Day 164 Macleay River

The view in the gully

NSW Day 22 (164) Thursday 4th November, 2021 19.8km

3199.8 / 1899.1km

Today was supposed to be a fairly simple day. As I said I look at the book every night but without it I missed the elevation profile for the day.

The track has been bladed through the rocky creeks
George's Creek is flowing fairly well and I have to finesse my way across on many crossings to keep the boots from going under. Some are easy where a dozer or something has pushed through the creek and pushed the rocks to one side and I can walk across at a minimum depth. Others I have to find an alternative or carry some rocks out and drop them in the deep holes. Except for one crossing this is quicker than the 10 minute turnaround when taking my boots off.
Typical crossing on George's Creek

So the day starts on the track beside the river which is fairly flat or going down hill with the creek. That is until I hit Mountain View homestead. Obviously the next couple of properties haven't allowed permission as you have to climb a couple of hundred metres in height to the main road. 

That little exercise in the heat of the day made the legs wobble by the time I got to the top. 

Then it's an 11 kilometre walk down the main road losing all that height and more. But it's not just all down hill. Throw a few steep sharp exits from gullies just to make the legs groan.

No-one offered to carry my pack
It was a pleasure to finally see the Junction of George's Creek and Macleay River. There are toilets and bins at the TSR and some good grassed areas. 

I dropped the tent and went down to the river to checkout the first crossing I'll have to do in the morning. A car went across as I was there and the water was just above mid wheel. It means I have to remove my boots on these crossings. Much deeper and much wider than the creek. 

The view back down to the homestead. 
I'm a third of the way up.
I felt ok after a washdown and cooked a Kransky sausage to go with my noodles. Rain is predicted. I'm keeping an eye on it as if it's heavy up the hills more water will come down. I'm not sure I want to get stuck up a river for a time. Looking at the map I have to cross the river at least 7 times before heading up a Brook. I'll get up early to see the water levels then a whole day planned to get the river out of the way. Rain is predicted for the next 5 days.