Cascades to Warren campsite 12km

We had aspirations to do a long hike today as it is our "last" day that we can. It'll be too hot for a long hike tomorrow, and the next accomdation we are going to does not have the luxury of a bath. It is very restorative to soak in an epsom salt bath at the end of a strenuous hike. We were planning to complete a 24km to return hike from Cascades to Warren campsite. When we embarked on the walk the terrain was unrelenting. We were either walking inclines or declines. There was not a flat section in the first 6km. Some sections that were long and steep. The gumnuts did not help, causing us to slip and slide, and threatening to turn ankles. Walking amongst the tall Karri trees was still magical. With the rain gone and the sun shining through dappled clouds, birdlife was in full display. Lovely colourful cockatoos, tiny little round birds and butterflies accompanied us on the walk. Even though it was so beautiful with the rustling leaves, at about the 6km mark we decided to turn back shortly after Ruby took a tumble. She had no idea what happened or how it happened, but I heard a yelp and turned around to find Ruby tumbling a couple of metres down the hill. Surprisingly, she was uninjured, and all she complained about was still having to walk down the hill. She thought that if she took a tumble, it could at least take her all the way to the bottom instead of still having to negotiate a steep slope with tricky gumnuts underfoot.

A treat awaited us at the end of the walk, back at Cascades. Instead of walking on proper paths and a bridge to cross the Cascades, we hop, skipped and jumped from rock to rock to get to the other side. Ruby then found a 30cm diameter hole where the water rushed over the rocks and made a natural foot spa. She found great relief for her osteoarthritic big toe.

It is dinner at Treehouse Tapas in town tonight. We enjoyed dinners there the other 2 times we were in Pemberton, so I'm looking forward to it.Read more