Cape to Cape The Long Days

The way that the Cape to Cape track is set out, they have free campsites that are only accessible via foot. They are all equipped with a toilet and a water tank. There are also national park campsites which you must pay a fee to stay in $7 for the night. Being the cheap guy that I am...I tried to only stay at the true Cape to Cape sites. This meant the my second and third days would be quite long, a little over 30km both days. 

The second day I was joined by a friend of whom my parents were staying with in the Margaret River. Rather than hanging out around the house all day he fancied a walk. Little did he know it was a 30 km dagger of a hike. I was very appreciative that he came for the hike, he had done this section before and after he way the other day had went I was glad to have him with me. My chances of getting lost were almost zero, I guess its always possible. I got a little bit of a late start in the morning, but as soon as I hit the beach around 9am I saw him at the end of the beach ready to go. Apparently I missed a few phone call, but the phone was off, no service and had to conserve power in case of emergency.  

I was feeling good, glad to have a hiking buddy for the day and ready to knock out one of the long days. I was hiking from Deepdene (the campsite with no sign) to Conto's campground ($7 fee). The hike was one of the better ones I have ever done. We got to hike along the beach, stumble over rocks, look down great blow holes. Did I say we hiked along the beach? There was a lot of beach. Towards the end of the hike we got to go through the Kari forests. WOW was it beautiful. I must say I felt much more at home in the woods than on the beach. Not sure what it is about huge trees, but they excite me, humble me, they make me glad to be alive.

The most notable parts of day two were definitely the 6km hike along Boranup Beach and the Kari forests. Boranup Beach looked like such an easy hike just follow the beach around 6km, done. Haha, one thing you will find beaches are surprisingly deceptive. They are curved right, when you think about it, it makes sense, the far point is further than you think. What can I say I am an optimist. Also, that nice curved bit, in fact has multiple inlets not big, but enough to demoralize you when your carrying 20kilo pack and your lunch break is after the beach. The Kari forests I think would take anyone's breath away. The trees are huge and unlike any I have ever seen. We caught it at a good time as well just as the sun was starting to set. It made for some cool shots.

We broke for lunch a little late, but we were in a groove. Looking back, I think I waited too long for lunch, there really is no reason to push it, particularly on the first day. We ate about 2 and I was beyond tired. I even considered taking a nap, but I knew I had to push on. Already put up my tent in the dark once, would like to see how its like in the light. My friends wife had packed me a sandwich with the works! I'm talking, lettuce, tomato, pickles, salami, etc. It was goooood! A heck of a lot better than the sardines that I had packed. The below photo is a look out 500 meters off the Cape to Cape track. This is where we broke for lunch. I threw off my pack grabbed my camera and my water bottle and enjoyed the walk with out the pack. Oh and I should also mention that I felt the need to change my socks...blister!!! Ugh, was going to make for a painful next couple days. Mind over matter, I put a band aid on it and pressed on.

Trig Lookout (360)

The not so frequent Cape to Cape trail marker

 We arrived at Conto's Campground just before 5! It was light, but it was not going to be for long. I quickly filled out my registration, paid my money, thanked and said good bye to my hiking companion and quickly ran off to find a spot to pitch my tent. I did get it up in the light. Yes, it was easier. WOW was I spent, I  am not sure if I had ever been more tired. I decided to lay down before dinner and fell asleep for a good hour and a half. One of the things that I really did not think about too much was what I was going to do when it was dark out. It got dark at 5 and stayed dark until 7 the next morning. That's a long time! You could try to sleep that whole time, but lying on the ground in the freezing cold I certainly was not able to do that. I did bring a book, a journal and extra batteries for the head lamp so I made due. Not something I thought about though. I think my night at Conto's was my coldest night. It was definitely freezing, no question. Next trip, I am getting a new sleeping bag, dads from 20 years ago wasn't cutting it. I shivered, but didn't freeze.

I woke up the next morning and started my routine. SORE!!! I could barely walk around, felt like an old man. My hips were the most affected, taking the majority of the load they were paying the price. After my first night I wanted to see if I could make it out of the campground earlier than 9am. I boiled my water, made my instant coffee and oatmeal (breakfast of champions) was all ready to go, but the dew was holding me back. My tent was still soaking wet come 8am. You really cannot get going much earlier than that, unless you want to travel with a really heavy pack/a soaked tent/rain fly/tarp.

