Day 50 – Goat Pass to Aicken’s Corner

I woke to rain.  This was unfortunate as my day ahead included much rock scrambling and river crossing.  Fortunately it wasn’t heavy rain, and the Deception isn’t so long that it floods easily.  Still, the track was rough all day, and rain compounded my low morale.  It was also quite cold, so that I was wearing all my warm layers and hat underneath my rain gear.  This protected me fairly well, though when it came time for lunch I was inordinately grump that my tortillas were getting soggy.

By late afternoon I had reached the bottom of the Deception River, where it meets up with the Taramakau River, my next destination.  It also happens to meet up with a bend in the highway called Aicken’s Corner.  I decided to try and hitchhike into Arthur’s Pass township, hire a bunk, do laundry and dry out indoors.  However, just as I was making my last river crossing of the day, an easy one, I slipped and fell in, completely soaking my entire bottom half and part of my backpack.  My important gear was inside my pack liner, but I later discovered that a small hole in the pack liner allowed water to intrude upon my sleeping bag.  Oh woe is me!  But at least I would have a warm bed…

A sympathetic driver on his way to a tramp of his own soon picked me up and whisked me into Arthur’s Pass.  The backpackers was full.  So was the other backpackers, as well as the motel, the lodge, and the bed and breakfast.  Seems I wasn’t the only one with the bright idea to find shelter from the rain - just the slowest one!

Fortunately there was a fallback: DoC runs a campground near town, so for a mere $6 I could stay there.  First, though, I visited the Wobbly Kea and indulged in a massive, delicious meal.  I was extremely grateful for the Kiwi custom of not hurrying along restaurant patrons when they’ve done eating.  I sat for a long time enjoying the afterglow of my meal, warming up and drying off.

When I got to the campsite, I just couldn’t bring myself to set up my hammock in the rain, now much heavier than it was.  So I paid my fees and slept illegitimately but inconspicuously in the campground’s day shelter.  Apologies DoC!  I was glad that my sleeping bag was filled with a synthetic material, because down would have been rendered useless by the water that came in when I fell.  Synthetic fills don’t have this problem, and I was still kept reasonably warm by my damp bag.