With less than 20km to St Arnaud, it is an easy hike out. However, this is also because I’m taking the gravel road instead of the official TA route. I did it last time and it is not worth it. Barely any views but a lot of hard work.
The views from the gravel road were amazing and it confirmed that I made the right choice.
Once I hit the road, I saw Thomas with two other hikers getting a hitch. I actually looked forward to just mindless hiking on a flat surface. So I choose to walk the road. The guy driving the car came back after he dropped the other hikers off to offer me again a hitch. I still declined and continued m my singing while walking session. I only had 30 minutes to go when another car offered me a ride. By this point, I didn’t see the additional value in continuing the road walk, so I accepted the ride.
Then I didn’t do much. I ate a lot, midday nap, and dinner. I missed out on the TA drinks at the Alpine Lodge because I expected them in the backpackers. But I’ll try again tomorrow when I have my rest day.
Zilla-in-the-wild 