Day 8: Sunday - Mangakino - Piropiro campsite (Timber Trail)

Strava Stats: 87km, 6h 37 mins riding, altitude gain well over 1000m (Strava wasn't working properly today)
Matt told me we'd climbed the equivalent of over a Mt Everest altogether.

A foggy morning from a steamy lake resulted in a damp tent, but it soon cleared as I continued the Waikato river trail. After a few Ks, the trail followed roads to a really horrible little swing bridge too narrow for mountain bike handlebars - which took a sweaty 10 minutes to traverse 20m. From there, the trail was old logging roads in the Pureora forest, which still has some amazing big trees along with regenerating areas. It was a big climb to the Centre of the North Island marker, where I caught up with Millie again, then a sweeping downhill to the start of the Timber Trail, where we both caught up with Matt.

The timber trail is a wonderful route - largely singletrack through virgin and  regenerating forest. A steep climb up to 971m (the highest point of our cycle in the North Island) then a great downhill to the DOC campground. The 3 of us pitched tents then went for beer at the Timber Trail lodge, where we discovered Tom, so had a nice social end to the day.






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