I had an early start on day 12, and so I suffered for the previous night's antics at the Poker table. After a quick brekkie I got my stuff together and headed out to wait on the bus. When it arrived I was disconcerted to find none of the others on it, but I just assumed that they were on another bus. Despite trying my best not to, I fell back asleep on the bus and I awoke when we stopped at a hire store, where people were given the opportunity to hire walking poles or boots. I decided to stick with my comfy trainers and then we headed out towards the track. I felt much better for the sleep and I got ready to set off as soon as we arrived. I assumed that the other guys were probably ahead and resigned myself to doing the trail alone. Lucky I had brought my I-pod. After 20 mins of walking I reached the Mangatepopo hut and stopped to use the toilet. i also grabbed a quick snack before heading on my way. I reached the path and ended up behind a familiar looking group. Believe it or not, I had found the other Guys, Ingmar, Anouk, Paddy and Emma. We headed on and found the path to Soda Springs to be quite easy. We stopped there for a short while before heading on to tackle the Devil's steps. I kid you not, they were EVIL. They seemed to go on forever, and each new flight of steps up the mountain made your thighs burn even more. By the end, I was about ready to turn and head back, if it wasn't for the fact that I'd have to go down the steps. I pushed myself, and found that we were in a large, flat crater. It was so amazing to find this strange plateau on the mountain, almost an acre of completely flat, desolate landscape. Apart from the steady stream of walkers, of course. We reached another climb, which was tough, and then stopped at the high point for a break. We decided to push on slightly further before stopping to have lunch. We stopped for lunch on a rocky area next to the red crater, and the views of the route ahead and the green and blue lakes was amazing. Paddy was slightly concerned, however, because we were on top of a volcano and there was steam. I explained to him that it was normal, but he didn't seem convinced, and so I told him that the ground was also hot. After that we decided to head off and we set off down a slope which seemed to me to be like a vertical cliff. Paddy helped to talk me down slowly, and we leaned into the slope and sort of jumped down, allowing the gravel to slow our descent. We reached the bottom in one piece (thankfully) and set off along the track toward the blue lake. Just before the blue lake there was a small climb, which seemed like no problem until I got a touch of extremely painful cramp in my knee. I stumbled the rest of the way to the lake, and then stopped and sat for awhile. I seemed ok after a rest, and I continued on towards the Kaitiahe hut. The path was quite cruel, because although the hut wasn't far away, the path kept zig-zagging and it took a good hour or two to reach. When I arrived I caught up with Paddy and Emma, and joined the very long line for the toilet. By the time I had finished, Ingmar and Anouk had arrived. I waited for them and we stopped for food. Emma and Paddy went on ahead and I set off later with Ingmar and Anouk. We walked down a still winding track and after we passed a sign showing that we were at the last of the 16.9 kilometers, we descended into what was almost rain forest. I went on ahead of the girls, and the last k seemed endless, walking through this dense forest. After what seemed like hours I finally arrived, exhausted, at the bus pick-up point. Ingmar and Anouk arrived about 10 mins later. The buses arrived after about half an hour and I got put onto the same bus as the guys, because the other bus had to wait for some stragglers. When I arrived back at the hostel the first thing I did was book the bus to the hot spa. It was gorgeous for my aching muscles, and the hour or so I spent there did me the world of good. I had no trouble sleeping that night.
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