First ride of the annual trip... This year featuring the smallest group for a while: the three originals - Steve, Pete, Andy, second original - me, 3rd original - Nelson, and later addition - Robin.
We'd driven to Westport in POURING rain on Friday, checking into the Holiday Park motel units and having a jolly old time of it. Up early, and departure time of 7.30am set...
Day dawned not raining enough, and with a good hour's drive to Karamea, we were on the trail about 9.30. Nice climb from Kohaihai, followed by a nice descent, then it's just up and down the whole way, with a few flatter bits in between. We all kinda took turns hanging back with Steve, who's struggling these days, but soon spaced out pretty good.
At the halfway shelter, Pete chucked his drone into the air and promptly lost it. It lost touch with his base, climbed up to it's ceiling and sat there til the battery ran down enough to send it down. It came back into view after about 10 minutes and he kinda guided it back down, but then it crashed in a tree. I'd seen exactly where it had landed, so we guided Nelson and Pete through the bushes up to it.
On riding again, and easier stretch from the first half, ending at the Heaphy Hut where we cooked up Dehy-meals for lunch. The 3 less ridey turned back here, and Nelson, Andy and me continued on. Nelson, I think, had the intention of getting all the way to Mackay's. Andy was happy to turn back at Lewis, while I wanted to get a little bit of altitude - having come all that way, but knew I'd die if I went too far up. So, we said our goodbyes to Andy at the hut and headed on up. That was about 1.35pm, I said I'd go up til 2, which I did. Nelson kept on at it and I turned back and enjoyed the fuck out of the surprisingly good quantity of down hill. Then enjoyed the cruise back to Heaphy Hut (back over the bridge not quite finished with the 3 DOC guys working on it), but trying to keep a bit of a pace on, thinking maybe I'd catch up to Andy somewhere.
Stretched and snacked for a few minutes at Heaphy, then hit the trail again, dead on 3 I think. Again, reasonable pace kept up, but towards the end I started to really flag. Type 2 fun was being had along here, suffering and wishing it was over. Finally got to the top of the final climb and with glee, flew down the trail, detouring left onto the wee loop track and riding this around to the bridge, over, up, and on the final approach to the car park, there's a rat loping towards me on the track. I veered, ran over it, feeling it under at least my front tire, but when I looked back it was a blur leaving the track! (later Nelson saw 'a rat' near a culvert just a bit further up the track). I suspect it was poisoned - dopey, but amazing it didn't die with me squashing it.
Andy was in the car, had been there for 20 minutes. Then we waited 1 hour 10 for Nelson, who had indeed made the Mackay Hut (his mmr is from hut back, ie, half)!
MMR stuffed up big time, putting me as having started at Heaphy Hut, heading south down the coast then, back north again and finishing at the highest(ish) point that I got to... mental. Somehow i gained 32000 calories... The mileage is too little, but the altitude may not be wrong.
We'd driven to Westport in POURING rain on Friday, checking into the Holiday Park motel units and having a jolly old time of it. Up early, and departure time of 7.30am set...
Day dawned not raining enough, and with a good hour's drive to Karamea, we were on the trail about 9.30. Nice climb from Kohaihai, followed by a nice descent, then it's just up and down the whole way, with a few flatter bits in between. We all kinda took turns hanging back with Steve, who's struggling these days, but soon spaced out pretty good.
At the halfway shelter, Pete chucked his drone into the air and promptly lost it. It lost touch with his base, climbed up to it's ceiling and sat there til the battery ran down enough to send it down. It came back into view after about 10 minutes and he kinda guided it back down, but then it crashed in a tree. I'd seen exactly where it had landed, so we guided Nelson and Pete through the bushes up to it.
On riding again, and easier stretch from the first half, ending at the Heaphy Hut where we cooked up Dehy-meals for lunch. The 3 less ridey turned back here, and Nelson, Andy and me continued on. Nelson, I think, had the intention of getting all the way to Mackay's. Andy was happy to turn back at Lewis, while I wanted to get a little bit of altitude - having come all that way, but knew I'd die if I went too far up. So, we said our goodbyes to Andy at the hut and headed on up. That was about 1.35pm, I said I'd go up til 2, which I did. Nelson kept on at it and I turned back and enjoyed the fuck out of the surprisingly good quantity of down hill. Then enjoyed the cruise back to Heaphy Hut (back over the bridge not quite finished with the 3 DOC guys working on it), but trying to keep a bit of a pace on, thinking maybe I'd catch up to Andy somewhere.
Stretched and snacked for a few minutes at Heaphy, then hit the trail again, dead on 3 I think. Again, reasonable pace kept up, but towards the end I started to really flag. Type 2 fun was being had along here, suffering and wishing it was over. Finally got to the top of the final climb and with glee, flew down the trail, detouring left onto the wee loop track and riding this around to the bridge, over, up, and on the final approach to the car park, there's a rat loping towards me on the track. I veered, ran over it, feeling it under at least my front tire, but when I looked back it was a blur leaving the track! (later Nelson saw 'a rat' near a culvert just a bit further up the track). I suspect it was poisoned - dopey, but amazing it didn't die with me squashing it.
Andy was in the car, had been there for 20 minutes. Then we waited 1 hour 10 for Nelson, who had indeed made the Mackay Hut (his mmr is from hut back, ie, half)!
MMR stuffed up big time, putting me as having started at Heaphy Hut, heading south down the coast then, back north again and finishing at the highest(ish) point that I got to... mental. Somehow i gained 32000 calories... The mileage is too little, but the altitude may not be wrong.
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