Day 13 Clare to Marschall's Hut, 50.77km, 2.54:43, 17.4kmh ave, 351 ascent, 322 descent, max speed 36.51kmh, 13.3 degrees, 11kmNE wind, left at 8.12am.
Relaxing star tto the day to have breakfast at the undercover near the kitchen then with full food off to the rail trail. This section is the easiest and fastest, because 2/3 of it ie Clare to Auburn is on the immaculate Resiling Trail with grades less than 2% and the remining Auburn to Riverston on the Rattler Trail rather than the Mawson Route. I think safer than the gravel roads and I need an easy day after cycling everyday for 12 days now. With all the fields with bright green wheat and bright yellow canloa its a picuresque ride and some great drone footage.
Each day Ive been adjusting the bike seat down since Hallett and I think its getting better, still sore but doesnt seem to be geting worse. However at Riverton at the Chemist where you need a mask I get some Castenon for help. It doesnt fix it as its not a fungus but I feel it helps.
A quick shop in Riverton I head out to Marschalls Hut using my phone and the Mawson Trail app. Its about 6km out of town and while not out of the way you can catch up with the trail easily enough the next day missing some zig zags on back roads by following one straight road south.
Once out of town Im fatiguing u a hill but soon enough hit the track close to the hut. I'm not quite sure where it is as theres a cemetry where I think it could be but then theres something on the hill. At the first locked gate a farmer comes along and opens it, then I go past the cemetry and he opens another gate befor ea long uphill track to another closed gate. He asks me whether I can lift the bike over and I say no so he drives up and opens the last gate to the hut which he points out.
He waits patiently for me to ride up slowly the path and tells me just to close it on the way out. Thank Trail Angel.
I collect firewood in the afternoon, relax and relax then look for more wood near the local cemetry at the bottom of the block, yep 2 cemetries close by. This one is much older than the other with the German families who relocated from overseas to the region in the 1850's onwards buried there.
Its predicted rain tonight and on the bench outside I can see the darker clouds rolling in form the west.
Marschalls Hut was built in the 1850s features bunks, water tank, toilet, a great fireplace, table from the 70's, wooden seating. Camping is free. The hut is maintained by Friends of the Heysen Trail volunteers and reserved for Heysen and Mawson trail peeps. The current hut is re built with stones from the 5-room homestead now down to one. Christian and Elise Marschaall and 8 children arrived in SA in Oct 1854 from Babow, Germany. Christians grave is in the cemtetry at the bottom of the block.