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Published: January 16th 2019
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Day 34 Pemberton to Warren Shelter
22.6 km
Only a very short section ahead- 2 nights and 3 days of walking until Northcliffe. A bit of a late start with repacking and breakfast, etc. Geoff dropped me back down to the trailhead so that I could walk back up past the bnb (I can't bring myself to take shortcuts!). As I walked through the streets past the DPAW office and towards the Gloucester Tree the sky was getting darker and darker- it opened up just as I got to the highschool and completely set in. Sought shelter at the public loos at the Gloucester Tree for half an hour while it torrentially down poured and hailed. Needless to say climbing the tree was out today. I was glad that I had climbed it a couple of weeks ago when I came down to do all my food drops, the time before that was about 30 years ago!
Some background on the tree- it was selected by foresters back in 1947 as a fire lookout tree. There were a total of eight fire lookouts built in the south west between 1937 and 1952. The Gloucester
Tree was the second tallest at 61m with 153 pegs to get to the top (the tallest is called the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree and is 75m above ground). There are 2 levels of lookouts and the most amazing view of the top of the karri forest and very prolific bird life.
Set off again down some very slippery wet track in the rain, at least there was no waterbush! Got to The Cascades junction and decided to take a detour down to it and take a lunch break plus throw in a bit more hill climbing for good measure. Luckily the rain eased off for about 20 mins so I had a partially dry lunch down at the rushing river. Heading back up to the track a couple approached and said hi- it turned out to be a girl that I had first met more than 20 years ago and who was now working at the same place as me, although we hadn't crossed paths. It was a great little morale boosting moment. If you do walk the Pemberton-Northcliffe section of the BT I'd really recommend this detour, apart from The Cascades the track around here is littered
with lots of old logging memorabilia- big logging cart, old bridges, etc.
The next 12 km was pretty relentless as I didn't leave The Cascades until 1pm and felt under a lot of time pressure to get to camp before dark. I also had another fall which ended up in a semi-handstand before the backpack pulled me backwards. It also rained consistently... until I got to a farmland area about 15km's in to the total k's for the day where 2 things lightened my mood- a random stray sheep and nearly walking through a rainbow. I swear I nearly did- it was so close. The last 7 k's were pretty wet, Collins Road near Warren Hut was inundated with about 20cm of water on the road- really forceful flow. Impressive sight.
Made the final short surge to Warren to arrive around 4pm and not a soul in sight. GIven how late and wet it was with more rain coming I abandoned the idea of a fire. Set up my tent in the shelter to try and stay warm and dryish. The wind had gotten up so I boiled a thermos of water in the hut up at the
back of the shelter. Enjoyed my rehydrated spag bol, a mars bar and a milo before hitting the sack at 7pm. Didn't last too long in my tent though- there was an almighty crack and crash as a tree branch came down- it felt really, really close- on inspection, a big branch was now lying on the path between the hut and toilet! Crazy stormy night.
Impressions of Warren- really gorgeous views over the tall trees over the valley- spectacular. Body assessment- Physically excellent, feeling very fit- clearly the steak helps! Total people seen for the day - after The Cascades no one
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Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0312s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
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