Mission Desk
The Path of the Sun
Alrighty! If you’ve been following along on the Mission Desk, you would know that Scott ‘The Boogeyman’ Bougen and Shaun ‘The Running Beast’ Collins were taking on a mission for the ages.
This was the brief heading in:
“We go from east most lighthouse to west most lighthouse. The widest land of the north island.”
“We are using off road as much as we can so it’s a mix of trails/ routes/ riverbeds, bush crashing and some gravel and sealed roads to join it all up.”
“4 national parks and a bunch of forest parks or whatever the next level of big wild parks is called. It’s measured as 780k and 27000m vert or something but we know its gonna be more than that.”
“The average day moving is planned to be 16hrs allowing for a feed and sleep each night at huts or campsites or a campervan for the last 4 nights (cause is less wild).”
Now, as you would expect, things didn’t quite go as planned. The duo ended up completing just over 300 of the 800km route – but taking a mind-blowing 144 hours for those 300 km.
I got an update from Shaun last week. I’ve cut down some of the juicy bits below.
“…I went to the doctors on Friday cause my legs were swelling up and ends up that I had a massive infection (supposedly very lucky we didn’t keep running cause it was close to sepsis)”
“two iv antibiotic treatments and pills for 5 days and the legs are back to normal size now. Infection probably stems from the mass of grazes and cuts on the first big crash!
“But the shin pain was now even more clear and X-rays yesterday revealed a stress fracture, that I ran/hiked on for two days. So no wonder the last day felt so rubbish and I was so sore with every footfall.”
“Ever since getting back I’ve had disturbed sleep waking up 5-8 times a night in a sweat puddle, needing a piss and having woken from a nightmare of running hiking off a mountain.”
“…lastly all toes and finger tips are still all tingly with pins and needles and pain if they get too cold or too hot. Aside from the above and eating like a whale everything is fine and dandy. Scott’s got the extremities tingling, eating and night sweats but no stress fracture, infection or nightmares.”
If that’s not enough to put you off, I’m not sure what is!
They’ll have more pub stories than they’ll know what to do with. Impenetrable leatherwood bashing, swollen rivers, relentless weather, support crew accidents. This one had it all.
I managed to catch Scott and Shaun between nightmares and got some answers to a few questions I had.
This is a bit of a longer one; if you’re a goldfish, take a couple of cracks at it, as it’s worth the read if you’re into this sort of thing.
Do you remember the moment you realised you had bitten off way more than you thought, and who was first to voice it?
Scott: “Oh, instantly. Nah when we hit the first day’s barrage of tight leather wood and realising, we had no options left other than getting down on the hands and knees to navigate.”
“I probably express more profanity than Shaun, but we have done this enough together now words are never needed; the expression says it all!”
“No toys were thrown out of the cot though! We just put our heads down and get on with it!!”
Shaun: “Not sure we ever voiced it officially but I’m sure we were both thinking it after the first leg took 45.5 hrs instead if the planned 16hrs.”
“For us to have to be out in the shit, cold weather for two nights (over 45.5hrs) with no sleep and continually moving for that first leg - both having vivid aural and visual hallucinations and sleepwalking.”
“We’d be a bit thick not to question what the rest of it was going to be like and if we were going to be out for weeks! We didn’t voice it though and seem to just plough on!”
Were you ever scared for your life? Close to pulling the PLB?
Shaun: “There was times during out nights out moving, climbing steep faces out of a river, sidling along a bit and back down to a clearer riverbed where there were definitely dicey moments.”
“That and the 100 or so river crossings, some in water that was on the line of being too fast! Luckily we were sleep deprived and our brains failed to register any issues with this nah, at times it was hairy but we just had to keep going! We still were onto it enough to assess some risks and did back out of a too swift river or too steep a cliff to decent/climb several times.”
