May 16, 2025
‘Red line’ mile marker 83.4 to 104.7
Hiked today: 21.3 miles / 34.3 km
Hiked so far: 105.7 miles / 170.1 km (approx: 3.4%)

Two small disappointments marked the start today –

1. The motel laundry lost one of my sun gloves
2. McDonalds wasn’t open at the promised time of 6 am, so we had to make do with a muesli bar each for brekkie.

However, we did get started at 6 am and the morning was nice and cool – around 10 deg. The first 2 or 3 miles was a walk out of town beside the highway. Then we set off on the marked track, starting with our first fence crossing without a gate.

Some of the CDT is through private land and, although we have approval to use a small easement, we are obliged to not cause any disturbance or bother. We try to stick to the trail but this morning as we were walking towards the east, it was hard to see the trail markers in the distance. As we share the land with grazing cattle,  we often find that the footprints we’ve been following have strayed onto a cow trail and then we have to navigate using the Far Out app to get ourselves back onto the trail.

Around 8.30 am, we started to feel the heat of the sun and by 10 am it was very hot, still with no breeze to give relief. We pushed on the flat ground and it wasn’t until around midday that the trail started to head upwards into the hills. With the gain in elevation, the vegetation became more dense and changed from low dry shrubs and spinifex grass to small trees giving opportunity for some shelter on our breaks. This was most appreciated because the temperatures around 2-4 pm were really roasting. We are carrying sun umbrellas and really can’t imagine hiking in the afternoon without them.

I had an opportunity today to use the Merlin app i have installed on my phone. It allows me to record bird calls, and the app identifies the bird based on the call and the location. This morning, we heard the beautiful song of a Western Meadowlark.

On our afternoon stretch, we startled a pair of antelopes and watched them spring away into the shrubbery.