This day was our most aggressive hike in New Zealand - eleven miles round trip to Bell Falls, with 3431 feet of elevation gain. Unfortunately, the weather forecast called for rain arriving at about lunchtime and continuing lightly for the rest of the afternoon. We decided to get an early start, and get as much hiking done before the first drops fell. Unwisely, I figured I would leave my sunhat behind on what was sure to be an overcast day and instead I brought all of my rain gear. I did, however, remember to carry my third water bottle for such a long hike.
I was quite impressed with the quality of the Holly Hut trail; there were (seemingly) miles of boardwalks and stairs. The distance and elevation gain make the hike a challenge, but the trail conditions are excellent. In contrast, the Bell Falls Track, departing from Holly Hut, was highly rutted especially in the steeper sections and looked like it had been overgrown with vegetation until someone had (quite recently) gone through with a machete and whacked down all abundant greenery. The Bell Falls is a descent of 300 to 400 feet, and proved to be much longer than I was expecting. The All Trails contour map appears to mark the Bell Falls track with a distance of just 0.7 of a mile, but it is definitely further than than.
The trail description for the Holly Hut track warned that there was a stream to cross just before reaching the hut. The trail description said that if the water was flowing too fast, do not attempt to cross this stream. I carried my water sandals, thinking we would have to wade across a running stream. But when we got to Holly Hut, the watercourse was completely dry.
The back of my left knee started hurting on the return climb from Holly Hut. By the time we started our descent to the Visitor's Center, I was limping badly. I was glad that I had brought the hiking poles on this trek; they allowed me to put weight on my arms rather than on my leg as we climbed down the ridge.
The unexpectedly nice weather left me unprepared - I brought my raingear rather than my sunhat and sunglasses. We did have our umbrellas; Melanie used one to try to keep the sun off of her, but she got a sunburn on her arms anyway.
