Wednesday, 30 June 2021

Day 74 Kroombit Tops National Park

Tueday 29th June, 2021 21.4km

The tops in the distance

1920.4 / 3178.5 km

The old Kroombit camp
So today is the day I climb the range of Kroombit Tops National Park. I spent a lot of time when planning this walk, working through the notes and plotting the route in google earth only to find out later the route has changed to the Razorback Fire Trail. There are no notes or updates on the website, a problem the National Trail people will have to fix if they want the trail to become popular.

I walked past the Old Kroombit camp and wonder why it was here. It could be a good spot for
someone to set something up for us trail travellers... we don't want for much - flat ground and a hot shower is always nice, inexpensive is best.

I then pass into Lochenbar station roads that take me eventually to the bottom gate of the National Park with a small meander along a creek till I come to Marble Waterholes, the last good water before climbing the range. The track goes up and over two hills and ends up back on the creek. From what I could see the track went round these hills but obviously the creek washed it away so it's been replaced by a, for us walkers, a PUD (pointless up and down). The first one straight
Thataway through the station
after the gate into the park I could put up with, it's not that big. But the second one I thought was the beginning of the tough climb and goes a long way up only to lose it all and wind up back at the creek.

Then you have to do it all again at least this time only losing a little height each time you think you've crested. I gave the day away when I had climbed about 300m to about 770m with the top of the range being about 900 metres. A Suzuki Vitara went past me at one stage so in dry weather it's not a hard climb. The hard clay though is like glass when it gets wet and it's the sort of stuff I broke my coccyx on when I fell on the Heysen.

Marble Waterholes. A good spot to camp.
I found some fairly level ground and set up camp close to a prickly pear. The thing dropped bits all
night frightening the beejeesus out of me a couple of times. Little bit of rain predicted over the next couple of days.

Climb up only to see the track go back down again
Looking West from the lookout
Gaffer Tape repair


The camp under the Prickly Pear


Toe operation. I think I've managed to stop
the ingrown nail.










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