Morning: pain, suffering, despair. Ondulations and climbing on loose surface. By noon I run out of water.
A weird thing, let me know if you know what that is:
I left this improvised campsite at altitude in the morning, not being able to reach the hut within a day.
I finally make it to Howitt Hut & get some water. This place is surreal, different from anything I’ve seen before. It’s has got lots of dead trees but it’s all flat at high altitude.
On the look out for water as I run out this morning:
Treating water from the tank at Howitts Hut:
At 2pm, after a quick lunch, I decide to go down the hill. From 1,600m down to 450m.
At 7pm, I finally reach the designated campsite (Woonangatta station), however I decide to keep going. I finish riding in the dark and there is no campsite to be found. Only spiders, ants and rocks.
I don’t have time to clean myself. Next time I should read the notes more carefully and not ride for so long.
At least I’ve covered a good ground, 65kms today! Am I on track for Dargo?
Tomorrow will be extremely steep. It is going to be painful unfortunately.
Statistics:
- Distance: 65.8 km
- Moving time: 8 hours 12 minutes
- Average moving: 8 km/h
- Stopped Time: 3 hours 53 minutes
- Ascent: 2,175m
- Descent: 2,893m
- Max Elevation: 1,622m
Pingback: Healesville to Omeo: wrap up | Vincent On Wheels
Mystery solved! The weird things on the tree are Spitfires, Sawfly larvae.
Apparently, if you get too close they all start thrashing about and spit out foul liquid that deters predators.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitfire_sawfly