46.53km +1248m -1227m 14hrs
The infant Tumut river
I got mobile reception this morning received fantastic news from home: Henry Kissinger, the Forest Gump of war crimes, has finally released his talloned grasp on mortality and fucked off to hell. Celebrating the death of another human may make me ghoulish, but I’ll never be callously-responsible-for-the-deaths-of-millions ghoulish. Swings and roundabouts.
O’Keefes hut is lovely. Just stopped in for a quick morning tea around 7:30am. Rod left me in his dust (mud?) some way back. He’s aiming for a 40km day to Broken Dam hut. I’ll just do 20 or 25 and camp wherever I find a good spot.
Innovations in backpacking technology!
I cut slits inside my rain jacket pockets to allow me to pass my pack’s waist belt through. This means that instead of uselessly bunching around my waist, the jacket can be open in front for ventilation, and I can even put my hands in my pockets while walking!
When I get home I’ll hem it up properly and maybe add zippers.
I’ve managed to jump over every swollen creek so far today, but this one defies me, so it’s a boots-off crossing.
Dear gods that water was icy and at the tops of my thighs. They talk about the mind-numbing shock your body experiences when dunked in icy water. I think I got the faintest taste of that. At least yesterday when I was tramping through with my boots on I stayed somewhat warm.
Boots back on and five minutes of walking and I was warm again.
Copperheads have quickly become my favourite Australian snake: their demeanour is pretty chill, but they’ll let you know they’re not about to take any shit. And their colour and build is superb.
I jumped McKeahnie’s creek after walking up and down it for 20 min. That was nerve wracking: it’s flowing deep and fast. The crossing was more than waist deep.
Lulled into a false sense of security by a decent spell without rain, I sat on a log and took my boots off to dry a bit while I ate some scroggin. Of course the sky decided that would be the perfect time to open up and drop big splattery drops of rain on me. I was not amused.
I’m not sure at which point I made the decision that I’d be pushing through to Broken Dam hut. My feet were wet (Lowa, I’m not impressed. Goretex: we’ll be having words about your stay dry guarantee) and the promise of a dry roof and a fire was too much to pass up. So I just tightened my hip belt and pressed on.
Words cannot express how glad I was to find not only the hut, but a fire burning in the grate.
I walked 46.5km today. My previous longest day was 37km, and that was a day walk in Canberra where I was fresh out of the gate. I guess this time I had a few weeks of walking backing me up.
I think I’ll have a sleep in and late start tomorrow. The resupply cache at Kiandra is only ten km away, but it looks like another wet day; hopefully the last.
