Day 28 – Turihuka Conservation Area to Dingle Burn
Like many NZ trails, this one follows the river for which it is named, and I was afforded the option of walking along and through the Dingle Burn. I would make faster progress versus the more circuitous and hilly high water route, but as usual when fresh out of town, I was more than happy to trade an extra hour or two of walking for wet boots, so I took the high route.
Around noon, the orange DoC markers gave way to the two-inch slices of Venetian blinds cullers and musterers used to mark their trails in pre-DoC days. The trail turned down a steep spur, on loose sandy soil. “This is silly!” I thought, “I’ll be sliding down on my butt.” I figured I could find a better way down by descending the side of this spur at an angle and sidling across to meet the trail again. On my way down, though, a rock came loose underfoot, and I slid for a couple meters before grabbing a tree. As I brushed myself off I heard a muffled thud from below. I kicked loose another rock from the soil and watched it slide until, some twenty meters below, it disappeared. Moments later came another dismayingly emphatic THUD. That explained why the trail followed the top of the spur – off to one side the slope gave way to a tall cliff!
I paused a moment, hugging my new favorite tree tightly while I evolved a plan. Back up the way I came was out of the question, since I had skidded out of reach of the nearest tree. Sidling straight across would leave me exposed to another fall, and closer than I liked to the edge of the cliff. So I picked a diagonal route that would get me progressively further up the slope and back to the trail, while keeping me always within reach of a tree, whose roots would provide some measure of security in the loose soil.
Before long I was back on the trail, happily sliding along on my butt.
When I reached the river I had a big lunch, rested a while, and decided I could take the river route from here. This involves crossing the river repeatedly as it wanders back and forth. The inside of each curve is flat and covered with loose river rocks, easy to traverse. The outside is typically an embankment in the process of being cut away. Since the embankments are quite high, I had to cross once for nearly every bend in the river. After your boots get wet, this can start to be kind of fun, but I did start to get chilled, so I wound up wearing all my warm layers up top, while my legs had nothing but shorts and boots. It worked great – I warmed right up.
I never found Cotter’s Hut, where I meant to stay, so I hung my hammock in a wooded patch on the riverside.