descent though and once we reach the tree line, there are a lot of fallen trees all over the trail and I feel that I am more stumbling down than anything else. Once close to the Lake Ohau, we call the lodge to see if they have availability, a meal and a hot tub. They promise to keep the bar open and confirm they have a hot tub but once we reach the road, we realize that the lodge is still 3.5km away. Not many cars on this road, just two in the opposite direction.
We are looking for potential tent sites already when we hear the distant sound of a car. Our only chance to still get to the lodge! I wonder if I should just jump on the road but fortunately the driver slows down as he sees us and is happy to give us a ride.
Realization of the day: 35km and a steep climb? Done!
