Day 40: Mount Pirongia to Pirongia Forest Park

Distance Covered: 23 km

Lashing rain started last night at about 10 or 11 PM. Being on top of a mountain, the wind came full force throwing water against the window. While trying to sleep, the thought kept creeping into our minds… oh wow, the trail was already muddy, how much worse is it going to be on the way down tomorrow? Also… maybe we can just wait it out for a day or two…

So we tossed and turned until 7 AM when the French couple started getting ready in the midst of all the rain still going on. They said they were just going to do their best and see what happened. We took stock of our own situation. We would have enough food to last one extra day. However, the forecast called for several days of rain. And, it was only going to get worse as the rain drained from the mountain into the saddles and gullies we were headed towards. Sigh… okay… let’s go we said.

We ate and packed slowly, hoping for a break in the rain or wind. Either one would be fine! We got neither, though, so here we go. I took this picture of a suspiciously happy looking Emily with my nose as my fingers were already soaked and my phone isn't waterproof and hates wet fingers.

The trail started with a new boardwalk the notes said. Things were so bad leading up to the summit that we figured it wouldn’t be much. But we started on it and it just kept going! It was awesome! Build more of this highway in the sky, we said! It took us across the ridge where we could see nothing of the valleys (due to the fog) yet we smiled at all the mud we were walking over. Then stairs took us up another peak. It was isolated up there with a sharpness to the summit contour and the surrounding clouds that made it feel like we were on an island in the sky. Pretty cool feeling.

But then that dream ended and the nightmare began. After taking us up the sharp peak, the boardwalk ended. The mud and roots started and would not stop. The mud was half a meter thick in many places, standing water was to our knees, and the roots were so slippery and prevalent that you couldn’t go at a decent pace even if you tried to plow through it all. And, as is required for the worst trails, there were no views outside the forest. Some of the trees looked cool, though.

The only things that saved it from dethroning Raetea was a) it wasn’t as long (5 km vs. 16 km) and b) the mud was dark and loamy instead of clay. Clay is much more slippery, clings to everything, and pulls at shoes with more force.

The odd thing was that about halfway through, a new boardwalk started. We were just mucking through when suddenly it appeared and we were able to cruise. And it kept going. “What is this?”, we asked. We cruised right over mud pits that didn’t exist because hikers weren’t plowing the sensitive tropical soil up. It ended after 100 or so meters, dumping us into another mud pit, and the trail resumed tearing up the forest floor. It’s clear they can build the things and protect both hikers and the floor… how did they choose that seemingly random point? Curious.

You can see in this next picture why you can't go fast, even if you want to. It's just too steep with too many roots to start jumping down onto slippery mud.

At any rate, the slogging continued until at last, five hours later, we walked out onto a gravel road. Freedom! We documented the mess and then went to the stream and washed everything below our knees. And then ate lunch.

By this point it was close to 2 PM and we had only come 5 km. Not a great number. Fortunately, the mess of the last track was followed by 17 km of road walking.

The only interesting part was the last section, which was a reserve. We saw one car in this last 7 km of nice dirt road. The trees and bush were looking tropical and lush while the rain completed the scene.

We ended the day by walking a little bit of the next section. It starts on farm road and we found a little grassy area around a hidden bend. The gates on either side seem to be rusted and/or nearly permanently secured so we feel safe enough.

The rain is still going. It’s supposed to rain more tomorrow before clearing up. The goal is to try to make it to Waitomo caves.