Day 109. Real Trail to Greenstone Hut. February 19, 2016.

14 km
Queenstown km 2686 to Greenstone Hut km 2700

It was raining in the morning so we were in no hurry to leave town. Once it stopped we got glimpses of what a beautiful area this is.

We got a quick ride with a couple from Boston who now live in Hong Kong.  They even turned around to pick us up. They were going for a hike 5 or 6 km up the road. Then they decided to drive us all 25 kilometersthe to Kinloch. Sweet! Then we had about 20 kilometers of gravel road to where the TA starts back up. There weren’t any cars so we started walking. We soon got a ride in the back of the pickup and had great views of the lake and mountains.

Real trail! This part of the TA is on the Greenstone Track which is part of a very popular loop trail when combined with the Caples Track. It’s almost a Great Walk without the need to make reservations. Lots of people were here when we got here. Many have been walking in the rain for 4 days. Kiwis are tough. For the first time on the TA there are about as many people around my age than in their 20s. I had fun talking to some of them about the TA and my gear.

The Greenstone Hut has flush toilets! The smaller hut to the right is where the hut warden sleeps. But he was at another hut tonight so we didn’t see him.

More hikers showed up to make it a full house. The Israeli brothers Yonatel and Yuval are here. I’ve been hearing about them for over a month and finally got to meet them. One of them hiked the PCT when I did in 2014 but our paths never crossed.

View from the hut.

View from the hut in a different direction