I recognise and acknowledge Wudjari Nyungar people as the traditional custodians of Cape Le Grand National Park and the surrounding waters and lands. I pay my respects to Elders past, present & emerging.
Following the supported FKT in Jan 2022 where I ran the first 9km with my then 14-year-old son Lucas, it was only a matter of time before he wanted to do the whole trail. We had a family camping trip planned for Lucky Bay after Christmas (2024) and while there we decided that we would run it together.
Of course, we had lots of activities planned for the time in the national park (fishing, surfing, snorkelling & hiking) so we set out ready to start at sunrise on the 31st December 2024 to make the most of the day. This time the plan was to run in the opposite direction, from Cape le Grand to Rossiter Bay, covering the steeper, more technical sections first. Although good in theory it did mean that we were looking into the rising sun for the first section which made sighting the trail markers a little more challenging and, on this occasion, it also meant we would be running into the wind for the length of the course.
Being unsupported we carried about 2 L of water between us, a few trail snacks plus a snake bite kit and other basic first aid. Fortunately, no snakes were sighted but we came across a handful of kangaroos in the early part of morning.
We moved through the first 5 km quite comfortably, creating the first footprints for the day on the sand at Helfire. It wasn’t until we were on the beach at Thistle Cove (~halfway) that we came across some other people out enjoying the morning.
Leaving Thistle Cove, we were on target to match the previous supported FKT time and I could tell Lucas was keen to give it a crack, unfortunately I was not up to the challenge, so we maintained our steady forward progression. We passed a few more morning hikers then descended to Lucky Bay. After a quick toilet stop, we were back on the firm beach sand and moving nicely. There were a few people out fishing along the beach, reminding us of what we might be doing later in the day.
Leaving Lucky Bay, we had just over 4 km of single track remaining, the first of this was quite a sandy climb up towards Mississippi Hill. But who are we to complain it offered a great place for a photo at the top looking back towards Lucky Bay! From here there was only one more small climb and then about a 1 km descent to the finish at Rossiter Bay.
Thank you to my amazing wife Holly for getting up before the sunrise to drop us off at the start and collect us at the end.
As always, the trail does not disappoint, with the amazing colours, terrain, flora & fauna, we look forward to enjoying it again in the future.