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It rained frequently during the night and was still drizzling
when I got up at 7am. Everything was very wet outside including
puddles right outside the tent. Inside the tent was damp as well
because of the condensation. I packed everything I could while
inside the tent before getting out then ate breakfast clad in my
raingear in the drizzle. I set off at 8:45am quite anxious about the
day. Only 15+km to go, but very tough trail and the scary ascent of
The Viking in prospect. I couldn't afford to get lost or take my
time.
The early walking was along a rocky old firetrail that had become
a stream in the rain. But it was pleasant enough walking and I made
reasonable time for a couple of kilometres. Then I left the
firetrail and began carefully following the faint trail through the
very wet undergrowth. I soon became very wet. I took a break at the
top of Mt Despair (1464m) in the rain and fog then headed towards
The Razor in increasingly dense scrub, a couple of metres high, that
was soaking wet. Soon I became totally saturated and quite cold.
There were no views at The Razor because of the fog. It was very
hard to follow the trail and I had to concentrate hard. Near Viking
Saddle, I could hear faint music and eventually worked out that my
iPhone had turned itself on through either becoming damp or a knock
in a fall. It had been turned completely off! Battery was now down
to 10%. Hope I haven't written it off. It was inside a small closed
dry bag in a side pocket of my pack, but had still become damp. I
buried it inside my pack. I was so cold and wet now, I got out my
lightweight down jacket and put that on under my Goretex rain gear
to try and warm up a little. The dense scrub was sopping wet and I
could not have been more wet and cold if I had been ocean swimming!
Conscious of the time and The Viking ahead, I had minimal breaks and
kept moving.
The ascent of The Viking was steep and wet and capped off with a
scary clamber up a narrow rock chimney. I was wet, cold and nervous,
and the wet rocks were slippery. Not a good combination, but I took
as much care as possible and made it to the top (1519m) with great
relief. It was foggy, windy and cold and there were no views. The
trail followed the base of a craggy ridge and became even harder to
follow and I took great care. Nevertheless, I managed to get off
course and probably wasted 30-45 minutes crashing around on a sodden
rough scrubby hillside trying to work out where the trail was. Did I
mention that it was foggy and raining?
Eventually, with the help of my GPS, I got back on course and
continued on. Soon after came a very treacherous and long steep
descent that was almost as scary as the ascent. I slipped and fell a
number of times. It was very slow going. Eventually the grades
became a bit easier and the last hour became a slog through the
usual dense sopping wet scrub over a few knolls until I reached
Barry Saddle at 7:15pm, totally saturated. I put up the damp tent
and ate while still in my saturated clothes, figuring they might
start to dry a little with body heat. I then put on my dry thermals,
hung my wet clothes out in the forlorn hope they might dry a little
overnight, and jumped into a slightly damp sleeping bag at 8:45pm.
Some stars were just visible through the fog directly overhead.
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