Ellenbrook to Conto Campground

Mileage: 28.6 km

Cumulative: 79.8 km

It was a very cold night last night at Ellenbrook. The campsite is in a valley so all the cold air sank making it pretty cold. I woke up at 5 AM after a pretty restless night ready for a 6.30 AM start.

It was a big climb up out of Ellenbrook to get the heart pumping but was then a nice walk along the cliffs which was straightforward underfoot.

It was nice walking so early in the morning with the cool air and soft light. The walking got progressively harder, however, as we approached Margaret Rivermouth and there was some tough walking along Kilcarnup beach. The sand gave way deeply under each step and, combined with the fact the beach was steeply sloped and narrow, it made for hard walking.

Soon we reached Margaret Rivermouth and we stopped for a break. The river was not flowing into the ocean so it was an easy walk across the beach to find some shade,

After a short break, we realised our heady aroma was offending the locals, so we decided to head back on to the trail. The route south circled around Prevelly and then followed an endless series of 4WD tracks uphill in a fairly uninspiring section of the trail.

Eventually the track came out upon a ridge with some beautiful views across the farmland to the ocean. It was much quieter here after the busy Margaret Rivermouth so we stopped here for lunch. It was good to know that we are now approximately halfway to Cape Leuwin.

There followed a steep descent down to a valley and then across a bridge and back towards the ocean. I recognised this as Boodjidup Walk which I have done many times with the family. We then followed a stream which flowed into the ocean and then had a gruelling 3 km beach walk along Redgate Beach.

It was a long haul from here to Conto Campground and we arrived completely exhausted after a close to 29 km day. We have the same tomorrow so it will be a very early night tonight. Two days to go!