West Coast Trail Map – Day 5.
Walbran Creek to Camper Bay was an ‘inside day’ (the forest – that is). Ladders, logs, ladders, mud, ladders, roots, oh, and did I say ladders?!
By now we had discovered that the SideStix sand-feet were also excellent mud & root feet. The hardened steel central pin could find purchase in the most awkward places, and the 4” basket prevented the Stix from disappearing into the mud. Because of this they became the feet-of-choice.
Sarah negotiates more roots.
…and logs…
After an hour we stopped to add carbide cleats to Sarah’s hiking boot.
Adding carbide cleats.
There was a beautiful suspension bridge over Logan Creek, with ladder access, to & from!
On the ladder to Logan Creek Suspension Bridge.
Logan Creek Suspension Bridge.
Leaving Logan Creek.
Stairs of a different nature!
We stopped for lunch at the top of the Cullite Creek ravine. There were over 200 rungs down to the creek, where we would have to take a cable car across – followed by 200 or so rungs to get up the other bank!
I took advantage of the break, to repair one of the sand / mud shoes. The repeated grinding on sharp rock had caused the deck fabric to tear and the centre spindle had punched through. Sarah still had great grip on wood, however in mud the Stix would just disappear. I relocated the centre spindle towards the edge of the basket, where some fresh material would give the tip a new ‘lease of life’.
Ready to go again.
The Logan Creek, down-across-up trip was fairly slow, however we have found the ladders to be far less arduous than the mud, roots & logs.
The bridge at Sandstone Creek had been washed out, however because of the lack of rain this summer, the rope was fairly redundant.
Battling the torrents…
We continued on boardwalks and through mud-holes, gaining about 100M (330ft) before descending rapidly to Camper Bay.
Another mud-hole!
This camp site was cold and wind-swept. The kids had set up camp and gone swimming, however they were having a hard time getting warm again.
Camper Bay Camping…
We had supper round a communal camp fire and then called it a day.