“There were no times where we were enough to danger or anything that required us to consider pulling the PLB. In fact we were asked to do just that on that first stage, when the crew called in LSAR and Police - rightly so because they hadn’t heard from us or seen tracking (it stopped sending out in the dense rain laden bush) for 12-16 hrs.”
“Once we finally had communication via the InReach, they asked us to pull the PLB (to get our location) and we said no because we were not hurt and still moving. Eventually via the garbled 160 character messages we could satisfy LSAR that we were fine and moving (and we would send regular updates with our location, time and route) and the InReach tracking came right, so they could remotely monitor us and they were happy once we were met by a lovely Ruatoria Police lady at the trail head.”
“When we finally got there, 45 hrs after starting at the East Cape lighthouse less than 100km away, she took us to the Ruatoria police station and gave us porridge and jam toast and showers AND IT WAS AMAZING!!”
Scott: “There was definitely a lot of arse puckering moments and a few we probably ignored because there was no other choice. But being wet and cold and borderline hyperthermic for hours on end does really make you consider your options!”
What was your top moment from the mission?
Scott: “Definitely descending into Waipakihi Hut on Leg 4 after another relentless day and finding some GC left some potato mash (with a side of Teriyaki Sauce) yes it actually works!”
“We left there filled up with hot mash, the rain stopped, the stars finally appeared, and despite all the shit we’d been through, that night's final 15k allowed some time to appreciate the battles. It’s often the little wins that leave the biggest smile.”
Shaun: “The tops of Kaimanawa Ranges (Umukarikarui Range - Umikarikair 1591m and Sharp Cone 1481m) was a highlight. We’d had hours of rain and wind from the Kaweka thru to the Kaimanawas and were super cold and miserable.”
“We got to the Waipakihi Hut after dark, decided to stop and get more warm clothes on, cook up some mash potatoes (that some trampers had left in the hut) covered it in a Teriyaki sauce sachet) also left behind) and just hoovered it down.”
“We left the hut a bit warmer, with energy from the mash and the clouds just disappeared at the top of the next climb, leaving an amazing clear stary night for us to run the open mountain tops, with views of the lights of Turangi and truck lights along Desert Rd. Massive, massive country that we’d traversed that day and to finish with that was amazing.”
What was your lowest point of the mission?
Shaun: “The obvious one is the 10-15km bush bash from hell!”
“But another one was the point where we thought we were finally on our way on a decent indistinct but at least slightly formed track, only to be told by the crew that we’d have to turn around because the Motu river was swollen and unpassable and we just couldn’t avoid it.”
“We’d spent 20 hrs (37km) to travel just a 10km riverbed section from the Hikurangi road end to Oronui Hut. Because of the swollen river we had some massive up/sidle along and down sections and wide wide detours to get there.”
“We’d had a feed and 3hr sleep (we’d been going all night) and so were on our way in good spirits – it’s gotta get easier from here cause there are tracks and the rivers are calming down. Then we get the InReach message “you must turn around and go back!” WTF! It was a massive downer!! Not just because it meant we knew the whole Cape to Cape traverse was no longer possible, but also because we had to get out again.”
“Thankfully we slept at the hut and the river was down enough the next morning for us to get out along the 10km riverbed section rather than the 37km route we’d had to take in. There was lots of silence in that morning exit out, as we considered what it meant for the mission!”
Scott: “That had to be seeing Shaun’s shin pain really kicking in during the most technical, muddy, rocky section. Just the body language from someone that’s pushing past what the body really can handle, every step, slip was a battle! and knowing there’s nothing you can do to help!”
“Close second would have to be turning around on Leg 2 after being told we had no way of crossing the Motu River, and no crew access after just about losing both the Van and Crew member Jack Newman down the cliff edge when the road gave way underneath!”
“Thankfully he walked away unharmed! But hours of hard slog had gone into navigating the swollen rivers and getting to where we had just to turn around and head back to where we started two days ago, was extremely deflating!