Leaving Conto's Campground looking back down the coast

Caves!! 

Glad they had that rope!

The three previous photos are all from a hike that I have already done. My parents and I hiked this bit when we were in the Margaret River last. It is a georgeous section, accessible by car and moderately difficult. Hiking sections that you have already hiked makes them go faster. I felt like I was flying the morning after Conto's, I wasn't really, but it felt like I was.

Now this is day three, my first day hiking alone, alone.

Long break from the blog, but let me see if I can catch up. Here are the highlights from the rest of the trek.

DAY 3 was a painful one I traveled 29.5 km and was in a great deal of pain. It was a stumble into camp, but I will get there in a little. Let me just quickly say thank you to my mother who told me to bring tylenol. I have never been one to take pain medicine, but wow was I happy I had some. 

I am not sure which day was more beautiful or harder, but I now know that back to back 30 km days is too much, particularly in the sand. I was literally too sore to move when I got to camp. I did make dinner, but it was quite an effort. 

Beautiful landscape hiking along the beach in and out of the dunes. 

I covered a lot of ground in the last couple days. Crossing rivers hiking up never ending stairs, sand duns and  dirt roads. It was incredible.

Apparently this is quite a landmark on the cape to cape track. They call it the communications tower... I don't know. I had planned to stop there for lunch. Being I guess somewhat tired and to sore to reason with myself. I searched for a bench or a table to sit on. I didn't find one for over an hour after the communications tower. I waited to long I exhausted myself. Lessoned learned, eat when you plan to eat, dont fake yourself out when your working hard. My body seemed to take a lot to get back moving after I finally did stop, which just added to the drama..haha

This is where the Margaret River almost reaches the Indian Ocean

I ended up stopping at the Margaret River Mouth. I filled up on trial mix, stone crackers and sardines (gross I know). Reminded me of hiking with my grandfather growing up. Even to this day he loves his sardines. I must say I do take after him in that respect. As I was sitting there fueling up, I realized that I may not make it to camp before dark. It was very difficult to get up and press on, but I managed.

Can it get more Australian?

Now you know what I mean when I say soft sand

Picking Joey's Nose

Apparently this guy had a bad day

At this point in the photos I had been hiking for just about 8 hours. The sun was setting I was basically falling over my feet. The only thing keeping me going was the fact that I knew I only had a few more kilometers. I told myself this for a good ten kilometers. Regardless, the below sign is the last thing that you want to see when you are beyond tired and racing against the sun. Not sure is you can read the below sign, but it essentially says track closed, take the beach around (the exact opposite way from the campsite)! NOOOO no way, wasnt going to do that I had hiked on the beach in the dark before, but that was day one and I felt fine. This was not happening. I made an executive decision and hiked right under the danger tape. I generally do not like to that, but I was not going to make it much further, I had to get to the campsite and make camp.

Lesson leaned; use it as a guide if you like.

For those of you that have not had the pleasure of hiking with a 45 pound pack over soft beach sand. Here are your hiking average speeds: for a fairly fit person. This will save you a lot of pain when planning you trip.

6km/hr - no pack, no sand
5km/hr - No pack, sand
4km/hr - 45lb pack, sand
3km/hr - 45lb pack, sand hill or seaweed (trust me)

NOT COOL! Thank you DOC (Department of Conservation)

When I got to the Ellenbrook campsite everything was fine, not sure why it was closed.. The water tank was full the bathroom was not locked. I had the place to myself. I was soooo excited to make camp and lay down. I even managed to feed myself. I had a choice of two freeze dried delights Lamb or Mexican (rice and beans), I chose Mexican. Another lesson stick to Italian on Mexican freeze dried, they are the only ones worth eating. After dinner I laid down back in my tent and made it about 5 minutes before I was snoozing. I do remember this night was the coldest of the nights I had out there. Had to get below freezing, I honestly was wearing all my clothes in my sleeping bag and was still shivering. My dads old sleeping bag from the 60s may need to be replaced...if I were to do it again I would get a new one, I'm sure they are all lighter/warmer now.

All ended well. Long day, but I ended up fed and safely in my tent.

