Ok so the hardest two days of the trail are over they say!
September 5
No rain over night and beautiful sunrise. No bears got into anything. That of course is if they are around.
If the rocks tough were yesterday they were hell on earth today! Nearly 6 hours for 9kms of forward movement. See pics and these are of the easier ones. No chance taking pics on the tough ones just trying to hang on. Often tossing sticks both up and down and climbing on all fours and in some cases sliding on my butt. Easier! I'm not really not into cliff climbing!
And when the heavy rain started mid morning it was like glass in on those rocks - just to add another tick on the box of rocks versus hiker! It was hard to be certain of a secure foothold and my buddy did a slip and wrenched his shoulder. The injury run continued when somehow I hurt my knee and the hell became horror. Agony going up and down but just had to tough it out. The only way out it a chopper. No quad bike going to make it up and down where we climb like monkeys! My buddy's ankle still niggling and then he slipped on a wet rock and fell wrenching his shoulder.
And if the rocks weren't enough, the next 8kms of 'easy' (so they say) has logs for a trail! Slippery, thankfully not rolling, some broken and freaking hard to walk on. The rest was road but full of puddles and rocks!
Mazzelotti Beach and the day over the Showgrounds on my beloved Bibby Track are like a walk in the park by comparison. Every time I cross those two places now I will remember these last two days and go "easy peasy"!
I learned a noise I thought was a bird is actually a squirrel. See a few, but hear many more. Really quick! Hear some birds, not many, but no idea what they are and never see them.
Saw a few chipmunks today. Really cool.
Met a few people today, two groups who were really interested in us. Aussies are rare and mostly unheard of here so we're a novelty and they all took pics and asked it they could post on their respective trail sites. Impressed we were doing E2E as a through hike. But my moans and groans are for the first two days walking N-S, most walk the other way so would hit this at peak trail fitness though very tough regardless.
My buddy and I discussed the mental exhaustion of the last two days far exceeds the physical. Having to watch every single step and look for blazes (trail markers - easy to see just need to look up). Sometimes I just stood and rested my knee and didn't think at all for a minute. I likened it to swim teaching where the mental effort exceeds the physical. It just so much tougher because it doesn't relent. 6 freaking hours of it!
That bit makes it hard to see all the beauty around you. The scenery is spectacular. I just don't get to appreciate it as much because I'm just tired of concentrating. Hedley found a beautiful bunch of fungi today and I totally missed it just watching where my feet were dropping. But they say these are the toughest two days so bring it on. But we did see lots of maple and oak trees and the birch is beautiful and it's white bark everywhere. The conifer Forrest makes it soft underfoot in the little places that aren't rock!
Stayed at Mountain Trout Camp, a privately owned kind of camping place including caravans. Had a tent site booked but thankful to be offered a cabin because it was sooooo wet. Beautiful to unpack and do everything in the dry. And did I say showers? Bliss! Does a lot for the mental exhaustion!
It's a 100yo log cabin. They've put a new weatherboard on the outside and it has an electric fire and mod cons inside but 'tis really cool. Kathy the owner says there is a juvenile bear hanging around and being annoying - after the barbecues! They say they are strong enough to bust shed doors so everything has to be clean thoroughly before packing away. This is amazing place to stay and I highly recommend it. The people are fabulous hosts.
So out with the sleeping bags on beds tonight. Forecast tomorrow is for sunny conditions. Hoping.