To the Rangitata River

Friday March 23 18.3 kms 5 hours

Good fog cover the next morning, and an early start, but today is my last TA day this season, so I was soon on the trail. Track easy enough to follow, and I even managed to spot the point at which the markers took me away from the old farm track that I had followed to that point. By the time I reached the saddle down into the Lake Clearwater basin, the sun was out for me … but ahead and below was a sea of thick fog.

Navigation was easy enough at first, following the markers down a fenceline, and at the bottom I instantly spotted another unmarked junction with marker poles going in two different directions. But I had my TA marked map, so knew which route to take. Because this was going across country with no obvious track, this section required some care. At one point I stopped for 5-10 minutes at a marker pole, looking at my shadow on thick fog ahead of me before continuing.

But soon after the fog cleared, providing views of Lake Clearwater on my left, and the mountains around Mt Potts in the distance ahead of me. Grateful for the “deviation” to avoid private property, as this took the track onto a ridgeline with good views, and then onto the lip of the high banks of the Potts River.

Then down to the meeting point with Hazel at the road bridge, leaving my pack in the car, before a quick walk there and back to the first branch of the Rangitata River. Across the river were great views of Mesopotamia Station and the start of Bush Stream, where I tramped with the ATC last summer, and will return next summer on my TA journey – I can’t wait !