Journal:
I got up just
before 6:30am to clear skies and an hour later the
sun rose to warm up slightly what was another very
cold morning. I was on my way by 8:30am, still
wearing a jacket for warmth, along some more
beautiful sun-dappled track through a very dry
eucalypt forest. No sign of the camp
neighbours before I left.
The trail notes said this this section was
"hard" and it
was definitely less-travelled than some other parts
but, apart from a few short sharp climbs, the going
wasn't too bad for the first few hours. I
stopped at one of the rare log books on the trail
for my first break and found an entry from friends
Darrel, Andrew and Terry, who had run the trail in
just five days, three years ago. I
photographed their entry and sent it by SMS to
Darrel, knowing that it would evoke some memories
for him.
After the break, the trail left
this section
of Woomargama National Park and entered some private
pine plantation and grazing land. As I walked,
I tuned into an interview on the ABC with Cheryl
Strayed (in Sydney for the Writers Festival) about
her book "Wild" describing her hike along part of
the Pacific Crest Trail in the US and how it had got
her life back on track after the death of her
mother. I had read and enjoyed the book, which
I think did a very good job of describing the
miseries and joys of solo long-distance hiking.
Recommended. It was also relevant because the
PCT has been on my list for some time and there's a
good chance I will hike the southern half
(Californian section) next year.
Anyway, while I listened to the radio, my trail
gradually emerged from forest
onto very
hilly grazing land, giving sweeping views, and it
became a bit harder to find the trail markers.
At one point I thought I was on track, but wasn't,
and had to retrace my steps and then use the map,
topography and GPS to work out where the trail
should be going. After travelling
cross-country for about a kilometre, I left a small
pocket of forest to spy, in the distance, a trail
marker and after that I didn't have any more
problems. That is, apart from the up and down
route following fence lines across hilly open
grazing lands, negotiating many stiles, and all
beneath a strong sun. It was quite tiring and
I began to regret my decision not to carry any
water, which has been fine for most days of the
hike, but not today.
Finally, after a last couple of stiles the trail
reached the Bowna-Wymah Road and I sat on the bottom
step of the last stile and had a late lunch at
1:45pm. It was positively
warm in the sun and the flies were plentiful,
encouraging me not to wait for too long before
beginning the last leg of the day, 7.5km along the
road to The Great Aussie Holiday Park where I had
booked a cabin for the night. Road-walking is
hard on the feet, but a lot faster and the backroad
pretty rural scenery helped the time quickly pass.
I reached the very picturesque and manicured Holiday
Park, on the shore of Lake Hume, at 3:30pm and
checked in and bought an ice-cream and a very
welcome large Diet Coke. My cabin is large and
clean and after a shower and drying my tent outside
in the late afternoon sun, I purchased a frozen
dinner back at the camp store, and uploaded my diary
entries for the last three days before cooking
dinner. The battery on my laptop had lasted
well, but the battery on the iPhone I use to upload
to the internet on the trail had pretty much run
out.
I was originally planning to take two days to hike
from here to the finishing point in Albury, but the
thought of camping in a vehicle-accessible campsite
on the outskirts of a small city on a Saturday night
is not particularly inviting. Therefore I have
decided to pack two days into one and make an early
start tomorrow for the final
49km. I've booked a motel room in Albury near
the finish point for tomorrow night and a train seat
from Albury to Sydney on Sunday morning, so I'm
fully committed to a big day.