TOP SHELF VIEWS
sTA Day 23, Starveall - Old Man
March 3rd, First day of Autum! (crazy!)
Absolutely fantastic day! The trail led immediately up from Starveall hut to the summit of Starveall Mountain. Incredible views of mountains, ocean and The South Island as far as the eye can see. Ellie is feeling much better AND being easy to get along with! A real treat. At one point I was passed on the trail by a mountain man literally hurtling along at a break-neck pace. He was practically running up the mountain, " the benefit of travelling light."
The huts have water, none in between though. Definitely filter the hut water. We heard very mixed things about that, but apparently someone found a bunch of dead mice in the tank at Slaty hut. We stayed at Old Man hut. It's an infuriatingly long descent off the main track to get down to Old Man hut. I would highly recommend staying at Slaty and walking past Old Man to Rintoul hut.. Also, fellow TAsts, after Slaty hut you walk along the crest of the mountains until a short descent into spruce forests before ascending Old Man Mt. This part of the trail is not well marked.. Look for stone Cairns left by hikers, they are life savers.
We camped at Old Man hut which doesn't have mice! The mountain man camped there too, for all his running and scampering. He seemed kind of lonely and we talked about rap and a mutual love of Devin The Dude while I waited to see if Ellie was going to turn up or if I'd have to go back up the mountain in search. She did turn up! And Sheldon, the mountain man, spent the evening teasing my mercilessly about the age of my backpack which he said he hasn't seen anything like since the 80's. I love my backpack.
