Mossman to Cooktown

Left Ben’s in Mossman and headed north via the familiar Bloomfield track.

Huge Strangler Fig on the Bloomfield Track

Huge Strangler Fig on the Bloomfield Track north of Cape Tribulation

 

Stopped at the Lion’s Den to take a picture of the amazing hanging flowers.

Plastic hanging flowers at the Lion's Den...wait they aren't plastic!

Plastic hanging flowers at the Lion’s Den…wait they aren’t plastic, they’re real! Gee the tropics has some amazing plants.

 

We had a dinner here with Donnie the night before he left when we stayed with Mark.

 

The Lyon with the Lion

The Lyon with the Lion 

 

 

 

 

The black mountains between the Lion's Den and Cooktown.

The black mountains between the Lion’s Den and Cooktown.

The weather in Mossman over the past few days has been windy and raining on and off. I thought this might change once we got past Black Mountain (the end of the wet tropics). This evening in Cooktown it is still blowing and the rain coming and going.

Tomorrow we set out on the longest and toughest leg of the trip. We will be between fuel and food stops for over 550km. The track will take us from Cooktown to Musgrave road house via Cape Melvile and Bathurst Heads. Many have assumed I am talking about the “Battlecamp Road”. I am not! We hear that much of the track is deep sand which means hard work for us and the bikes. We are looking at over 550km from Hope Vale (last fuel out of Cooktown) to Musgrave and some significant amount could be deep sand which could use a lot of fuel depending how we manage to ride the bikes. The less experience one has in the deep sand the slower one tends to go and that means sinking in rather than skimming over the top which means lots more sweating and horrible fuel economy. This leg of the trip is what I bought the fuel bladders for. I have used them moderately elsewhere but this leg I will be taking both 12L bladders full. We will need to carry lots of water and food too. The bikes will be the heaviest they have been for the whole trip and we will likely be face long miles of deep sand, something I have not experienced yet. Needless to say I have a little trepidation as well as the excitement of the adventure.

 

For now I must sleep to prepare my self for the days ahead.

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