Last night was so comfy. Jubbie put our air mattresses on top of the foam mattress. So much better! It was lovely hearing the sound of the river all night and I woke up to see the great campground I hadn’t seen in the dark last night. What wasn’t great was having to put my cold wet shoes on and head straight for my first river crossing of the day – the first of 25!
It actually ended up being an enjoyable morning walking. The 4WD track was pretty flat and in good condition and each time I got to Crooked River crossing, I worked out the shallowest route as I was approaching and then just headed on in. Crossing number 6 and 7 was interesting – it was supposed to be two in quick succession at the bend of a river but the track between the two was under water so it took some thinking to work out where the exit was. Crossing 21 was similar – you had to wade down the river a short way to see the exit. It was a pretty fun morning. And you get used to having icy feet.
I met Jubble in Talbotville for a Jubbie bar and cups of tea before heading off again. After crossing Crooked River for the final time (goodbye old friend) I climbed steeply up Brewery Creek Track before heading onto a bush track. I am so thankful for the track clearing efforts of the Ben Cruachan Walking Club – today’s section obviously has been cleared recently. There were blackberries along the side of the track, but none on it, not even nearly overhanging it. After my experience yesterday and my scratched up, tender legs, the thought of getting more scratches absolutely did my head in. It was a really pleasant walk down to Wonangatta River and my final river crossing of the day.
I climbed out of Wonangatta River up to the long disused Pioneer Racecourse where there was a considerately placed wooden table and bench in the sunshine just perfect for changing my shoes and socks. I dried off my legs and feet in the sun for awhile before heading off again. The next part of the walk was up a steep, very rugged 4WD track, Station Track, to meet Cynthia Ridge Track. Mostly in the bright sun with little shade. There needs to be a steeper word for steep. OMG. It took almost an hour to get up to the top. I met the first two cars of my trip on this track. I came across the second almost at the top and he very kindly waited for me to make it up before he headed down (in low range – I could hear his engine struggling down for quite some time). I sat on the track at the top and ate my lunch of leftover Chef Jublé Singapore noodles before heading down the other side of the ridge. So good.
This track was extremely overgrown, but not with blackberries, so all good. That’s now my new benchmark for overgrown! It was pretty slow going and I was again thankful that this wasn’t the track I was doing last night when running out of daylight. There’s no way I would have made it down before dark. I was also thankful for a beautiful blue sky. It was so overgrown that often I couldn’t see where I was putting my feet and the only way I knew it was quite steep was because my thighs were working. Eventually the vegetation thinned out and the track zig zagged down to the flats.
It was easy going along the flats with some sections of knee high grass. I kept thinking how glad I was that snakes are hibernating right now (Jubbie told me later he came across an aggressive brown snake on a road that was agitated towards his car!). I came across a fence and followed the perimeter of private farm land, again in pretty long grass. It’s a lovely spot for a farm, surrounded by mountains. The “path” I walked was between fenced off farm and the side of a mountain. After the farm, I joined Eaglevale Track all the way to the suspension bridge across to Eaglevale and Camp Jubbie.
I arrived by 3pm today and it was so lovely to have time to drink an alcohol free beer, fill up our water from the river, have a shower which believe it or not was almost too hot and get ready for tomorrow. Jubbie did all our washing and hung it in the sun. We’re camped next to the Wonangatta River which is quite wide and is lovely to listen to tucked up in bed. We had gnocchi for dinner with a glass of wine and planned tomorrow. The day I originally had planned is too long, especially if I hit an overgrown section or get slowed down for whatever reason, so we had to make other arrangements. Fingers crossed it works – I don’t want to have to skip the next section which follows Moroka River right along the valley floor.
Kerry's Hikes 