Today turned out to be one of the rare wet (for most of the day) days, so the diary is quite different and rather photo-deficient: but it was a wonderful opportunity to wander in the rain and put our gear to the test, although some bits failed.

Perry wrote:

The wonderfully generous Jared sheltered us in his chalet overnight, with red wine and cheese. Got away early, nearly before Jared got up. Started in light drizzle, which over time generally got heavier and rained most of the day.

Day 33 Google Earth Track

Pemberton Cascades Warren

Sandi wrote:

What a relief to have a warm safe shelter and easy start to the day, due to Jared's hospitality. So amazing how P manages to sleep in such wee spaces with me, just brilliant our good sleep on the bottom single bunk. Up early and tried to be quiet packing and getting away. Very much felt like I didn't want to intrude any more than possible.

Just sprinkling initially, but soon came in to fairly hectic showers and we stopped at Gloucester Tree shelter to read book for today and have a cup of tea. Very worthwhile, despite being only 3km in.

Because we didn't have a cup of tea at breakfast, and we were so early, and it was cold and wet, we decided that we could stop in a shelter at the Gloucester Tree and have a cup of tea: so we did; and so did the parrots! Then the rain eased off, then stopped all together, so we got going whilst the going was good...

Sandi wrote:

Walked on in the mostly fine, then not, and long before the cascades in came full on rain again. Went over to the cascades which were off the track and viola: a shelter with seats and a most welcome stop for morning tea. Just as we finished we heard the whistle of the Pemberton Tram arriving (apparently it goes through to Northcliffe). Had a quick look at the cascades and then headed off on the track again.

Decided to head down to the Cascades (only being here once), and the rain was getting heavier again. Very thankful to find a shelter to stop and have morning tea under. Bumped into another walker, who eventually turned out to be Sandie and who we hutted with a number of times. She had a poncho as well, but made a comment like, "Maybe we should just wear swimming costumes and be done with it?" It was too cold for swimmers.

We set off back up the hill again, taking a brief look at the tram that had just arrived. The rain was relatively heavy and constant, so I had the camera tucked safely away in plastic clip-lock bags, to keep it dry. The afternoon seemed like a series of ascents and descents into very wet and soggy low lying areas.

Sandi wrote:

Fairly consistent rain then to greater or lesser extent for rest of today's walk. Would've liked a lunch stop, but too wet and would've got too cold, so under butterscotch power, we kept on. Had a rather pleasant amble up to that point. Discussing a hanging bed and aquaponics, bedroom rearranging, etc. Very nice, but last hour with wet boots and getting cold just wanted to be there. Thankfully not as much windfall as what people had said.

Perry wrote:

Looking for a lunch spot this afternoon: probably divine providence we didn't find one, as we probably would just have chilled off too much. The last 0.5-1.0 hour we definitely decided stopping was a BAD idea, and we needed to keep walking to stay warm (only just).

Sandi wrote:

Arriving at the hut brought a quick change into dry clothes. Sandie, co-walker, arrived before us and was into her sleeping bag to warm up. Very glad then of lunch: bun from IGA with sardines & semi-dried tomatoes, an orange and tea and hot chocolate. Felt a bit better.

Sandi wrote:

P strung our 10m minus some of thin useful cord and everything was hung. Very pleased to get tent fly dry undercover. Has cleared at times but still showers coming in. We're in the tent in the hut tonight.

We were very much at the thermal limit of our clothes, and only just warm enough. If our wet weather clothes weren't wet, we would have had them on too. Using the tent's footprint to sit on, to stop the cold seeping up through our track-pants! We were very close to getting into our sleeping bags to stay warm. When the wind blows it blows the rain into the shelter, and forces us to the back of the shelter.

Perry wrote:

Great to have dry, warm clothes, but wet weather stuff was wet, so not able to wear. Jacket was missed (I should not have worn it from the Gloucester Tree). Tea at the Tree was a nice treat, though.

Windy and cold now -- rain stopped, though it's misty. Fly dried in the wind (was wet from Beedelup). The weather forecast was for fine tomorrow -- hope it is: boots are wet as it is. Would be great to have some sun and dry them: will have to see.

We didn't realise it at the time, but our wet boots were an indication that they were starting to fail. Later on I was seriously starting to wonder if they'd last the distance...

Perry wrote:

It was a wonderful amble this morning through the rain -- not trying to walk quickly because of the wet, windfall and slippery ground. Great chance to chat to Sandi about all sots of things. About 1pm the boots started to feel a little damp and eventually very wet. In camp we wrung lots of water out and hung them up on our emergency cord.

I'm not sure if we did a 'normal' lucky-dip choice of the soup and dinner, because of the situation we wanted something really yummy, appetising and warming; and judging by our ratings we enjoyed them (probably with a good dose of hunger sauce!).

Warren			S	P	A	T
	Soup	Cream of Tomato	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.3
	Meal	Beef Stroganoff	4	5	4.5	4.4

What an amazing day. The track log times are a little deceptive: what I really need to do is to include the number of photos taken in the comparison. The FUSE spent most of the day under Sandi's poncho, so definitely no charging today! The 'lovely views' out through the Karri canopy are pretty well hidden today ;)

	Distance			Time		Hours			Speed
	Section	Daily	Total	Arrive	Depart	H:M	Daily	Total	Km/h	Daily	Total
Pemberton Caravan Park	0.0				7:54 AM	0:00			0.0
Gloucester Tree	3.3	3.3	614.9	8:36 AM	9:13 AM	0:42	0:42	172.3	4.7	4.7	3.6
Lefroy Brook Cascades Access	6.0	9.3	620.8	10:40 AM		1:27	2:09	173.7	4.1	4.3	3.6
Collins Road	11.3	20.6	632.2	2:20 PM		3:40	5:49	177.4	3.1	3.5	3.6
Warren Campsite	1.1	21.6	633.2	2:35 PM		0:15	6:04	177.7	4.3	3.6	3.6

Perry wrote:

Now looking forward to a warm sleeping bag!

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