20180410-IMGP0944 by
jenkwang, on Flickr
20180410-IMGP4456-1500 by
jenkwang, on Flickr
As it snowed in what is supposed to be the first month of Autumn, my sleeping bag was not warm enough (and I have poor cold tolerance).
Due to the raining and colder than expected temperatures, I only managed to camp one night out of the planned three.
My sleeping bag was only rated down to 5C, but on the night I was camping, it was about -5C.
I had to wear 3 layers to keep warm, but it was the cold feet that made me wake up, as I had nothing other than 2 pairs of socks.
Eventually, I pulled a T shirt over the feet as well as a trash bag that I have as a multi purpose back up, but it was still cold.
I made a mistake of not keeping some of the PET bottles I had bought in town after drinking from them, as it would have made a good warmer with hot/warm water inside.
It was too cold for biting insects to be out and I was fulled wrapped up most of the time, so no mosquitoes and black flies problems.
The picts above are from Day 2 Twizel to Lake Ohau.
Its probably the easiest of the whole trail as its mainly sealed roads.
Clothing was enough for the cold/snow.
The Top consisted of a base layer, micro fleece jacket and a riding jacket
Bottoms consisted of a winter riding tights, long johns and thin trekking pants.
The feet had 2 layers of socks and I had to stuff a wedge of tissue paper into the toe area of the shoe to get a bit more cold protection (and that worked pretty well).
The bottom layering was a bit much once I got warmed up, so on subsequent days, I just made do with 2 layers (no long john).