Roller coaster day *2

10 April, 43km

I was going to start early as I needed to get another “double hutting” day in, so I am able to call Birger on his birthday on Sunday. There won’t be phone reception until Pemberton, so I really want to get there by Sunday. Which means another ~40km day. 

After a pretty cold night (thank god I got the sleeping bag fixed!), I got up at 4:30am, and when I packed up, I just couldn’t find my snacks. I knew I had put them somewhere “safe” as there were warnings about mice eating people?s supplies at night in the hut. I just could not find the bag. I was pretty sure the mice hadn?t carried away the whole bag (it’s not like we are dealing with rodents of extraordinary size...)(need to watch that movie again!), so I kept checking and unpacking and repacking my backpack in the dark for a good 10 min. And then it suddenly fell out of somewhere and landed on my feet. So snacks secured, I walked off into the dark. There is no moon at the moment, so it was really dark. 

Today’s course (the morning part) is known as “roller coaster day” and up and down it went! I crossed a few very cool one-tree bridges, basically a huge log cut down so it fell across a river or creek to create a bridge. There wasn’t much water in the river though - I had heard about rapids and white water. 

After the biggest descent/ascent I had definitely deserved a morning tea break - as I? I’m running low on some stuff, I’m now improvising with what I have left. Wrap with peanut butter and dried fruit sprinkled on- very yummy! 

A few more climbs and ups and downs later, I got to Beavis Hut by 11am, which was half way for today. 

The second half of the day had just as much elevation change, just not as steep. 

Towards the Karri Forest resort, I met a group of three day walkers who have asked me for directions, but given they had a map and we had just crossed a road that was on the map, I think they just wanted to chat. They asked me the usual questions of where I had come from (today? Boarding House camp. Where I started? Kalamunda. Where I am from? Sydney. Oh, the accent? That’s German. How far will I go? Hopefully Albany. )

They were lovely though, they gave me water and a packet of Werthers Originals! 

I walked past the Karri Marri Tree - 2 in 1. 

Did I mention how much I love these Karri trees? 

I eventually made it to Beedelup falls by 4:30pm, which I found a bit underwhelming - it hasn’t rained in a while I guess. 

From there, it should have only been another 1.5km to the campsite, but I couldn’t find the turn off. I got a bit frustrated, but eventually found the trail. 

I had expected to find a family at this campsite as they had been slightly ahead of me for the last few days, but when I got there, there was no one else - sooooo nice! 

I went for a dip in the freezing cold water hole and cooked some dehydrated garam masala pumpkin with coconut rice for dinner- so much better than the instant stuff I’ve been eating...