| Day: | 004 |
| Date: | Friday, 18 March 2011 |
| Start: | Short Spur Track |
| Finish: | Black River |
| Camp Location | Here |
| Daily Kilometres: | 14.4 AAWT, ~14 other |
| Total Kilometres: | 95.5 AAWT |
| Animal Encounters | Birds |
| People Encounters | Three forestry workers |
| Weather: | Cold and foggy early then mostly sunny and cool |
| Pictures: | Here |
| Journal: | It was still quite dark at 7am when I got up after a long and comfortable night's sleep, though I'm bothered by some pain in my right shoulder. It was cold and foggy outside and I quickly put on some extra clothes as I began pottering around the cabin packing up. Visibility was still only about 30m when I set off at 8:30 and it was cold for the first half hour, but then I climbed above the cloud into beautiful clear skies with various mountain tops poking through the sea of clouds below. The walking was pleasant along a logging road but mostly uphill until I passed Mt Singleton (1343m). Then it was more logging roads along Champion Spur which was being actively logged and the new work meant that I missed a turn and ended up walking a few km further. It also made navigation difficult later on as I sought a deviation trail recommended by the guidebook because of bad conditions down along Black River. I stopped for lunch on a log in the sun, still a bit unsure of whether I was on the right trail. And as it turned out, I wasn't. But I didn't find out until I had walked about another 5km and descended some treacherous firetrail for an elevation loss of over 600m! Curses! I was on some cliffs overlooking the Black River, but about 5km downstream of where I needed to be. I considered a few options but, in the end, decided I was safest to return the way I had come. Two hours later and very dehydrated, I reached the track junction I had dismissed on the way down. In my defence, a number of the trails have different names on maps and this one wasn't marked at all. Anyway, my plans of reaching my food dump at a civilized hour and partying were abandoned and I descended again to the Black River, reaching it at 6:45pm. There was a small place to put a tent a short distance up a track from the river and I camped there. I had time to have a total immersion wash in the shallow and cold river before having dinner. I have about 6km of tough trail to my food dump and have decided to postpone breakfast until I get there, then try and make up most of the ground I have lost today. There were plenty of places I would rather have been on a sunny Friday afternoon than unnecessarily slogging up that extra hill with no water. |
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