4th September

Day 26 - Boarding House to Beavis

The guide book describes the day as one of the more challenging sections along the track and so I was expecting hardship from the climbs and descents but the real problem for the day turned out to be water bush. The Donnelly river is in a deep valley and the track often makes use of old roads, firebreaks and railway formations so there were some steep gullies to cross using switchbacks and a steep ascent to Beaver Rd. 

I left Boarding House before Kevin and some storms came through dumping rain and hail about halfway through the walk. The water bush was then left to work its magic absolutely saturating me from head to foot even with Gortex and gaiters. For the first time on the walk I had wet feet. Somehow Kevin managed to keep his feet dry. The views over the valley high up on the ridges made the climbing worthwhile although comments in the red book suggested otherwise with even the mad axeman claiming today s climb was harder than Cardiac Hill.

It was 12 am when I arrived at the Beavis campsite overlooking a lovely swimming hole on a little creek in the Karri forest. My hands were too cold to write when I arrived so there was little thought about swimming. The pack even with the pack liner inside was drenched as there are holes in the pack liner to let water through. I may as well have thrown myself into the river. 

Another lovely log bridge was also passed early in the day - the Wirraway Bridge  constructed from a large log just  like the Boarding House bridge. Rufous treecreepers hopped around near the campsite. These birds seemed to become increasingly common in the southern forests as far as Dog Pool. In the photo below I am attempting to dry out my socks but probably just made them smell smoky.

Day 27 & 28 Beavis to Beedelup