Wow that was a hard day! Physically and mentally draining. I've entered what are known as the Dry Barries or the Barry Mountains. Right on cue today was the hottest by far on the journey to date. In the Barries water is extremely scarce, today I crossed one source the whole day. The track through this area tends to stick to ridge tops and so without bush-bashing down hundreds of vertical metres to water, campsites are dictated by their proximity to streams or stand alone water tanks built with a small pitched roof to harvest any rainfall. For this reason and the apparently overgrown state of many of the tracks in the area they say few walkers remember this section fondly.

I must say that in the main today the walk was, apart from being dry and dusty, absolutely spectacular. The track followed ridges for most of the day and the 360degree views took in Feathertop, Buffalo, the valleys of the Wonangatta and Buckland(!) rivers as well as much of the area I will traverse over the coming days. In the far distance I could make out the distinctive featured of The Viking, Crosscut Saw and even Mt Buller!

However the afternoon dragged on with a seriously steep pinch about 2km from camp to rub salt into the wound. I arrived, finally at camp, battered and thirsty (I had run out of water at the top of the pinch). Water was a further (thankfully packless) 1km down a very overgrown vehicle track, however when I arrived I drank long and deep!

The next days will be difficult; physically, navigationally and mentally. As I finish this blog my eyes are already heavy, I must rest as tomorrow holds more challenges!