Posted by Distance wise, today was a a short one but an incredibly tough one.
Striking camp early the day started walking on more old 4WD tracks, up and over small knolls towards Mt Sunday. This was obviously deer country as their prints where scattered in the muddy sections of track and I was honked at on numerous occasions, my attention draw to where my feet were going rather than up and in the bush. They spotted me before I even caught a glimpse.
Once onto the helipad at Mt Sunday it was a down hill affair towards the Low Saddle Spur. The recent work of fire crews was obvious again with the path cleared for the steep descent down on single trail. Sourcing water in this section can be very difficult and can mean bush bashing very steeply down off track from Low Saddle for 200m or so to a creek below or walking up to a kilometre off the AAWT on Low Saddle Road.
Looking at the incredibly steep terrain and thick regrowth forest there was no way I was even considering a bush bash down towards a creek line. The sheer effort and energy expenditure required would not have been worth it, although my water was getting low. It had been a few very weeks with more than 200mm falling in the area and I was confident a water seep of some sort would appear, even if it meant waiting to slowly fill each water bottle.
My gamble paid off and down towards the bottom of the Low Saddle Spur a temporary creek line was running straight across the track. This wouldn’t exist in drier conditions and I made the most off it, collecting 2.5 litres. I thought about grabbing and extra litre but couldn’t bare the thought of lugging it up Mt McDonald shortly.
Back on some roads for a few kilometres I soon reached the turn off towards McDonald, greeted by a sign stating the obvious – this next section was off track and difficult. And it proved to be very tough indeed.
A faint foot pad followed steeply uphill for the next 5 kilometres following a rocky ridge line. Each foot placement was a tenuous affair on the rocky ground. At lines the ridge was dominated by jutting rock, the trail criss crossing over the top multiple times to avoid the worst, non walkable sections. Quickly tiring an needing some energy I stopped at some random point for an early lunch and much needed sugar from a can of coke from my food drop.
On stopping and taking off my sun gloved I noticed my left glove covered in blood. That’s odd, I didn’t recall scraping past anything that would cause this much blood, nor was there any pain. I realised then that I’d picked up a passenger or two from the last source, who had had their fill and fled the scene. No leeched to be seen but they were there.
Renewed with some much needed energy it was onwards a up upwards towards Mt McDonald. This had to have been the hardest 5km I had done in a long time. Exhausting work with slow progress. At times I completely lost the faint track only to find myself neck deep in vegetation, painfully crashing through mountain correa until the track was located again.
It was only towards the top that the thick vegetation gave way to open grassy terraces. Still steep but much easier to follow a clear line.
In the early afternoon I had made my to top of McDonald for the first clear 360 degree view from a vantage point unobstructed by trees. The Buller village could be seen in the distance and my path forward for the afternoon.
After a short break it was time to continue with the day slipping away. My route would take my down a rocky ridge top escarpment equally as challenging as the ascent up. At one point a short traverse across a slippery rock slab presented. A particular slippery section caught me off guard and I took a tumble onto my left side, scraping my whole lower left leg against the sharp rocks. It wouldn’t be so bad had I been wearing long pants or gaiters but I had neither. I knew there were only a few sections of the AAWT that required bush bashing and I was prepared to forgo gaiters in place of scratched up legs and it was way too hot to be wearing the leggings I had with me. Of well, a few more scraps will make for a good story.
At a some point I knew the spur line I was following would arrive at a small knoll at which a sharp directional change was required to continue the AAWT. Of course I missed the turn off as many hikers had by look of it. A distinct food pad continued north over the knoll which I had followed for a hundred metres or so before it petered out, at which point it clicked that I’d missed the turn off. Correcting paths and backtracking I soon located small cairn on the knoll indicated the correct line to follow.
This was steep down and heavily vegetated. Already scratched legs were getting cut more.
I couldn’t wait to down and onto a road. Normally I hate road walking but I made an exception in this case, anything but a steep overgrown track scratching legs would do.
A few more kilometres of road and I’d made my way to the Nobs turn off. Again the track continued steeply uphill and I just didn’t have the energy. I was depleted and took frequent breaks on the ascent. Reaching the top and thinking I was done for the day, I couldn’t find any flat stops to pitch my tent and came to the realisation that I had to continue on track until a descent camp could be located. Looking down hill I could see an opening in the trees to a grassy saddle and quickly made my way down it, collapsing on the ground when there, thankful that the day was over.
Mick Beckers 