Day 19 – 10 Apr 19. Wet feet

Today 27.4 km (17 mi), Total Distance 379 km (235.5 mi). 8 hours 55 minutes (0815-1710)

I slept really well, only half waking around 0500 before sleeping until 0700. It was another warmish, as in above 10 degrees, night.

I had a leisurely pack up and was off. I kept it a reasonable pace but quickly caught a new couple, part of the large group I saw when descending last night.

After 20 minutes I came to the river. There were 5 people already across. Wolverine was just taking off his shoes. I quickly assessed the river, took off my shoes, tying the laces together and putting them around my neck. I then crossed just above the rapid at a calmer spot with no big stones in the way. It was an easy crossing and I dried my feet and put my shoes back on.

While doing that another 4 people arrived and looked very uncertain about where to cross. As they looked my way I pointed out my route but an older guy from the group told them another place and they crossed there. Not a great place as there were several boulders to negotiate, the flow was faster and it was deeper than my spot but they knew him, not me.

One of the girls came close to recover the shoe she threw across and I told here the trick for tying the laces and putting around your neck to ensure both hands are free for the crossing.

I left, having seen the direction Wolverine took. I got to the first couple of marker poles OK then the footprints I was following seemed to be the wrong direction. There were a confusing amount of footprints and no clear track to follow. I spied a marker post at the edge of the river zone and cut back across to get to it. From there the trail was back to being easy to follow.

It was a nice walk up a valley, around a hill and along the bottom of the hill. The view of San Gorgino was great. I saw another snake, light tan in colour, skinny and about 70 cm long.

Once around the next corner I looked up and realised the trail switch backed heading back the way I had just come, just at a heighter height. It followed the hill around then turned again and was now back above the same point again.

Then the trail followed the ridgeline for a while. I stopped for a break with Wolverine then continued. The trail switchbacked down through an area of beautiful flowers all the way down to a river. I was slow coming down this part as I had to take photos of the beautiful area.

On the bottom the trail was flat as it slowly headed towards the river and another crossing point. There was a log across the stream but it was below the water line and looked slippery. I headed a little upstream and found a point where I could hop to a barely submerged rock and then onto a rock on the far side. I managed to keep my feet dry doing this.

While I was filtering some water Wolverine came. He shook his head at my suggestion and tried in another place but was not confident in the jump so went to my crossing but somehow got one foot wet. Another guy turned up and took his shoes off then crossed at my point.

I left and this was the last time I saw them. The trail followed along beside the river. It was in good condition but then started going across the river where the recent floods had completely washed the track away. I quickly realised I would be crossing the stream a lot so just walked through from then on.

Navigation was a little tricky though these parts but I managed to reacquire the track pretty easily most times. Sometimes I just had to walk up the stream a little way looking both sides for a sign of a trail, or exploring both sides to see if there was a trail.

I caught up to a new guy from Korea and he was not looking happy. He was glued to his phone, tracking where he was on Guthook I assume. He seemed very hesitant and didn’t want to follow me when I took off. I said he was welcome to join me but he did not. I never saw him again.

I saw a helicopter go overhead and was hoping it was not looking for a hiker. I found out that night that it was. A hiker had slipped when walking above the river and banged his head hard, needing evacuation.

The rest of the day was similar, 5-10 minutes of trail above the river before dropping to the river disappearing, sometimes to cross over and sometimes it stayed on the same side but the trail had washed away. Most of the time I managed to get it right re-joining the trail but there were a few excursions to get back on trail. I was enjoying it as this is similar to come New Zealand river travel. Because our bush (native forest) is so thick sometimes river travel is the best way to make progress.

I had been looking at the footprints and worked out here was 3 [people not far ahead of me. When I started to see their footprints wet after river crossings I knew I was close. Before I caught them disaster struck.

It had not been windy so I did not have the chin strap on my hat, As I dropped down to the stream to cross a huge gust of wind whipped my hat off and sent it flying – right into the middle of the narrow stream. The current was fast and my had quickly disappeared down the stream. I ran about 5 meters over the boulders and rocks, through the stream and then another 3 meters before I could go no further. I was stupid to run over this terrain, especially with a pack on but I was not thinking. I took my pack off and made my way down the stream hoping the hat might have been caught up on some thing but after 50 meters I realised it was a lost cause and dejectedly made my way back to my pack. I was really disappointed. This had did the whole Norway Thru Hike with me and I really liked it. I have struggled to find the perfect hat over the years because of my small head and not finding a brim with the right consistency. This hat was from Kathmandu and was a child size hat. It was the perfect size and the brim stayed in place even in wind.

I do carry a spare hat for when it is really windy or when it is raining. It is a baseball style hat so does not give as much protection. I will have to be careful and apply more sunscreen and hope I can find a replacement at Big Bear.

10 minutes later I finally caught up to the footprints. I came around a corner and there were two guys and a lady lying on a sleeping mat I thought that is how I last saw Beth and to my surprise it was Beth and Jerry with an Australian I had not met before. Her feet which featured in one of my videos are getting better. At Warner Springs she brought some new shoes, in a larger size. It was nice to catch up on what they had been doing. They were pushing on only a little further before camping so I let them.

At the next tricky trail finding a guy was coming towards me from a possible trail location. When he arrived he confirmed there was no trail where he went. I looked closely and figured out where the trail was and he followed. He quickly dropped back and then disappeared after another trail finding exercise.
After a couple more river crossings the trail stayed higher above the river for a much longer period and I was able to get into a rhythm. I was starting to get tired so I decided to fill up with water and find the next campsite.

Typically this was now a long stretch with no water. Finally the trail dropped to the river and I saw a tent. It was a guy I keep seeing going onto the trail as I go off for zeros or resupply. A little further down by the river were 3 more people and I was told the campsite had heaps of people too.

I filtered some water and then headed 50 meters up the hill to the campsite. It was nice under some trees and there were 6 tents already there.

I was talking to someone and heard a voice from one of the tents saying hello. It was Hotlips who I met in Warner Springs, along with Mary and the guy who I have forgotten his name. The snow has really mixed things up with me starting to catch up to those who bypassed it.

After a quick talk I finished setting everything up had dinner and for the first time a hot chocolate before catching up on my blogs. The temperature was hovering around 10 degrees. Everyone was in bed early, tired from the hard day.

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