Daily distance: 23.7km
Total distance: 998.1km
All things concidered it was a very good night on top of our perch on Mount Arden! We got a little bit of rain, not hard just light, and a little bit of wind, so all in all not bad. When I stuck my head out the tent, I could see nothing as it was dark and misty. So we packed up inside, and when I did come out, light was coming in from the east, under the mist. Man what a sunrise, with all the mountains around us lighting up one at a time. Nothing is for nothing and payment was the cold. It was bitter, and when the breeze came up it blew right through us.
When we started, after packing away the wet tent, Dee was off like a grey hound. There was no ways I could keep up, so I just consoled myself to face the polar bears on my own. I took comfort in the fact they would not be able to catch her anyway!
The trail took us down the ridges and through some valleys before dropping us off at another Creek bed. This time it was rough going as the boulders were a
alot bigger and wet from last nights rain. None the less, we clambered on up and over, through and under whatever obstacles were in our path. The sun came out nicely which warmed us up nicely. We stoppped and got rid of a few layers and refueled the tanks with some breaky at the same time. Muesli, with fresh creek water, did not get the engines going that well so the 'after breakfast session' was a tough one. After 3km we got spat out of the creek onto a track that meandered a bit before taking us through the Buckaringa Gorge. A short, but spectacular gorge through the eastern section of the ranges, which brought us out on the open plains. The trail then turned north along a wall/dyke running north for 7.5km. This was a tough section, as it was dead straight along a track next to a fence, however we did get to put on some mileage. We met 2 walkers coming from the front who had parked a car on either side of us and were walking the 20km inbetween. This is how a lot of people do the Heysen Trail.
We stopped at the Buckaringa North Water tank for a cuppa and something to eat. Out came the tent, into the sun to dry and off came socks and boots to nurse sore feet. Cheese, biscuits and vegemite with some chocolate for dessert went down very well. We topped up our water bladders as we were going to push on as far as possible before camping.
From Buckaringa North we headed north up a well vegetated slope over a few rises before descending onto the plains on the eastern side of the range. Somehow both Dee and I had got a good second wind after our stop so made good time across the plains. I think the fact that the sun was out was a major factor as well. From a distance we could see some huge eroded cliffs on the horizon, and as we got closer we saw it was the Willochra Creek flowing across our front. We when descended into the very wide creek bed and onto the pale coloured rock it was soft, like a soap stone. It took a bit of meandering backwards and forwards before we found a place to cross and get up the far bank. Spectacular is all I can say and I hope all the photos give you an idea of what it was like. Being in such a beautiful place does have its downside and that is the flies....... man are they bad here, but then I suppose they do clean up the runny noses very quick!
About two kilometers later, still in a straight line, we crossed another creek, the Kanyaka, found a nice soft sandy path a long way from the water and put up our tent. We had our dinner of rice with pepperoni and cuppa soup, under a crystal clear sky. Dee climbed into bed soon afetr and I did a running repair job on her boot laces that finally gave up completely today. I am going to have to find some more para cord in town when we get there to replace the guide ropes on the tent which are now boot laces. At least now she can't get 'tents' with me..........
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