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.
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