Day 61 – Tapanappa Camp to Eagle Waterhole Camp – 11.62km

Total Distance – 1085.4km

A Heysen Trail Story

This is hard.  Hard to describe.  This feeling of such happiness.  And such profound loss.  I’ve never felt this way before in my life.  And I’m not sure how to process it.

Those are the thoughts in my head as I leave camp this morning.  Just one more full day on the trail.  One more night and it is done.  I pack up carefully.  Making sure everything is just so.  It is an easy process.  Done time and time and time again.  I barely need to think.  But it feels like a luxury to concentrate on the process, and so I do.

I have tears in my eyes as I leave.  It’s a real struggle getting all the emotion under control.  The walk is what brings me back.  As it often does.

I love today’s walk.  Short, but with some challenging hills around Deep Creek Gorge.  I revel in the physicality of it.  Charging up the mountains, often without a stop.  Knowing that this would have been impossible a couple of months ago.  I realise I’m as fit as I’ve ever been.  Maybe even more so in some respects.  It’s a lot to be grateful for.

There’s plenty of people out on the walking track.  Families with young kids and no water heading down to the bottom.  It never ceases to amaze me.  And in my job, I’ve seen it more than I care to acknowledge.

Past the Trig campsite it is quieter, enabling me to get wrapped up in my thoughts a little bit.  I’m thinking about returning to Adelaide.  To the city.  And more specifically, shedding my armour.

For two and a half months I’ve lived and breathed in this small assortment of clothes that I have.  They’ve handled it all – from facing weather adversity to going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It is such a strange feeling, an unpleasant feeling, knowing that soon, I will put something else on.  It feels a bit like a betrayal. 

I think of my drawers and wardrobes of clothes at home and shake my head.  It’s all so much simpler when the choices are limited.  I’m dreading going to the shops and facing the crowds.  But I’m going to have to.  For one, I’m pretty sure these clothes stink, and I’m just not really aware of it…And two, I’ve lost a lot of weight.  Maybe 10kg?  I’m not sure.  All I know is that my leggings are now more like tracksuit pants and my shorts must be cinched in and tied.  So, I’ll do it. But I don’t want to.

I reach the campsite early and proceed with my final site set up.  Again, I take my time and am fussy about everything I do and everywhere I put things.  It gets windy, so I crawl inside and lie on my bed for a while.  I will miss this simplicity.

My Clothes List

My Wonder Woman outfit consists of:

Blue walking shirt (Exofficio)

Shorts (Lorna Jane)

2 pairs of walking undies (Exofficio)

1 bra (Icebreaker)

Marino Leggings (200 – Icebreaker)

Marino Thermal Top  (200 – Icebreaker)

1 pair of bamboo undies

Marino singlet (Icebreaker)

Pullover jumper with hood (Macpac – I love this item!)

2 pairs of walking socks (Balega)

1 pair of night socks (Injinji)

1 pair of town socks (Wright socks)

Bamboo singlet for town (Patagonia)

Cotton long sleeved shirt for town (Kmart)

Puffy Jacket (Montane)

Beanie (Patagonia – this is probably the only thing I would have swapped out for something smaller and lighter)

Waterproof rain pants (Columbia)

Rain / wind jacket (Patagonia – which I love and features in nearly all the photos of myself!)

And, of course, my amazing and highly identifiable, town skirt!