This June weekend proved to be one of the wettest ever, with Melrose getting about 130mm of rain overnight on the Saturday ahead of our Sunday walk. But what a memorable weekend it proved to be, wet from start to finish.
Our group members travelled up from Adelaide in their own vehicles for this weekend, the first that the Rufus bus service from Adelaide was no longer being used. Quite a few gathered at the Mount Remarkable Hotel on the Friday evening for a catch-up and a hearty meal.
The walk on Saturday started early to allow for the long distance and the forecast rain. We even carried headlamps in the event that we might finish in darkness on this short day, being the day after the Winter Solstice. This event provided the theme for the weekend being 'Rituals'.
Our own End-to-End Minus 1 ritual of carrying Morris Minus on the trail each day, meant he had to have his own version of waterproof gear.
The Morris Minus award went to Neville Haar for his hilarious EMU oration at the Quorn dinner after the last week away in May/June. The full text of Neville's speech can be found under the Dinner at Criterion Hotel Quorn entry on this blog.
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| My apologies to Neville for this shocker I took of his MM award. |
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| Fortunately this one by Robert Alcock is a fair bit better. |
Straight from the bus into the rain, so the jackets were on.
It looked a bit boggy as we set off.
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| Photo by Mary Cartland |
Just over the first rise, it got even muddier ...... and we knew we were in for a slog.
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| Photo by Robert Alcock |
The rain and mist were all around......
and it didn't take too much longer for us to seek shelter and put on the rest of our wet weather gear.
By now it was getting pretty wet.
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| Photo by Mary Cartland |
It wasn't long before we encountered our first real creek crossing for the day. No real problems there.
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| Making it look easy. Photo by Robert Alcock |
A sombre mood prevailed as we trudged on, toughing it out.
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| Photo by Robert Alcock |
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| Photo by Mary Cartland |
Morning tea was on some wet logs but a welcome break never-the-less.
Then it was off to find more creeks to cross.
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| The President smiled through the rain. Photo by Robert Alcock. |
Dallas Clark took his boots off to cross this one.
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| Photo by Robert Alcock |
The rain had really set in as we approached Grey's Hut. We all huddled inside for a lunch and a break from the weather outside.
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| Approaching Grey's Hut. |
After lunch, we headed out to climb Mount Remarkable.
The wet weather did provide some beautiful cascades and flowing creeks.
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| A cascade coming off Mount Remarkable |
The rain set in again as we climbed Mount Remarkable and the trail was sodden as we arrived at the summit.
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| Photo by Mary Cartland |
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| Photo by Robert Alcock |
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| Photo by Robert Alcock |
The descent of Mount Remarkable was wet at first, then very wet, then totally drenching.
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| Across the scree slope in the rain. Photo by Robert Alcock. |
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| Across the scree slope in heavy rain. Photo by Mary Cartland. |
These photo by Robert Alcock capture the descent in the rain.
The walk today covered 24.9 km. The climb up and down Mount Remarkable took most of the afternoon, but we finished at Melrose with daylight to spare. The swing bridge behind the Melrose caravan park signalled the end of the day.
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| Photo by Robert Alcock |
FOOTNOTE:
I don't know what everyone else did to dry off their gear, but after a day in the rain, every hook in my room was used to dry off my gear and I needed towels to mop up the puddles.
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