With a nice forecast for the next three days before more rain we elected to head back up the Travers Valley , a walk we had taken Sammi on in 2016 . However we planned an out and back to see this hut called Hopeless on a small branch stream , naturally the Hopeless Steam . The Hopeless stream is actually an infrequently used way to access the Angelus ridge and famous Angelus hut , but involves a difficult climb up over Sunset saddle .

This is a short vid taken from the area close to the hut. Open the link to view

we walked back out , about 15.5 km to the head of the Lake Rotoiti and by that time my feet were painful , combination of a fire wood collection mishap on the left and another sore ankle on the right . I elected to take the easy way back to St Arnaud by the 3 pm water taxi , Barb’s decided to walk the lake edge , a testy 3 hour 10 kms of awkward track . I arrived back at the 5 th before her and had my very own chance to play ” Robyn Judkins ” As she finally arrived I met her with her very own bottle ( mini ) of fine champagne 🥂🍾

She was pretty pleased with herself naturally