The Cape to Cape Journey DAY 1

I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to fit all of the things I needed to bring into my back pack, but after some last minute adjustments I was good to go. My family and I set off for Cape Leeuwin at 8am Saturday morning. Mum and Dad decided they were going to walk the first leg of my journey with me. From Cape Leeuwin to the Deepdene Campsite (17.5 km). We parked one car just off the road past the Deepdene Campsite which we would walk to after I set up camp. Or at least that was the plan.

The forecast for my trip could not have been better. I had 70 degrees and sun for the next three days (perfect hiking weather) a possible shower or two on Tuesday and high wind and clouds Wednesday. I planned for the worst, but it was looking good.

We stopped in Augusta the last town before you get to Cape Leeuwin for lunch around noon. We were all a bit hungry from the long drive and I was looking forward to my last real meal for a few days. I left full and ready for an adventure. We took the standard start of the trek photos at Cape Leeuwin;

We finally started making forward progress around 1pm (the absolute latest I thought I could leave). Sunset for the week was around 5:15pm each night. The first day was an absolute comedy of errors!

Water wheel (Start of the Track)

First, my loved father decided to take a photo make a wrong turn continue hiking (the wrong direction) for at least a km. Mum and I did not notice for a good km ourselves so we had to hike back to the only possible turn he could have taken, I dropped my pack and took off running. Figured I'd save a bit of time. Glad I did because he was way down there. Thankfully I had been running a bit so I was not wiped after it.

Back on the track, probably 30 plus minutes behind schedule we again start making forward progress. At this point I believe we were all wondering if we had enough light to make it to the camp site/car. The hike itself was gorgeous, my father was the photographer for the day below are some of the photos if the first day.

Super Troopers

Two things I quickly learned; 1) When estimating how long it will take to get somewhere error on the time side not distance. Originally, I had estimated a 6km/hr pace (HA). I had adjusted all my times to average a 5km/hr pace (still ha). If you ever plan a hike where you have a great deal of beach walking, estimate 4km/hr trust me. I consider myself a fairly fit guy and I struggled to keep that pace on the beach. 2) Take time to read the map. If you have questions, get them answered. I hadn't looked at a topographical map in a long time. I know how to read them, but take some time to digest how long it takes to get from point to point. Be conscious of the scale etc. It will save you a lot of grief.

The hiking the first day could not have been better we had great weather, interesting terrain and the terrific company. We spent the majority of the hike along the beach, but we did have to scramble over the occasional rocks and did get to spend some time up along the ridges above the beaches. It was a special walk one the I was glad I got to spend with my parents on either side.

Sun of a BEACH

This leads me into the next comedy bit; Let me start by saying I love my mother (did I mention I love my mother) lol. It is getting to the later part of the afternoon. We have all accepted the fact that we were most likely not going to make it to camp before sundown. Needing the campsite to be closer than it was we second guessed just about every turn. I should point out that all along the beaches on the Cape to Cape track are four wheel drive entrances and exits (It's pretty awesome, would love to take a four wheel drive out there). Also, the Cape to Cape track is not the best marked trail I have ever seen. There are markers, just not very often, a lot of the time you are guessing, particularly along the beaches. We decided to take a break have a granola bar (homemade, thanks mum) and re-hydrate (look at the map cough cough, we didn't look at the map). We were at the end of a very long soft sand beach, the hardest kind to hike along. We had two options hike around the point which looked a bit difficult for the average hiker or backtrack to the four wheel drive track, hike up along the ridge and look for a trail maker. I had run around the corner in hope that I saw a trail marker...I did not. Knowing better than to argue with my mother, who seemed adamant about hiking up the four wheel drive track, we started back down the beach, away from the campsite.

Stalactite's

Wait for it...Thank the lord there was a man at the top to tell us that we were going the WRONG way or we might have been hiking for a long time in the wrong direction. I only wished that he was at the bottom of the crazy steep, soft sand hill. I was almost on my hands and knees up this hill with my pack. I got to the top, was told the Cape to Cape Track goes along the beach around the point, thanked the guy, thanked my mother and hiked back down the soft sand cliff. I would put another 30 minutes behind schedule on the clock. No chance we make it before dark now. That being said I LOVE my parents. I would hike in the dark, on a beach, through fire for them.

