Journal: |
I got up at 6:45am when it was just light enough to see and,
wearing all my rain gear as mosquito protection, was breakfasted,
packed up and on my way by 8:50am. The first couple of hours was
spent following a faint trail up a ridge to the summit of Mount
Easton. It was slow steady work through the forest, but quite
pleasant in the cool and away from the mosquitoes. At the top (992m)
I was in the clouds and it was cold and damp with no views because
of the trees. After that I reached a firetrail and had pleasant cool
walking at altitude along tree-fern bordered firetrail and later
more open Eucalypt forest.
Then began the very steep descent to the Jordan River. I was very
cautious and slow taking baby steps the whole way on the loose
gravel firetrail. It took a long time, but I made it safely down to
the river which had seen a number of old mining settlements many
years ago, but most of the remnants are now overgrown. I stopped at
one of them, Red Jacket, for lunch at 1:15pm in pleasant sunshine.
After lunch I had the choice of following the official AAWT route up
the crest of a wooded ridge with difficult trail, or following an
alternative given in the guide book along a firetrail which ended up
in the same place but was 2.7km longer. I chose the latter which
climbed steadily for 6km with nice views out to the west, but hard
work all the same. I was starting to worry about water for camping
tonight and was very happy to come across a small waterfall. I drank
my fill and filled my two litre water bottles figuring that would be
sufficient to get me through til tomorrow if necessary.
The firetrail continued to climb and eventually passed the summit
of Mt Victor (1185m). The air was cool and clear and there were
occasional good views across mountains as far as the eye could see.
I then followed some gravel roads, encountering three forestry
vehicles going home. With only a two kilometers to go to my planned
campsite (waterless) I took a short deviation along a firetrail to
get off the road and came across a cabin in the wilderness with a
rainwater tank.
There was nobody about and it looked like a weekender. At first I
thought I would camp outside and "borrow" some of their water, then
I thought maybe I would sleep on their roofed deck, and then when I
tried the doors and it was unlocked, I decided to stay inside. There
was lots of food, etc., but I didn't touch any of it. Just used a
little water and camped on one of the beds. The interests of the
owners can perhaps be deduced from the magazines on the kitchen
table - Guns & Game and One Hundred New Bikini Babes!
Hopefully I'll have a quiet night and be able to get an early start.
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