If you could banish one section of your trip to the pits of hell, what is it and why?
Scott: “Easy - Monday’s bush bash across the Raukumara Ranges. That dense, no-track nightmare made us question everything – especially our sanity. It was hell on earth, and I’d happily send it straight back there.”
Shaun: “The obvious one is the 10-15km bush bash from hell! Which we’ve talked about above. Moving between 1-2 hrs a km just wasn’t in the plan and to do it in rain and strong winds was a shocker. Version 2.0 definitely avoids that section!!”
What was the longest period of silence between the two of you?
Shaun: “There would be hours of silence but we’re both happy with that, then someone would blurt out a comment about something/someone/a sight and we’d jabber about that for a few minutes then slip back to silence. Neither of us are chatterboxes ,so were well suited to adventure together!”
“The longest silent period was probably our last day. I was battling pain with every footfall on my shin (since diagnosed with x-ray as a stress fracture) and Scott said afterwards he could see my body wince with every trip or uneven footfall.”
“I took a couple of massive tumbles cause my balance was off overcompensating and I was just suffering in silence. Brewing on how to carry on and what was needed. Scott had me in front, setting the pace and I was mentally battling.”
“The wind and rain were pretty strong so we couldn’t talk anyway, but we got to a hut and I just blurted out “I’m done sorry man! My shin is fucked”. It must have been a bit weird for Scott at first, coming from nowhere - just firing it out of the blue, but he probably figured it out anyway cause the pace was so slow and like I said he could see me wincing with pain.”
Scott: “There’s one thing anyone needs to know about their teammate before doing any sort of adventure together... Can you both be comfortable with the silence!! We are both pros at this! Especially when you are in the thick of it!”
“Eyes on the terrain, brains in survival mode for alot of it. Silence becomes your loudest conversation.”
A lot of people say they “learnt a lot about themselves” on these adventures—did you learn anything, or just realise you should second-guess your stupid ideas?
Scott: “Both! These adventures push you to the edge - sometimes you discover new limits, but mostly, it just confirms I’m a slow learner.”
“We’re all searching for something out here, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve quite found it yet. But one thing’s for sure: we’ll be back for more soon. Because clearly, the adventure isn’t over until we realise we’re way more crazy than we thought!”
Shaun: “The fact that despite all we endured during and then me since getting home, that we’re talking about a version 2.0 means we love and can’t avoid stupid ideas! That’s how this started – as a one liner text from Scott to me that I straight away replied Fuck Yeah!”
“I learned that the Revenant was a park run compared to this! Nah but kind of ….I guess you always second guess your skills, fitness and mental toughness - was Revenant a fluke, was the Auckland Circumnavigation just an easy challenge.”
“I’ve done some big challenges and I guess am always looking to upsize them and check I’ve still got all that’s needed and this mission showed me I do – I was stoked with how we did considering everything that was checked at us!”
“Oh and I learnt my wife is right. We started a challenge to “follow the path of the sun” at the exact time that there was a Partial Solar Eclipse, right where its seen first in the world. She said that it was bad luck and we can confirm that we were cursed – so much shit happened with weather, conditions, terrain, crew vehicles trying to stop us and cut the trip short. That’s the only explanation.”
And what things went better than expected?
Shaun: “Our nutrition seemed to be on point, with both of us recovering well each day and having plenty of energy and no sore muscles.”
“I was also stoked with our tenacity – relentless forward movement – even in that first massive bush crash where our average km rate was 90mins a km for 8km and one km was even 2hrs.”
“We still just kept moving – probably cause we were wet and freezing cold so didn’t want to stop and get hypothermia, but we just kept plugging through it. There were times I thought – wondered…not many people would keep going in this sort of terrain and weather.”
Thanks for your time Shaun and Scott. I hope you didn’t use up too many of your last remaining brain cells answering those questions!
If you’re keen to try out the Path of the Sun … just don’t. Just run a bit faster at park run or something!