Decisions decisions and perhaps a little deception,
It was a very cold night, even in the well built, 20 bunk hut I could not get the place to heat up on my own without the facilities to make fire. There was, as expected, rain overnight but it is so hard to judge the amount. I am located right on the saddle, in the clouds, so it might feel like more than it actually was lower down in the valley, and the cloud cover might break just 50m below my current elevation. I decided to give it a try and see if I can at least make it to Upper Deception Hut, 3km down the valley.
The river joins the trail 10m from the hut and for a while the river is the trail. There were lots of water, but I made steady progress dropping fast in elevation while the going was slow. I didn’t get the idea that the river level was much above normal, but the flowrate was indeed high for what I was familiar with. Quickly the little stream became a river and soon most of the crossings became more difficult, waist deep pools developed and I prepared myself to stay at Upper Deception Hut when I get there.
I made it to Upper Deception Hut and met a DOC ranger there that were familiar with the Deception River, looking after traps on the trail. Her advice was to continue since she did not feel the river was much above normal levels and staying 24 hours would not really make a difference either. So I continued, and for a little while the riverbed did open up, but soon became very constricted again.
The photograph below gives you a sense of the constriction since I was on the correct side of the river here, on trail, standing next to a trail marker, looking down the trail.
After this, things got a little “hairy” to be honest. All the crossings became waste deep and the current was strong. I needed three tries at one point to cross one particular section, snapping a walking pole in half and in the end having to dive/swim the last little bit in the strong current to get across. I pushed on because I was so close to the end and going back seemed equally “stupid” at the point. Another 3-ish km, I made my last crossing and the footbridge was in sight.
My body took a couple of knocks, the same wrist I hurt in the Rangitata river a couple of days ago as well as my knee and shins. More importantly, my confidence took a BIG hit as well and there were lots of anxiety making the last couple of crossings without my sturdy hiking poles. I needed to get a new set of hiking poles so I decided to get back to Christchurch and regroup.
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43.5323 – 172.5567
17 April 2024
FP-97
2 responses to “Deception River to Morrisons Footbridge – Day 49.”
Wow! That is extreme! Good idea to have come back!! It definitely feels like the sensible thing to do!
I wouldn’t say extreme, but I will be around Christchurch for now. In the end it all worked out and only cost me a set of hiking poles. LOL