172 km
Today we headed to Cooktown via the Bloomfield Track. This track doesn’t have the same nasty reputation as the CREB but there are three steep sections, the last of which is being cemented, to prevent loss of traction in the wet.
The rough track itself is only 32km long, with climbs between 21 and 33 percent!! The steepest of which is 1.5km long… let’s say, we could feel the trailer pulling us on that one!!
Besides these steep sections the trail is pretty good, though, being clay based, would be terrible in the wet, as with all these tracks up north here.
A few kilometers before Cooktown we entered Black Mountain National Park. It was one of the most interesting landscapes I have seen. The mountains, of which you can only see a small part- as per the noticeboard photo- are eroded magma chambers. The green bits are strangler figs, that have managed to get their roots down to some water.
Our campsite was 15km out of town, near the airstrip- Endeavour River Escape- on a station. Good facilities, no power and nice and quiet. Large campsites with treelines between them.
Christo and I took the opportunity to do some forward planning and see what we needed to book from town the next day, when we had signal. We got some tips from a couple who had been to the top 3 times already.