17th August

Day 8 White Horse Hills to Chadoora Campsite

 White Horse Hills to the south follows a lovely granite ridge. It was perhaps at this point that wild flowers began to become more noticeable. Resting on the final and highest point (about 500 m) we saw what I think was a little eagle surveying the area from the top of a dead tree limb. The binoculars were proving to be a worthy addition to the pack. For the second day in a row the weather was fine and rather warm in the valley between White Horse Hills and Mt Wells.

Another double hutting day was the plan and we found the 30 km walk fairly comfortable. Up on Mt Wells where we had lunch I was able to climb the fire tower to the first platform to get descent 360 degree views. Since Waalegh I hadn't had any mobile phone reception and during the day I saw a western spinebill and a western yellow robin. Mt Wells hut itself was rather dingy perhaps because of it's historic character and we were glad to move on.

Descending south from Mt Wells we met Mark who was doing the E2E walk from Albany. The Jarrah forests were significantly prettier between Mt Wells and Dwellingup than further north. Arriving at the hut we had visits from Dunnarts and splendid fairy wrens. I had no success starting a fire tonight so cooked entirely with Rone's metho burner. The night was freezing and I found I had to put on my thermals as well as fleece, Alpaca pants and coat in my sleeping bag. I believe it dropped below zero.

There was a well near the camp site -  just a 5m hole in the ground.

Day 9  Chadoora Campsite to Dwellingup