Snow!

Our first hike with a full set of trampers was along the Ahuriri River and up the Dingle Burn.

We started late in the day with a short hike up to the first hut. While we were packing our bags it went from cold and windy to cold and windy and snowing, and the snow had started to stick on the grass.

(Pic: bad weather ahead.)

I spent the hike walking downwind of Wesley to avoid the blowing snow. This worked surprisingly well.

We were supposed to spend the first night at a hut but when we got there we found that it was packed to the rafters with people from a Christchurch tramping club, so we camped outside by the hut and built a fire to warm up by. We were in a stand of beech trees so there wasn't much snow on the ground, but it was a cold night. I was happy to have a good  sleeping bag.

(Pics: our camp; ice on the tent in the morning.)

The tent didn't let any moisture through, but I did sort of fall out of it in the middle of the night: my sleeping pad slid downhill on the groundcloth and I woke up with my feet outside the tent. I was confused.

The morning showed us a bluebird day and beautiful mountains that had been hiding in the clouds the day before. This is when I actually started to take pictures, because I started to be able to feel my fingers again.

(Pic: NZ landscapes are best seen as panoramas.)

To be continued.

First trek: Lake Rotoiti

After a comfortable night at Lewis Pass we headed to Nelson Lakes National Park with the goal of hiking the Travers-Sabine circuit. We hiked in three hours the first night to stay at a hut, where we met a friendly group of outdoor education students. We also met a hungry, inquisitive kea who popped up by the table where we were cooking, looked us over, and promptly stole as much cheese as possible when we turned around.

My journal for the day says: three introverts went for a walk. It was quiet.

The next day we started with the goal of hiking 8 hours to the Upper Travers hut, but ended up staying at the John Tait hut due to completely excessive amounts of rain.

Ostensibly it was a five hour hike from our first hut to John Tait, but we spend a few extra hours crossing flooded creeks and finding new paths when the river ate chunks of the trail. We all ended up with wet feet and switched to splashing through puddles instead of going around them, and we were all soaked despite ostensibly waterproof gear.

Irony is: carrying a bottle of waterproofing spray in your backpack in case it stops raining long enough to waterproof your jacket.

(Pause for everybody who has seen my jacket to say "I told you so" about it not being waterproof. I'm waterproofing it again tonight and I'm optimistic.)

We made a fire and some food at John Tait Hut, and decided to stay the night there instead of pressing on through continuing rain. There was one lonely German at the hut, as well as two friendly Kiwis. When we walked in the German was sitting in front of the wood stove halfheartedly trying to start a fire. When Nathan Golshan took over making the fire the German moved into a corner and didn't say anything the rest of the time we were there.

The rain lasted for at least fifteen hours.

The next day we decided to hike back down the river and go to another hut at the head of the lake, aptly named Lakehead Hut. The other hut nearby was called Coldwater, which was also extremely opposite. The trail was the same for half of the trip and then crossed a swingbridge to the other side of the river. The hike was much shorter and much more pleasant without the rain: we spent a lot of time commenting on sections of the trail that had been streams the day before. The most shocking thing was that all of the sketchy gullies and creeks had fully dried up.

We made it down with dry feet and a lot of spare time, despite a stop by the river for Nathan to wade in and fish. Wesley and I watched and commented on how cold the water looked. No fish were harmed.

The same outdoor education group was at the hut, along with a group of high school kids out on a school trip. We tried to explain the American health care system and government shutdown to the Kiwis, then gave up and drank hot chocolate instead.

The next day started rainy and stayed that way. We had a cruising hike along the lake during which Wesley swore at the rain and said helpful things like "It's wet. And cold."

We were motivated by the vision of fish and chips when we hit town, so it was a crushing blow to find the fish and chips shop was only open for three hours a day on Friday and Saturday. We crossed the street to one of the only other buildings in town, which was a hotel and restaurant, and dried out by the fire while we read Top Gear NZ.

During lunch a lightning bolt hit a telephone pole across the street.

At the end of lunch we unanimously decided to stay in and watch the rain through the windows of the adjoining hostel rather than soak ourselves for another four hours to reach a hut (and a further four coming down from the hut in the morning).

All told, it was a fun hike.

New Zealand!

Oct 21

Day one: we picked up a bunch of food and dropped off a few people. I'm going hiking with Nathan and Wesley for a week, then picking up Darren and Anna for two more weeks of hiking.

We drove out of Christchurch and camped by a creek near Lewis Pass. Dinner was lamb on rice with sweet chili sauce, served with a pear cider each. We each have an individual tent, so we set them up side by side and made fun of each other.

Wesley's tent is definitely going to be the most waterproof, since it actually has a floor. On the other hand, it's not quite a Wesley-sized tent. You can see his knees touching the sides when he's in it, and there's no room to sit up.

Nathan Golshan's tent has the advantage of having been tested in New Zealand weather before. Downsides: it takes a bit of time and fidgeting to set up, and it's also pretty small inside.

My tent is a product of Nathan Golshan's time and sewing machine, but has the advantage of being much larger. It's the only tent with any real room in it, which is good because I'll be sharing it with Anna on the latter part of the trip. (Golshan says it's a "1.5-person tent".) In theory it should be easy to set up, but my first time around it was definitely the wrong shape. It has no floor but has a groundcloth, and is better than the tent we had last race because it's actually made out of waterproof cloth. Both my tent and Golshan's are pitched with trekking poles. My tent did well against wind the first night and I was very cozy.

Our goal is to go to the Nelson Lakes Wilderness and go for a multiday hike there.

After the race: bubble wrap and beer

We've bubble wrapped the car and dropped her off at the airport. We've been hanging around the hostel bar, representing America at trivia night, and watching terrible movies. Next stop: New Zealand!

Pics: bubble wrap; bubble wrap; Wesley "gangster rims" Ford; confined spaces.

Final photos

Ian after driving the last shift; celebrations at the end of timing; bro tanks in Australia; Nathan!; Anna getting ready to drive across the ceremonial finish line; ceremonial finish in Adelaide.

We have crossed the ceremonial finish, been thrown in the kiddy pools that are taking the place of the usual fountain, taken showers, and traded shirts. Now we are eating, chilling, and settling into a few days of relaxation in Adelaide until the closing ceremony.

Race day four

You all know how this ends, but here's what I wrote at the end of day four:

Another day of tailwinds and crosswinds let us go fast again. Luminos handles well in the wind and all there drivers said they felt safe in the wind.

We started to catch up on Twente on the segment before Coober Pedy. By Glendambo we had shaved twenty minutes off the gap between us. They broke down briefly on the way into Glendambo-as far as we could see, their rear fairings broke in the wind-and they replaced fairings and a tire at the control stop, which is against race regulations. We're waiting to see if they get a penalty for that at Port Augusta.

We camped about six minutes behind them and will be up bright and early tomorrow for what we hope will be the last day of the race for us.

Fourth place!

We finished WSC!  We drove 3000 kilometers across the continent in a solar car and came in fourth place. We didn't break down a single time on the race.  It was excellent.

I'm in Adelaide now, and I need to go get a shower and some food.

Nathan showed up at the finish line with a box of donuts and no prior warning that he wasn't still in America.

Sam D'Amico also showed up in his old solar car bro tank.