From John Tait Hut to West Sabine Hut
Hiking time: 08:15a.m.-05:15p.m.
Daily/Total distance: 14km /279.5km (140 hitched/skipped)
Steps: 26583
Weather: sunny in the morning and cloudy and rainy in the afternoon

Got up at 7am this morning. It is nice to be able to put dry clothes on for the day ahead. With breakfast, packing up and thinking about how much to put on I was ready to go at 8:15am. Everything outside was covered in dew. It was a nice clear morning nut the sun was still behind mountains so it was quite chilly in the valley. Unsure of whether I am going 3h to the first hut or 9h to the second hut I packed for a long day.

The first section was supposed to be a 450m ascent over 8km. I must say that it didn’t seem too bad. The track went mostly through beech forest again and the ascent weren’t very steep.

Within one hour I reached traverse falls on a little side trail. Very nice but also very steep down to the water. I didn’t go all the way down as I didn’t want to climb to much.

There were some avalanche paths to be crossed which would be a risk between May and November but are fine at this point as there has been no snow lately. They nevertheless were a bit annoying to cross as it meant scrambling over boulders and loose stones.

There were also quite a few streams to be crossed but they all had stepping stones in them that made it easy to keep the feet dry.

After roughly 3h I reached a flat who h hat the upper traverse hut at the end. It was just gone 11am when I reached it so, still fit and keen to go on, I stopped to filter some water, have some lunch, apply sunblock as I am now going above treeline and into direct sunlight. The section until now didn’t actually feel like I had just ascended 450m. But the next section will be harder as the final 450m ascent will be within 1km or so, so much harder.

At 12pm I set off for the Traverse Saddle. There was first a small ascent and then the track continued further into the valley before reaching the actual part to be ascended.

Although the track was steep and I had to take many breaks, the track upwards took a bit more than an hour. There is speargrass beside the trail and I got a few punctures in my lower legs that were bleading. Towards the top it got more and more windy. The sun also started disappearing behind more and more clouds.

As I finally reached the top it was too windy and cold up there to take a long break. So I got my picture taken and then continued on with the descend.

Moving into the valley was first along a nice grass track. Soon it turned into a big boulder field, where you had to scramble over boulders. This was another avalanche risk path.

Just before reaching the beech forest it started raining. With the wind and the rain I decided to put on my wet gear and cover everything.

Then I went into the beech forest. If I though this would make the descend easier I was mistaken. The forest was also very steep, about a 30% gradient. I had to be really careful about where to put my feet to prevent myself slipping on the ground, loose stones or roots. Adding the rain to this made it more unpleasant as the ground now also became slippery. Luckily it stopped raining and I was able to go without my rain jacket again. The downhill continued for quite some time.

The last hour before the hut the track flattened and walking became easier. Then there was another very steep descend upon which my knee finally started hurting. Luckily I was not to far from the hut. Just before the hut though there was a river crossing without stepping stones and I ended up with wet shoes just before reaching the hut. It felt so good to finally spy the hut between the trees and arrive at 5:15pm.

The hut was quite a bit fuller than the previous one. A few people were doing the circuit. Some making a detour to blue lake the next day, some going in the opposite direction and doing the Saddle the next day. There was a hut warden as well. In the evening while brushing my teeth I spotted a Possum lurking around the hut.

I went to bed at around 10pm after the long day I was really exhausted. Even though I had been hungry for quite a bit on the trail, by the time it came to cooking dinner I was very sluggish. I could have probably gone to bed without dinner but I need the energy for the oncoming days.