15 Jan. This is reputed to be one of the harder days in the Richmond Range. Only 12km but 1500m of climb. I left Hacket Hut at 07:30 and followed a river bed for about 2km before the 900m climb South up to Starveall Hut. Got there at 10:45. Freya was just moving on as she was pushing for Old Man Hut, about another 5 hours beyond Slaty. Stefan caught up with me as I arrived at Starveall. An excellent day of weather with little wind.
After getting some signal, uploading yesterday’s post, and having a cracker and salami snack to recharge the muscles, I moved on to Slaty Hut arriving at 14:30. Stefan was already there and we were soon joined by Katrina and Oceane. Flo arrived with some friends from Nelson, Katrina and Josh. They were joining him for a few days over this next section.
As there was time, I took a short walk without my pack up onto the ridge overlooking the hut. Great views of the mountain range and it is called Slaty for good reason; all the rock is slate chips. Getting back to the hut another couple from Canada arrived, Troy and Jordan. They decided to camp outside the hut.
Good sleep apart from the mice in the hut. They seemed to be around the wood pile and a couple of packs. A couple of nights ago Katrina found her nuts bag inside her pack had been chewed by mice.
Off at 07:30 into a lovely clear day. Signal probably on the ridge again.
Stefan coming up to Starveall
The Interconnected View 