Journal:
I was
expecting it to start raining overnight, but there
were only a couple of brief showers. However,
there was a fog in the valley where I was camped and
everything was damp.....and it was also cold.
I got up at 6:30am and was hiking by soon after
8:30am, anticipating an easier and shorter day's
hiking.
An early bonus was finding
that the official route of the Hume & Hovell Track
had changed, presumably because an owner had granted
permission, to take a track up through a private
pine plantation which cut out a couple of
kilometres, including a road section. It was
cold but the steady climb through the plantation for
30 minutes soon warmed me up. At the top of
the climb, the trail joined the old H&H route and
followed a broad forested ridge to the west.
After a short while it entered the Woomargama
National Park to follow the Tin Mines Track and the
forest changed to a grassy eucalypt forest that was
very easy on the eye in the overcast conditions.
All muted shades of green, grey and brown with the
occasional white snow gum standing out. It was
very quiet except for the occasional wallaby or
disturbed flock black or white cockatoos.
Further on as the track climbed higher to round a
couple of knolls, there were partially obscured
views across the rural land to the west and
mountains to the east. I was making good time
and,
after a short lunch stop, completed the last section
of the day's hike with a gradual descent to the Tin
Mines Flats and my campsite which I reached at
2:15pm. The next campsite is another 20km
further on, so continuing was not really an option.
Firstly, water is scarce in Woomargama NP on my
route and, secondly, the official campsites have
some shelter and rain is still forecast.
I set up camp, washed and dried out the gear that
was still damp and settled into a relaxing afternoon
including a walk around the
Flats and
some reading. I had an early dinner and went
to bed early to have a read. Rain is still
expected tonight, but I'm starting to think that
maybe it has somehow missed me. However, there
is a "sheep weather alert" out for this region so
maybe there is weather misery to come.