The walkers reached the Northern Terminus in Kalamunda on Saturday 13th September at 11am after leaving Albany on Wednesday 16th July 2008.
We greeted our new sectional walkers at Brookton Campsite after a long 27km day from Monadnocks Campsite. The afternoon tea at Brookton Highway was very welcome and made it a little easier!
It wasn't long before the ceremonial bell was rung to assemble the walkers for the nightly briefing. Each night of our journey we have had a short briefing about the next day's walk. In this case the briefing was a little longer as we welcomed the new walkers and put the fear of God into them about keeping the weight of their pack down or Mike might go through their packs and throw out needless items!
The next day we called into Mt Dale Campsite for a short stop. Most walkers continued along the Track, but a brave four, Alan, Mike, Gabrielle and Tanya (taking the pic), ventured on and summited Mt Dale itself!
The brave four soon joined us at our lunch break which was a little spot just before the descent off one of the shoulders of Mt Dale.
The wildflowers blooming down the side of Mt Dale were amazing. Our walk onto Beraking Campsite was quite spectacular.
Once again we warmed ourselves by a small fire. Mickey (our youngest walker at 16 yrs), Brendan and Moira were preparing for another cool night.
We arrived at Waalegh (pronounced Walich) Campsite a little too early for lunch but it was still a nice stop. Now we new we were close to the end, for in the distance we could clearly see the Mundaring Weir wall.
Naturally, as soon as we arrived at Helena Campsite, we turned it into our Chinese laundry - funny thing is, I don't think any of us have ever actually been to a real Chinese laundry! A very pleasant spot though - made even more pleasant by the fact that the maintenance volunteers, Ce and Chris, left us a little surprise with lots of kilojoules in a sealed container. Yummy! Thanks Ce and Chris!
The morning at Helena Campsite brought us a fantastic view of the mist in the valley for our second last day on the Track.
We only had a short break at Ball Creek Campsite, though some of us didn't want to continue as we knew that within 3km we would see vehicles, people and every other sign of civilisation!
We soon arrived at the Perth Hills National Parks Centre for morning tea (thanks Gwen from the BTF and Brenda and the staff at the PHNPC). The end-to-end walkers also had showers - phewy - the last showers were in Dwellingup!!!! We were then joined by students from the Mundaring Primary School who walked with us as far as the Mundaring Weir Hotel. Thanks for walking with us guys!
A lovely surprise awaited us at Hewett's Hill Campsite - the last night of our 60-day trek. The shelter had been decorated by streamers, and balloons lined the Track and the shelter.
Thanks to Gwen and Chris for going to the effort!
A big thanks also to the DEC Perth Hills District, especially Elisa and Pat, for organising drinks and a roast dinner for the walkers.
Our last night on the Track was a very special night indeed (if not a little wet and windy!!!).
Pseudo Solo Steve
Read about our arrival in Kalamunda
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