Starting km: 2233
Finishing km: 2359
km covered today: 26
Finishing km: 2359
km covered today: 26
The morning weather carried on where it left off the previous night. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be sunny or rainy.
This had me uncertain about the day ahead. For this was the day I'd come to the Rangitata, the second of the big rivers whose crossings are not officially part of Te Araroa. There were, however, two differences between the Rakaia and the Rangitata: unlike the Rakaia, the Rangitata is sometimes crossable on foot and it's almost 150km on very quiet roads to get to the other side of the Rangitata.
The unsettled weather did have its positives though. The whole morning's walk through the rest of the conservation area was filled with rainbows. There was probably one in sight for 30 or 40% of the morning.
Including when I got to the Rangitata. The forecast said the possibility of heavy rain in the headwaters was now over, and the clouds over the high peaks in the distance looked less ominous. It hadn't rained that hard in the immediate vicinity. And the two DOC contractors I met near the end of the trail said they'd crossed it the previous day with minimal trouble. Nonetheless, this was a seriously big river in a seriously wide valley, and it had looked like their might have been a lot of water being dumped into the mountains upstream the previous day.
But I was there, and figured it couldn't hurt to at least go down to the water and have a look.
Easier said than done. It was a 45 minute walk down to where the braided riverbed began.
The first braid I came across looked like it was moving pretty fast and deep. I carefully stepped in and after a few steps clearly did not feel in control or happy with the situation. I beat a hasty retreat to the bank and decided to look for a more highly braided section and that if I felt even the smallest bit uncomfortable from that point on I would turn back and hitch around the river, even if it did take two days.
But as it turned out, that was as bad as it got. There were three major sections. I spent a long time walking up and down each, looking for heavily braided sections that would be easy to cross. Several times I'd cross a braid, realize that the next one wasn't as easy as it had looked and have to go back, then head upstream to try in a different spot.
And all of this with the knowledge that I could easily come across a section that simply couldn't be done safely and be forced to turn around, recross everything I'd already done and go around.
Crossing the full width of the riverbed took almost three hours. I think I moved about 2km upstream while doing it. And including a lunch break when I was pretty much done with the river it was almost 5 hours from trailhead to trailhead (which makes it very clear why knowledge of the weather upstream is very important in attempting to cross the Rangitata.)
In all this time, that first braid was the only time I felt uncomfortable. The deepest section was about hips deep, but not moving as swiftly as some others had been.
But it was still a joy and a relief when I was done. More than anything else on the trail, crossing the Rangitata had taken a skill, strength and a balance of confidence and caution. I was immensely proud of having managed it.
Funnily enough I didn't take a single photo while I was on the riverbed. I was just too focused on what I was doing.
Whew. So that was it for river crossings, right? Of course it wasn't! The start of the next TA section went straight up Bush Stream, crossing it maybe 15 times before a very steep 150m climb up, then straight back down, followed by another, equally steep climb to the Crooked Spur Hut, where I decided to call it a day.
Normally I'd be a bit disappointed with a day where I made less than 30 on-trail kilometres, but not this one. I think I very much earned my rest.
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