Easy hike and the danger of not being present

After searching for semi local hikes and huts to check out I found one around 3 hours drive from my house that I wanted to check out. Leitches hut south of Te Kuiti has 4 open tracks leading to it, ranging from 3-7 hours. The 7 hour track would have been great if I could have taken a shorter walk out, 7 hours in is perfect for me but I really didn’t want to retrace my steps another 7 hours in the morning. I decided to take an easy 3 hour walk in as it was the easiest to get to and didn’t require private land owners permission for passage through.  

The track was really well maintained and the first half of the track was wide enough for a quad bike. This was really a welcome change from the last hike it did in the Waikato (see here for the Mt Pirongia climb).

The only problem was that I wasn’t particularly present while hiking in, for whatever reason my mind was elsewhere and I tripped a couple of times in my vibrams. The first trip was about half an hour in was quite painful and remained difficult to walk on (more on this later).

Seven goats only 50 meters away

Upon finally reaching the hut I was quite satisfied to take a break and just chill out at the hut reading (Fight Club) and listening to the Joe Rogan Experience. While I read I heard a kid (young goat) and got to watch 7 goats feeding 50 meters away which was really cool to see, I’d love to come back with a rifle to get some wild meat.

The walk back was much more enjoyable, I was fast and present and found the walk quite relaxing, however my toe was swollen and giving my just a little bit of trouble.

Fast forward a day and I decided it was best to have the toe checked out. As it turns out I had broken my toe. Now I’ve got two weeks with my toe strapped up before I get it re checked. I’m hoping for the best as I’ve got a 4 day hike planned for 3 weeks time.

A little bruising for a little break

On another note I quite enjoyed doing a much easier hike, while I enjoy the challenge of a rough trail; just walking slowly over a wide trail is very relaxing. In future I might try to get a mix of easier tourist trails and harder back country trails.

The track over this hill is closed to the public