With the knowledge of rain tomorrow, I could see myself doing a big day. If I push on to Boyle Flat Hut (47km) instead of Anne Hut (30km), the next day would only be 13,5km. That seems tempting. So I got up and packed. I was the second to leave camp. Only Logan had left determined to walk from here to the end of the trail. There is always a boss above a boss as we say in the Netherlands.
Soon after I started, there was a small river with no opportunity to rock-hop. So wet feet it is. I’m glad I got them wet at the first river crossing because there were so many!
I had a great pace and enjoyed the coolness of the morning and the stunning views. I got to the hut and quickly wrote my intentions in the book and continued.
I passed several people in my ‘power pace’. To my secret delight, I also overtook Alex. Yes only because he takes off his boots at every river crossing to keep them dry, but only when I took my long break to dry my tent, take a swim, and eat lunch, he caught up. But I overtook him again when he took a break. Am I petty? Yes. Is hiking a competition? No (unless you attempt an FKT, but I let George and Brooke have that honor). But still, it feels good.
The last 5 km to Anne’s hut was a little bit slow. Out of the blue, I saw Logan chilling after a stream. I was a bit confused because he wasn’t even halfway through his crazy big day. But I continued to the hut. I got there at 3 pm. Time for some more food. There were already a few hikes in the hut. I was in doubt whether should continue. While I was eating and contemplating my decision. Logan walked in. He felt off today and so would stag in Anne’s hut. Alex arrived shortly after and the hut already felt crowded. Not something I wanted to spend hours in. So I made up my mind and continued.
The trail in itself wasn’t difficult, but gigh grasses sweeping along my legs resulted in red swollen spots which eventually covered my whole legs. I tried to rinse the pollen of my leg and every stream, but it wasn’t enough. Passed Anne Saddle I also got horrible thigh shaving, but I know how to deal with that. But these are definitely signs that my body is crumbling. But I can do hard stuff and I definitely experienced worse. So with my mantra of ‘I got this’ I continued. And yep indeed I got it. Finally, I saw the swing bridge to the hut.
When I arrived most were already in bed. Only one family was in and without me asking, they made a space available for me to sleep and quietly informed me that there was no water at the hut. They gave me some, so I could cook my food while taking a bath in the river. My red puffy legs needed that desperately.
Of course, the sandflies feasted on my blood, but it also gave me extra motivation to stay in the water longer. After I filled up my water, I headed back to the hut. My food was ready, but no spoon. Everyone was in by that time. But eating oily couscous with your fingers isn’t great. Tired as I am, I need a lot of willpower not to go into a silent tantrum. But thank the trail gods, there was a metal spoon left behind.
After tea, I went to bed. Exhausted!!
Zilla-in-the-wild 