I had set the alarm for 4am intending to get away early. I had an idea of where I wanted to be but no idea whether I could do the 42 kilometres required. So the alarm didn't go off as I have also a do not disturb set up that come on. But I woke up at 4.15 and had everything packed up and ready to go by about 10 to 5.
The first thing that happened was I took my second tumble on this trip about 10 metres down the hill from where I had camped. No damage done but I had to watch the hard clay patches that were slimy with dew until the sun came up. These patches are like glass to step on. So it was a quick walk through the forrestry in the dark before I stopped for my first snack of a couple of muesli bars at sun-up.
I had been following some boot prints that I was sure were being made the same day as me. A signature in the logbooks was for a Joel but his dates were one day out. At Grandpas camp he had signed for the 3rd but I was there on the 2nd. Anyway the walk comes out of the forrestry onto local roads and on this road I missed a turn off up Sixth Creek. Not a day I wanted to do extra miles. I had only gone about 800 metres when I pulled out the map and went back. I did check up and down the road and there was no Heysen Signs so its not as if I missed them.
I went up the Sixth Creek track and finally met Joel who had camped at the base of the first real steep climb of the day. He wasn't looking forward to the climb and still had his tent up. It was now about 8am. Had a quick chat and I decided to climb the hill and then have breakfast and what a bloody hill it was. It's a fire trail but I wouldn't drive my car up it and walking up it was tough. Got to the top and had breakfast still didn't see Joel by the time I moved off.
It was a pleasant walk through the forests then back out onto roads through the hills. A lot more traffic and I was moving along at a fair clip through here thinking about a meal at Norton Summit. This was not to be as when I got there the only place to eat is licensed and during the week they don't open till 11am. As it was about 10.20am I decided it was too long to wait so went up the road and had another couple of Muesli Bars. From there its a walk down through Horsnell Gully.
If you want to see Koalas then this is the spot to walk. I spied about 10 in the trees just hanging over the track. Having a look at the sparse tree canopy then maybe there's too many but I have never seen so many Koala's as I have in SA.
The climb out of the gully was tough it was getting on and I was running out of energy. When you climb out of the conservation area you get a glimpse of the Mt Lofty Summit. There was a white obelisk that was glowing in the sunlight tried to get a shot of the glow as I ate the last of my Muesli bars. A quick walk through some roads past a couple of houses I stopped and talked to a local who was clearing a fallen tree off his fence. He mentioned Mt Lofty Summit was only 4 kilometres from his house and I thought to myself it was closer than I thought. Then the Heysen kicks in. I went past a sign pointing up the road saying the summit was 3 kilometres.
Another 500 metres up the road the Heysen sign then heads bush again. I must admit I stood there and looked up the bitumen road and watched a pushbike rider come down and I thought surely I could just walk up there. But I followed the sign. I should have looked at the map. The 2.5 kilometres of bitumen is 5 or 6km via the Heysen.
After climbing all those hills then to go down and lose elevation seems counter intuitive. I nearly turned around and went back to the main road. The walk is pleasant and quiet but after over an hour your elevation is less than when you left the main road and then you climb the last steep hill to the Mt Lofty Summit. On reaching the summit I went straight to the cafe only to find out the kitchen closes at 2.30pm it was now 3pm. If I had walked the bitumen I would have been up here just after 2. I was not going to get a feed today. I did end up having a carrot cake and tiramisu cake. Not exactly nutrition but at least they were willing to serve me cake.
From there I had to walk down to a scout camp called Woodhouse Activity Centre where for $25 you can camp and have a shower, which was good after a long day.
I had the whole camping area to myself but still found it hard to find a decent, close to level spot to pitch a tent. The rain came in and I settled for a noisy nights sleep. You can here the traffic on the freeway and the area is only about 50 metres off another road. But after today I was ready for a sleep.
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