Day 239 Pine Creek to Black Soil Gully Track

 VIC Day 15 (239) Wednesday 19th January, 2022 21.6km

Early start again today. It's one of those steep days going down to the Macalister River.

The Morning Road

I've worked out it's the steep downhill that causes my right hip joint to ache. This is on top of the lump that is sore. On the Heysen I thought I had damaged the joint but an ultrasound showed it to be Bursitis, which is the lubricating sack being aggravated. A cortisone injection fixed it. I've walked all this way and haven't had any trouble till these steep declines here. Hope it doesn't flare up badly as by the time I finished the Heysen I couldn't sleep on my right side.

Going Down There

Slippery Gravel

Caledonia River Valley

Hitting the Macalister I then have to do 5 or 6 river crossings. No real problems as I find shallow rock hops on all the crossings. So no boots off.

Reminded me of the natural bridge in Albany WA. Hope it stands up to the erosion and forms a bridge.

The berry vine chocking the river edges

The designated camp site is across the river where the Caledonia River joins. I get across both but am not real happy with the camp spot. 30 metre tall widow makers all round and a wind blowing.

Not too hard river crossings. Lovely clear water.

Macalister and Caledonia River Junction.

Belinda has a quick look at the satellite view to see if mentioned grassy areas are any good. Bit hard but she can see open areas. I take a chance and load up with my 3 litres of water and begin the climb out of the river side. The mentioned grassy areas are not to my liking and I have to keep walking.

In the end I only have to walk 4 kilometres to where there is a track intersection that has a flat open area with no overhanging trees. The one has fallen already and has been sawn for firewood.

Camp spot

The zippers on the tent are starting to play up now. I must have kicked a brown dog somewhere. So far it's an easy over come with me just holding my tongue just right and slowly zippering up. If it doesn't mesh I back up and change the position of my tongue and go again. Painful when I need to pee in the middle of the night. Today I'm sure the Solar panel drained my battery pack instead of charged. I now turn off my phone altogether to save charge. The Inreach lasts about 3 days and I need to make sure I have charge for that.