Dad being artistic

Well to fast forward to where we parted ways. It was dark by this time we had come to the end of another beach and started up another four wheel drive tack (after this I learned to just stay off the four wheel drive tracks unless you see a distict sign). At this point I did dig through my pack to get out the map and dad thankfully got on his phone and pulled up the GPS. Funny his iOS maps worked, but google failed or didnt have the required level of detail for us (we were looking for a gravel four wheel drive track, I am still a google person). We had missed the turn off for my campsite, though we were on the road the my parents had left their car. After a little thought about what to do. Wondering if I was going to be able to find the campsite...what I would do if I didn't, is this really the road mum and dads car is on? We decided to part ways I was determined to do this Cape to Cape Track the proper way I was not going to let a little darkness get in my way. I grabbed my head lamp, hugged my parents and headed back down the beach. We only missed by 750m or so, not bad. I was all alone in the dark, on a beach in Western Australia, under a full moon, with an iphone and a map to guide me, life was good.

Not tired 

I found the campsite:)

This is the entrance to the campsite we missed?! Nice markers

Planning My Cape to Cape Adventure

Something I have thought about doing since I was here over a year ago. The Cape to Cap Track (great link) is a hike 3 hours south of Perth in the Margaret River Region of Western Australia. It is a 135 km trek from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste. Going off on an adventure of this type was something that I could not justify doing not having a job. I felt my time should be more focused, what if I were to miss an important job offer phone call because I was out in the bush? I was not about to let that happen. BUT! No need to worry, I had already received a job offer from Bankwest (and accepted) and would be starting on the 10th.

My trek could not have worked out more perfectly. My parents were already going down to the Margaret River for the long holiday weekend (Western Australia Day) with friends. I planned to tag along and have them drop me off at Cape Leeuwin and leave a car at Cape Naturaliste, the other end of the trek, that I would drive back when I was done. Go figure? I was excited that this trek was actually going to work out and started making all necessary preparations.

I had traveled to Australia with a bag that I had got to backpack around Europe with in college. It has an internal frame and is made to double as a back packing back pack (there's a difference). It was not exactly designed for the type of trek that I was embarking on, but it is what I had so I made it work. Other essentials that I needed before I took off into the Australian bush alone were a stove, three of the finest freeze dried dinners I could find, rain gear (poncho/back pack cover), a head lamp and water purification tabs. Everything else we more or less had. My parents brought over a really nice 4 man tent, a down sleeping bag and a sleeping pad. I also found a canteen, and a camping pot for boiling water that I could take. I spent a good part of the two days leading up to my trek planning. I planned my route made a rough day to day itinerary. I planned what I was going to eat for each meal, snacks for the trail etc..

I thought I did a pretty good job too. I was proud, confident, and excited. There was something about heading off into the bush alone for a week that really excited me. Another thing I could check off the bucket list, not that I had this on it. Like so many things that I have done this year it was a unique opportunity one that I may never get a chance to do again. I was going into the wild. *Yes, I watched Into the Wild on Netflix before I left. Good movie if you haven't seen it and have two and a half hours to spare.

I planned to complete the trip in 5 days 4 nights. I would leave at noon Saturday and be done Wednesday after lunch. Below was my food rations;

Breakfast - two packs of oatmeal, instant coffee (4 mornings planned for)
Lunch - sardines, multi-grain rye crispbread (4 lunches)
Dinner - 3 freeze dried dinners (lamb risotto, Mexican, venison noodle) *figured I wouldn't need one after the first day easy hike, big sendoff lunch.
Dessert - peanut m&ms (a backpacking favorite since I climbed Mt. Whitney when I was 10)
On the trail - trail mix and homemade granola bars (love you mom)
Misc - Jar of crunchy peanut butter (used as filler)

My days were roughly;

Saturday - 17.5 km from Cape Leeuwin to the Deepdene Campsite
Sunday - 32 km from Deepdene Campsite to Contos Campground (campsites = free, campgrounds = $7)
Monday - 29.5 km Contos Campground to Ellenbrook Campsite
Tuesday 21.5 km Ellenbrook Campsite to Moses Campsite
Wednesday 34 km Moses Campsite to Cape Naturaliste *didn't happen
Wednesday 23.5 km Moses Campsite to Mount Duckworth Campsite *took the extra day
Thursday 10.5 km Mount Duckworth Campsite to Cape Naturaliste

Next the journey begins..