Day 56 – Boyle Flats Hut to Christopher Hut

The tempature was quite low overnight, and this morning there were needles of frost on everything.  I set out to chop some wood to replace what we burned last night, but the metal handle on the axe quickly sucked heat from my hands, even through my gloves.  So I brought it inside and set it atop the fireplace for a bit.  Voila!  Heated axe handle, what luxury.

I warmed up quickly as I walked, and the sun melted frost in the valley as it rose.  I watched the shadows of the hills progress down the valley and across the flats as I walked.  On one side there would be golden grass in the sun, free of ice.  Then a sunlit transition zone where the ice had not yet melted, but drops of water sent up glints of color, and then the shadowed east of the valley was still completely white with frost, looking dull now by contrast with the sunny parts.  I encountered a fair number of cattle today, as the track crosses what used to be St. James Station.  It was sold to the government for $40 million about a year ago, and there are many hut book entries on what an outrageous price this was – but also how glad they are that this piece of land belongs to the people again.  It also completes a strip of DoC land that is continuous from East coast to West coast, a nice accomplishment.  However, the agreement allows the farmer some time to gradually de-stock the land, and evidently the horses will be allowed to continue to graze out their natural lives here.

I stayed at Christopher Hut tonight.  It was a little distance off my main route, but not too far, and it was at just about the right distance to have a good day’s hike.  I also have to admit that it was a good excuse not to ford the Ada River tonight, since I had been savoring my dry boots for a few days, and putting on wet ones tomorrow morning would be very unpleasant.