Friday 21st July 2023
Carnarvon Gorge Great Walk
Day 5 – Consuela Camp to Cabbage Tree Camp
Facilities at Cabbage Tree – water, shelter, no toilets
Elevation 1100m above sea level
14.25km – 118m ascent 181m descent
Total track time – 3:32 hours
Moving time – 2:51 hours
No side trips

So we went off to bed after enjoying the warmth of the fire and stayed up chatting until about 9pm. It was 6′ when we went to bed and we were expecting it to drop below zero again as we were at 1200m. I dressed for the cold but unfortunately for me it warmed up to 10′ during the night and i had to take off my polar fleece, but i was still wearing 2 pairs of thermals plus a thermal hiking to. It was still a bit too warm.
We headed off at about 10am and followed a fire trail for the whole day mostly down a gentle undulating slope. We walked 10km in the first 2 hours before lunch which is a great speed with a big pack. Although they have both reduced by at least a couple of kgs in the last couple of days. They are not feeling so heavy as we are getting conditioned to the weight. We enjoyed a nice lunch break and were on our way again. The scenery today was much the same as yesterday. Some thick cycad forests, some other trees and a few gum trees. There was a lot of fire damaged trees, which we are not sure if they are hazard reduction burns or there has been a fire. We also saw a phenomenal amount of horse scats which we were hoping would mean we saw some of the wild brumbies that are in the park but unfortunately the boys saw them and we missed out this time. We got to the Cabbage Tree Camp at 2.30pm having hiked 14.25km in 3:32 hours up 118m fown 181m with a moving time of 2:50 hours. It was nice to get to camp a little early although as we started seeing up we had a bit of a sprinkle of rain and there were some grey clouds about. Luckily we have a shelter for dinner if it rains heavier. I managed a little rest and quiet time in the afternoon. David went for a 4km return walk in the late afternoon in the hope of seeing some brumbies but only managed to see some new birds. I found my 2nd tick tonight, Tony has had 4, Aaron had had 5 including one on his eyelid, James and David at this stage have had none. We enjoyed some more chatting over an early dinner and headed off to bed at about 8pm. It is quite windy tonight and the clouds have dissipated so we are not sure what the temperature may be, so i have gone to bed with thermals and extra warm clothes close at hand if needed.