Set off hiking towards The Gell River in hope rather than expectation at this point as the river had been log jammed in most parts and seemingly getting worse and worse with huge fallen trees blocking the river and at one point I sat down gobsmacked at a wall, meters in height, of whole trees and branches jam packed into each other at a river corner, making it look like giant beavers had been at play… WTF.
Trees everywhere, river completely damaged. I hacked through such thick bush. Saw a number of White Lipped Snakes through the bush today.
After eventually making it to the Gell River entrance and past it, it's becoming more and more clear to me that there might not be a way for me to ever get onto this river. It seems the further I head downstream the more trees fill the river meaning I can't Packraft and must hike as I have been doing.
This brings about a number of issues including; the time it takes to hike 8 or 10km downstream is a full day, whereas to paddle a full day is more like 30 plus kilometers, plus to get that 8-10km I'm having to hike maybe 12-15km as I go away from the river bank to just be able to get through the bush.
The exertion I’m putting into each day is increasing day on day as my strength deteriorates because my rucksack is packed for paddling on a river not hiking next to it. This also means I'm burning a hell of a lot more calories each day using my whole body to carry a 30-35kg rucksack rather than sitting and paddling.
This means I’m much hungrier each day and more exhausted as well as putting my body under a lot of strain each day.
Because the river is still screwed after Gell River, the mission for me has to change from adventure to survival. But I’m going to hike to the next possible water entrance and see if it changes otherwise will have to look at hiking out.
The next possible hope where the river may get higher and quicker, which will push the logs out or at least sit above them, is the first lake where the River Gordon catches the corner of it. Even as I tap these words into my phone I know it's a small chance having seen the evidence so far, but I've come this far already I want to push and see if it opens up for me.
Thanks for reading - Taz