Waking at 7am and as with the previous night sleep was interrupted with hip pains, I’m just not able to get comfortable, but also lots of digestive action resulting in a midnight toilet stop after a dream of not making it to the toilet – not something one wants in the middle of no where!
While eating breakfast I noticed a second blister forming on the left heel this time. I patched both up as best I could, not having ever had blisters this was a new experience but LTTS had said 90% of people get them so at least I’m in the majority. Another couple of ladies joined me for breakfast they had camped around Arenge Bluff about 3-4km from Mulga Camp. We had some good discussions about the trail, their walking in Tasmania and blisters. The last topic was one that would become a regular for me over the next 15 days.
After finding the water sterilisation tablets I was a little concerned as I was drinking closer to 3L of water per day walking vs the 2L I’d planned on. This meant the number of tablets I had were less than I’d need, I had more in each food drop I just wasn’t 100% sure how many. A challenge to resolve at Standley Chasm.
Today’s walk starting under grey skies was a short and easy 10km (correct this time) to Jay Creek. Most of the day was next to the northern slopes of Mt Lloyd with fairly rugged country all around. One benefit of all the rain recently was how green everything was, plus the flowers and bird life everywhere. Spotting birds nest in the Mulga Trees was a common sight over the entire trial.
I arrived at the shelter at 12pm to a Ranger doing maintenance on the shelter, fixing the “windows” along with the couple from breakfast. No pain in the feet from either the blisters nor the hard ground which was a nice way to be on Day 3.
In a discussion with the Ranger he identified the snake for me as a “Mulga” or King Brown Snake hence why it was so large, also a good idea not to get bitten by one. He explained I should of not made a noise and waited for the snake to move on when it wished as noise could could across as a threat, probably why the snake came towards me instead of disappeared as expected. Good to know for next time, hopefully not.
The Ranger also confirmed the dangers of the trail talking about two people who’d needed to be recused in the last couple of weeks – one a lady who got lost going from Standley Chasm to Jay Creek (I later learned she’d been in the news) and a man who was dehydrated and couldn’t continue. I was glad to have multiple maps/GPS and a good regiment of Electrolytes for hydration just maybe not as many water tablets as I might need. So many little things to consider.
As the afternoon wore on several more people arrived at camp – young guy in his last few days walking West to East along with several others all going West on 14 day itineraries including Katrina and Ann Marie. Katrina arrived and went straight to grab the camp site I’d scoped out but not set up on – lesson learned. By the time dinner rolled around there were almost 15-16 of us at Jay Creek.
Most were pushing for a 14 day itinerary but one of the last to arrive was a young couple looking to do it in 12 days. They planned to walk from Jay Creek to Brinkley Bluff in the morning a 23.5km stretch including the Alternative High Route on the way to Standley Chasm.
In speaking with Ann Marie and Katrina I found out they were the “couple of ladies who’d had their hotel broken into while sleeping” the interesting story from the trail on Day 1. Ann Marie had woken as the culprits were leaving the room and just missed them. They lost wallets, credit cards, cash and other valuables like watches. Phones and other trek equipment had all been left. By the time they could cancel all their cards several small purchases had been made including pizza.
But there was more to Ann Marie and Katrina’s journey. They had started as a group of 6 Ann Marie and Katrina, a mother and daughter and two older ladies (late 60’s early 70’s). While all 6 had set off from Telegraph Station only Ann Marie and Katrina made it to Jay Creek. The two older ladies hadn’t done enough preparation and mainly did day walks so weren’t prepared for the heavy packs or terrain. After walking 5km from Simpsons Gap they all turned back and the two older ladies were taken back to Alice Spring along with the mother and daughter as the daughter had become very sick. The plan was for them all to meet up at Standley Chasm.
My patching of blistered hadn’t worked very well and all the dressings had come off in the 10km walk to Jay Creek. The Ranger had also kindly provided 4 large extra tough band aids to see if they would work better.
The young solo guy made camp by the water, about 200m from the shelter and the rest of us spread out around the shelter. I would later find a majority of the rest of us would camp together over the coming 3-4 days.
In response to my digestive issues the night before I had dinner early at 5pm to allow for enough digestion before 7pm sleep. This seemed to work a treat going forward.
Down Under Treks 