From Queenstown to Mid Caples Hut
Hiking time: 10:00a.m.-12:30p.m.
Daily/Total distance: 9km /977km (247.5 hitched/skipped, 84 biked)
Steps: 14640
Weather: overcast with drizzle

The day started out really early. As the Shuttle was leaving at 8am, I had to be ready to leave the hostel at 7:30am in order to get to the pick up point the required 15 min before. The hostel offered a free breakfast of toast and jam, so i filled up on that and prepared some to take with me. What hiker turns down free food:)

At the office of the shuttle company I encountered 9 other hikers all there for the shuttle service. And at 8am we were off. The first leg was along the lakeside until we reached Glenorchy. Here the group split into two. 5 went on in a different shuttle to get to the Reese Dart Track. the rest of us stayed to continue on to the Greenstone trailhead. We had a short break though to use the restroom and buy a coffee at the tiny store that was there. Then we were off again, further around the lake.

By 9:40am we had reached the Greenstone trailhead carpark. There were quite a few cars, but not as many as there would be if the weather was better. While we drove here there was a small downpour which luckily stopped. Though the air was still moist and it was drizzling a bit. The other four and me used the toilet at the carpark, put on our rain covers and then we were off. All of them are doing the TA and are continuing South, while I am doing the loop of the Greenstone/Caples track before joining the TA again.

At 10am I was off. The track was wide and really easy to walk on. A bit reminiscing of a great walk. Within the first 10 min I was to warm with my rain jacket and decided to continue in the drizzle without the rain jacket. The forest surrounding me was nice and lush, and the ground was moist and spongy to walk on.

Soon enough though the path lead through big green fields, where cows were walking about. The grass was really nice and green. Though there was some mud in between, which I took care to walk around:)

Continuing on along and over the field of grass, I came towards the left side of the valley. The path lead back through some forest. Within the forest there was a small bridge, which lead over a really deep gorge. I was carefully holding my camera while taking pictures so as not to drop it down below.

Soon after I could catch a glance of the Mid Caples Hut int he distance between the forest.

At noon I reached the hut. Inside was a hiker who was just setting off for the 22km distant McKellar Hut. I could probably do the same , but I was feeling lazy. The weather was supposed to be worse throughout the afternoon and I didn’t relish in getting soaking wet while going over the McKellar Saddle. I had also reached the point where I was going quite fast and currently would reach Bluff ahead of my initial schedule. So, no worries about taking some easier days.

So I got settled and started eating lunch. Mid Caples Hut is as 24 bunk hut with a massive common area. It is serviced, though I have not seen the warden yet. Coming to the toilets though I was in for a treat. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, there are flushing toilets with toilet paper provided. Such luxury.

The rest of the afternoon was spent snacking and reading. At some point a group of 4 older men stopped for lunch. They continued on to a deerhunter’s hut. I might be meeting them at the McKellar Hut the next night though. So I was alone again. As I was quite tired, I went to take a nap in the afternoon and slept until after 6pm, upon which it was time to get dinner started. At this point I was still alone at the hut. I had seen two people visiting the warden, but noone in the main hut.

At 7pm the warden stopped by to grab my details and have a short chat. Then she left and I was all by myself again. The weather must have really turned people off. On the website of the track they advised people to take tent equipment with them and expect to sleep outside, as the track would be quite full considering that the Routeburn Track is closed and this is an alternative. From the intentions book though I gather that the closure of the Routeburn track didn’t have that much of an impact on this track.

Once it got dark I then made my way to one of the bunk rooms. Being all alone I took the luxury of using 3 of the mattresses next to each other to lie on so that they are long enough for me as the mattresses in these huts are generally to short for me. Such luxury.