River Crossing

Dan and Jenn ponder where to cross the main stem of the Makaroa River in the distance.

For miles we followed beside the river across wide grassy meadows. At times the trail meandered into the shadows of mossy beech forests skirting waterfalls and canyons. By day's end we were knackered, but still had yet to ford the Makaroa River.

We had been discouraged by this from one of the rangers, hinting that "Northern Hemisphere" folk like us must be soft. This has happened a few times down here and gets old. When we made it to the river it was nothing to scoff at, but added to the thrill of the hike: what we all came here for. I offered to lead the way across in a basic daisy-chain style river crossing. The main stem was too strong though, and I decided we should turn back. Up to our waist and rising with strength it was a good call. I think we would have been swept away otherwise.

So we scouted upriver a few kilometers and found a spot where the river widens, decreasing the flow so it came up just beyond our thighs. We laughed and gave high fives on the other side while changing out of wet clothing for dry ones. Crossing a sheep field we hiked the last few kilometers by the Haast Pass road to the car. We toasted with a sip of wine and then made the long drive back home, stopping for burgers and fries in Wanaka. Utterly exhausted, utterly satisfied.