Bushcamp to Wanganui
22.6 miles
Mile 845.9
It was a chilly night atop the volcano at over 6000 ft. in elevation. I was on the move by 5:30 AM, since I didn’t want to be camped out when the droves of tourists reached the top for sunrise.
I was glad I’d gotten such an early start, not even 15 minutes after leaving camp I began passing people on their way up.
The remainder of my trek down was hindered by a never ending line of hikers heading up, I felt like a fish swimming upstream.
Eventually I reached a junction that led me away from the main trail, and back into solitude.
A couple hours later I passed through the village of Whakapapa before joining the Whakapapaiti Track.
After a brief jaunt through the forest, the trail opened up revealing the snow spotted volcano lurking behind the clouds.
A couple hours later I reached a paved road, which I walked to the town of National Park.
From here my original plan was to canoe the Wanganui River to Wanganui, but I couldn’t make the last minute DOC campground bookings, so my only options were to walk the 76 miles of highway, or hitch hike…I choose the latter. It’s a bummer missing the Wanganui River section, but it is what it is.
Within minutes I scored a hitch with a pleasant Kiwi couple who were also heading to Wanganui. The drive took about two hours, during which I got the low down on New Zealand politics, religion, culture and history.
It was late by the time I’d made it to town, so I found myself a motel and called it a day.
Cheers!